College student contraceptive use: A multivariate analysis

This study investigated the relationship of 22 variables—categorized as relating to sexual history, relationship, social support, contraception beliefs, and personality factors—to contraceptive use by college women and men. The use of effective contraception by both women and men was primarily associated with partner support for contraception; and the choice between oral contraceptives and condoms was associated with frequency of intercourse.     

Fetishes and motorcars: Negrophilia in French modernism

Based on an ethnographic study of evaluators' micro-practices during the admission test at a prominent Danish design school, this paper looks into the decisions made by evaluators when selecting future students.Two rounds make up the test in question: A first round where evaluators review portfolios made by anonymous candidates and a second round where a number of candidates are invited to interviews based on positive reviews of their portfolios. Following the two-tier course of the test, the analysis discusses the co-constitutive relationship between portfolios and candidates. Whereas the first round of the admission test clearly builds on the principle that talent can be identified in applicants' work, the second round introduces the premise that the person in question may be more important than the work. Hence, while objects constitute active participants during the review round, they tend to become neglected when applicants step in. To consider the selection processes during the test, the paper draws inspiration from the anthropologist of art Alfred Gell's art nexus that consists of artist, recipients, art objects and prototypes. With these four cardinal points, it becomes possible to identify relations made between evaluators and candidates along with portfolios and conventions which they refer to. That is, rather than seeing the test as a social game played solely by evaluators and applicants, the art nexus calls attention also to the roles played by portfolios and aesthetic conventions. However, based on the structure of the test, evaluators rank the subjectivity of candidates as paramount, while portfolios become in Gell's words ‘secondary agents’. By introducing a specific form of personhood as the final selection parameter, the admission test continues a long tradition of auteurism, which may have problematic effects, as previous studies of cultural education have demonstrated within fashion design and the congruent domains of film and fine art.     

Predicting Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Intentions of College-Aged Males: An Examination of Parents’ and Son's Perceptions

Abstract

Objective: To examine male students’ and their parents’ human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine communication in relation to males’ willingness to discuss the vaccine with their health care provider and the likelihood of being vaccinated. Participants: Dyads (n = 111) of students and parents. Methods: Participants completed a HPV vaccine survey based on the risk perception attitude framework in 2009. Results: Male students’ perceived susceptibility for HPV and self-efficacy to talk to their provider were directly related to their intention to discuss the HPV vaccine, and their intention was directly related to their likelihood of being vaccinated. Parents’ perceived self-efficacy to talk to their son and response efficacy of the vaccine were directly related to their intention to talk to their son; however, parents’ intention was not related to the likelihood of their son being vaccinated. Conclusions: College males may benefit from HPV vaccine educational programs that include communication skills training to discuss the HPV vaccine with their parents.     

Relative Efficacy of a Pregnancy,Sexually Transmitted Infection,or Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevention–Focused Intervention on Changing Sexual Risk Behavior Among Young Adults

Abstract

Objectives: Despite findings suggesting that young adults are more concerned about experiencing an unplanned pregnancy or contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) than becoming human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected, no empirical work has investigated whether the specific focus of an intervention may be more or less efficacious at changing sexual behavior. Participants: Participants were 198 college students randomized to 1 of 4 conditions: pregnancy intervention, STI intervention, HIV intervention, or a control condition during 2008–2009. Methods: The authors compared the efficacy of 3 theory-based, sexual risk–reduction interventions that were exactly the same except for an exclusive focus on preventing pregnancy, STI, or HIV. Condom use and risky sexual behavior were assessed at baseline and 4-week and 8-week follow-up. Results: Participants exposed to the pregnancy or STI interventions reported greater condom use and less risky sexual behavior than those exposed to the HIV intervention. Conclusions: The focus of sexual risk–reduction interventions may lead to differential behavior change among young adults.     

