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Stress, Coping, And Disease Awareness With Metabolic Disease Risk: A Longitudinal Cohort Study, Chelsea Anestal Jan 2022

Stress, Coping, And Disease Awareness With Metabolic Disease Risk: A Longitudinal Cohort Study, Chelsea Anestal

Honors Undergraduate Theses

College students undergo stressors (e.g., potential financial strain, changes in workload or location), which may precipitate metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk associated with obesity and high blood pressure. Concerning rises in young adult obesity and type 2 diabetes, prompt study into MetS risk factor prevalence and awareness in youthful populations transitioning to new environments, such as college. This study assessed perceived stress, coping resources, and disease awareness differences in the first time on campus and final-year students associated with MetS risk factors (elevated body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure). We hypothesized lower stress perception, lower weight gain and blood …


Does The Andersen Behavioral Model For Health Services Use Predict How Health Impacts College Students’ Academic Performance?, Emily Vernet Mar 2021

Does The Andersen Behavioral Model For Health Services Use Predict How Health Impacts College Students’ Academic Performance?, Emily Vernet

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

College is a critical time in a person’s life. Young adults experience transitional changes in their independence, physical and mental health, and utilization of health care. The purpose of this research study is to examine the use of the Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services Use in predicting how health impacts the academic performance of college students through predisposing, enabling, and need factors. Data was collected from 438 college students attending a large university in the Southeast. Students answered questions about their demographic characteristics, health, healthcare use, and academics using a survey adapted from the 2018 National College Health Assessment …


The College Experience In The Eyes Of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Andrea I. Olmeda Santiago Jan 2021

The College Experience In The Eyes Of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Andrea I. Olmeda Santiago

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events experienced by children and adolescents ages zero to 17 that can have a long-lasting effect on a person's overall mental and physical health. Recent studies have shown that the rate of students entering college with one or more ACEs has increased, potentially resulting in a lower rate of college completion. The purpose of this study is to gain insight into how college students with multiple ACEs navigate the college experience despite their barriers. College students are a unique population due to their range of diversity in every aspect of a student's life, including …


Tobacco Use Disparities By Sexual And Gender Minority Status Among Ucf Students., Parth N. Patel Jan 2020

Tobacco Use Disparities By Sexual And Gender Minority Status Among Ucf Students., Parth N. Patel

Digital Repository: Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence

No abstract provided.


Perceptions Of Oral Health Access Among Foreign-Born College Students, Rahema Khan Jan 2020

Perceptions Of Oral Health Access Among Foreign-Born College Students, Rahema Khan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Oral health plays an integral role in our general health, wellbeing, and quality of life. Practicing evidence-based oral hygiene behaviors prevent oral diseases and improve systemic health. The burden of preventable oral diseases persists worldwide and weighs particularly heavy on specific population groups. While many studies have explored oral health among those of advanced age, children, and minority groups, there are a very few exploring the oral health care needs of postsecondary students, specifically those born outside of the United States (U.S.). Recognizing this gap in the literature, this study sought to gain a better understanding of oral health access …


Growing Up Puerto Rican: College Students' Reality Of Staying In Puerto Rico Post-Maria, Bianca M. Pizarro Vázquez Jan 2020

Growing Up Puerto Rican: College Students' Reality Of Staying In Puerto Rico Post-Maria, Bianca M. Pizarro Vázquez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Puerto Rico has been under influence and colonial rule by the United States since the Spanish-American War of 1898. This has led the island to have partial and limited control over the affairs inside it. The passing of Hurricane Maria on September 20th of 2017 exposed problems even further. Puerto Rico remains under the control of a Financial Oversight and Management Board since the passing of the PROMESA act (The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act) signed by President Barack Obama in 2016. This had forced Puerto Rico to make drastic cuts to its public services. One …


Health Literacy And Health Information Seeking Behaviors Of Student At The University Of Central Florida, Abigail Mcwhorter Jan 2019

Health Literacy And Health Information Seeking Behaviors Of Student At The University Of Central Florida, Abigail Mcwhorter