Mass Media Campaign Impacts Influenza Vaccine Obtainment of University Students

Abstract

Objective: To describe the effectiveness of a mass media campaign in increasing the rate of college student influenza vaccine obtainment. Participants/Methods: Students (N = 721) at a large southern university completed a survey between September 2011 and January 2012 assessing what flu clinic media sources were visualized and if they encouraged them to obtain vaccination. Results: Nearly a 30% increase was seen in flu vaccination rates in Fall 2011 over Fall 2010. The main campus Web site portal was the most visualized media source among students. The majority of responses indicated that the source of information visualized had a moderate to strong influence over their decision to get vaccinated. Conclusions: Various communication channels should be utilized to increase influenza vaccination rate on a university campus. Use of mass media to influence college students to perceive, retain, and act on the message of obtaining the influenza vaccine did produce a noteworthy outcome.     

Development of a Health Literacy Assessment for Young Adult College Students: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive health literacy assessment tool for young adult college students. Participants: Participants were 144 undergraduate students. Methods: Two hundred and twenty-nine questions were developed, which were based on concepts identified by the US Department of Health and Human Services, the World Health Organization, and health communication scholars. Four health education experts reviewed this pool of items and helped select 87 questions for testing. Students completed an online assessment consisting of these 87 questions in June and October of 2012. Item response theory and goodness-of-fit values were used to help eliminate nonperforming questions. Results: Fifty-one questions were selected based on good item response theory discrimination parameter values. Conclusions: The instrument has 51 questions that look promising for measuring health literacy in college students, but needs additional testing with a larger student population to see how these questions continue to perform.     

The Effect of Brief Functional Relaxation on College Students’ Needle Anxiety During Injected Vaccinations

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the effect of brief functional relaxation (FR) training on needle anxiety (NA) during vaccinations. Participants: From October 2010 through May 2012, 48 undergraduates were recruited through the psychology research participant pool. Methods: Students (N = 48) were randomly assigned to a 15-minute brief FR session delivered via MP3 player or a standard care condition (15 minutes of sitting quietly) prior to receiving injections at the immunization clinic. Measures were completed before (T1) and after (T2) the assigned condition, assessing expected NA, state anxiety, blood pressure, and heart rate; and after the injection (T3), self-reported NA during the injection. Results: Unexpectedly, the groups did not differ at T2. However, during the injection, brief FR participants indicated lower self-reported NA (T3) than standard care. Conclusions: Brief FR is a simple, inexpensive technique that may reduce NA in college health settings and help decrease delays in treatment seeking.     

Watching the Detectives

Abstract

Do popular authors of African detective fiction use their sleuths to clean up what they perceive to be post-colonial crimes? And is it possible for readers of whodunnits to make any sort of serious assessment of the socio-economic conditions of a country through following the trail of these ‘ethical eyes’? This article investigates Dan Fulani's Special Agent Pius Shale 005, Unity Dow's Amantle Bokaa, Alexander McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe and Deon Meyer's Zatopek van Heerden.     

Health-Related Variables and Academic Performance Among First-Year College Students: Implications for Sleep and Other Behaviors

Abstract

The authors analyzed the effect of several health behaviors and health-related variables on grade point averages of a random sample of 200 students living in on-campus residence halls at a large private university. The set of variables included exercise, eating, and sleep habits; mood states; perceived stress; time management; social support; spiritual or religious habits; number of hours worked per week; gender; and age. Of all the variables considered, sleep habits, particularly wake-up times, accounted for the largest amount of variance in grade point averages. Later wake-up times were associated with lower average grades. Variables associated with the 1st-year students' higher grade point averages were strength training and study of spiritually oriented material. The number of paid or volunteer hours worked per week was associated with lower average grades.     

College Students' Use of Widely Advertised Medications

Abstract

The authors describe college and university students' use of widely advertised pharmaceutical products. Four hundred seventy-one students from three institutions completed self-administered questionnaires that addressed the use of advertised medications, attention to magazine ads for medications, communications with physicians about medications, and the conditions the medications address. Results indicated that the majority of the students used at least one of the advertised products. Most students did not discuss the pharmaceutical products with their physicians or discuss the conditions for which they reported they were taking the drugs.