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Health literacy is the skill needed to acquire, read, understand, and use health related information to make informed healthcare decisions. It is also the skill needed to follow and maintain a treatment plan. Having a high or adequate health literacy level is important because possessing poor health literacy skill can have a negative impact on one's overall health. This research is important because there are few studies available on the health literacy levels of undergraduate college students. The majority of health literacy studies focus on at risk or underserved populations with low education. Previous studies have shown that education is …


Impact Of Work-Life Balance On Health-Related Quality Of Life Among College Students, Emily Vernet Jan 2019

Impact Of Work-Life Balance On Health-Related Quality Of Life Among College Students, Emily Vernet

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Work-life balance involves the management of work and social responsibilities. Specifically, it describes the ability to meet the demands of multiple roles involving academics, social, personal, and professional life. Literature has shown that there is an increasing number of students who are working while taking classes at a university. Previous research has described how young adults balance working and going to school and how work hours influence student's mental, physical, and health behaviors. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between a student's ability to balance work demands, student and life responsibilities, and health outcomes. Using a …


Reimagining Drugs: An Anthropological Analysis Of U.S. Drug Policy Frameworks And Student Activism, Megan A. Sarmento Jan 2018

Reimagining Drugs: An Anthropological Analysis Of U.S. Drug Policy Frameworks And Student Activism, Megan A. Sarmento

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As the repercussions of the nearly 50-year U.S. War on Drugs are revealing themselves to be harmful and life-threatening, especially to lower-class and minority populations, social movements aimed at drug policy reform have been on the rise. While today's generation of college students were raised on abstinence-based discourses, which constantly warned and threatened them about the dangers of drug use, these same students often change their perspective, some as early as high school, when they begin having their own experiences with drugs and engage in more drug-related conversations. As a result, many students become motivated to change drug policy and …


No, There Is No Ghost In The Campus Library Stacks, Meg K. Scharf May 2017

No, There Is No Ghost In The Campus Library Stacks, Meg K. Scharf

UCF Forum

Toward the end of an old favorite film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), a newspaper reporter tells Jimmy Stewart’s character, “This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”


Predictors Of Academic Achievement Of Non-Traditional College Students: Opportunities To Catch-Up And Succeed, Angela Bardwell-Owens Jan 2017

Predictors Of Academic Achievement Of Non-Traditional College Students: Opportunities To Catch-Up And Succeed, Angela Bardwell-Owens

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Non-traditional students make up approximately 20% of the undergraduate student population nationwide and are one of few segments of the student population that are not provided with targeted programs and services. To help this cohort achieve their goals whilst universities can increase their retention rates, this research begins a review of the non-traditional student literature to gain an understanding of what this population faces as far as barriers to their education. The literature also provides recommendations and further information in retention efforts to support the student during their academic years. Next, an analysis of non-traditional student support services at 4-year …


Positive Psychology Coursework And Subjective Wellbeing, Heather E. Walker Jan 2017

Positive Psychology Coursework And Subjective Wellbeing, Heather E. Walker

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Positive Psychology aims to shift the conversation of mental health from solely repairing mental dysfunction to focusing on individuals’ positive qualities or strengths (Seligman, 2000). This study aims at exploring connections between a Positive Psychology college level coursework and students’ self-reported wellbeing using an electronically administered survey containing multiple scales used to measure various aspects of wellbeing. Scales used were The Ryff Scale of Psychological Wellbeing, The Purpose in Life Test (PIL), the Alienation Scale, and questions related to the course content itself. Students who have higher wellbeing tend to have increased life benefits such as health, life-satisfaction, and flourishing …


Ugh…Statistics! College Students’ Attitudes And Perceptions Toward Statistics, Drew A. Doyle Jan 2017

Ugh…Statistics! College Students’ Attitudes And Perceptions Toward Statistics, Drew A. Doyle

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Statistics is a course that is required for a majority of undergraduate college students in a wide variety of majors. It is not just required for Statistics or Mathematics majors, but also for those undergraduate college students majoring in Biology, Engineering, Sociology, and countless other majors. It can often be seen as a daunting course, especially for those who feel that mathematics is not their strongest subject. Students begin to dislike the course before even starting and this can carry on throughout the entirety of the course. This thesis will focus primarily on students’ perceptions and attitudes toward their statistics …


Checking Out Things At The Library – Including These Myths, Meg K. Scharf Sep 2016

Checking Out Things At The Library – Including These Myths, Meg K. Scharf

UCF Forum

It is wonderful to work at our university: It’s vibrant, it’s a beautiful place, and people on campus are fascinating.


Study And Analysis Of Upper Gastrointestinal Symptoms Among Students At The University Of Central Florida, Deberly M. Anzueto Jan 2016

Study And Analysis Of Upper Gastrointestinal Symptoms Among Students At The University Of Central Florida, Deberly M. Anzueto

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Upper gastrointestinal symptoms can be caused by many different diseases and can present themselves in many different forms and range in intensity depending on the person. In previous research, upper gastrointestinal symptoms have been correlated with stress, smoking, alcohol intake, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), among others. The purpose of this study will be focusing on finding any association between these risk factors mention and symptoms of upper gastrointestinal disease among college students. The study will utilize an Izumo scale questionnaire for the assessment of abdominal symptoms and Quality of Life (QOL). The questionnaire was built using Survey Monkey and …


The Relationship Between Substance Use And Social Class Among College Students, Kelcey Little Jan 2016

The Relationship Between Substance Use And Social Class Among College Students, Kelcey Little

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Alcohol and substance use among a college population has become a norm for our society. Even more intriguing are the possible factors that may lead to use and abuse of alcohol and substances. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between multiple participant characteristics (i.e., ethnicity, gender, year in college, socioeconomic status) and alcohol and substance use. A total of 902 participants from the University of Central Florida answered multiple questionnaires via the Sona system. Items in the questionnaires included topics such as demographic variables, social class variables, and items regarding alcohol and substance use in …


Family Struggles And Substance Use Among First Generation College Students, Barbara Vehabovic Dec 2015

Family Struggles And Substance Use Among First Generation College Students, Barbara Vehabovic

HIM 1990-2015

The current study seeks to examine the relationship between family struggles, as measured by social class and parental marital status, and substance use among first-generation college students. 902 students from the University of Central Florida participated in an online questionnaire that assessed their social class, parents’ marital status, drug and alcohol use, as well as demographic variables. Results indicated a significant positive correlation between substance use and social class as well as generational status. Males were also more likely to use drugs and alcohol than females. A regression analysis indicated social class, gender, junior and senior academic years were all …


Evaluation Of A Digitally-Automated Alcohol Curriculum Designed To Alter Expectancies And Alcohol Use In First Year College Students, Amy Schreiner Jan 2014

Evaluation Of A Digitally-Automated Alcohol Curriculum Designed To Alter Expectancies And Alcohol Use In First Year College Students, Amy Schreiner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High-risk alcohol consumption remains a primary public health concern for students on college campuses. In response to this concern the National Advisory Council of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism created a task force to identify and recommend strategies to aid college administrators in implementing effective alcohol programming at their institutions. While most administrators report being aware of these recommendations, many have not successfully implemented empirically supported interventions on their campuses. One significant barrier is the cost and difficulty of training and hiring skilled staff to implement these interventions. Of the strategies identified as effective, challenging alcohol expectancies …


'To Change Is To Learn And To Learn Is To Change', Bob Porter Dec 2013

'To Change Is To Learn And To Learn Is To Change', Bob Porter

UCF Forum

“To change is to learn and to learn is to change.” That was often the advice given to me by my mentor in life, Lew Treen, a war veteran, semi-pro baseball player, high school principal and coach.


I'Ll Just Say It, Men: Sexual Attackers Are Arrogant, Insecure, Weak, Mark Routhier Oct 2013

I'Ll Just Say It, Men: Sexual Attackers Are Arrogant, Insecure, Weak, Mark Routhier

UCF Forum

College students most everywhere live in an atmosphere that is sexually supercharged. Young men and women with varying degrees of sexual experience, free from the surveillance of parents, experimenting with social structure, and embracing a knowledge of their sexual power creates an environment rife with possibility.


Run Toward Your Next Job, Not Away From Current One, Bob Porter Oct 2013

Run Toward Your Next Job, Not Away From Current One, Bob Porter

UCF Forum

If you are considering a job change or are looking for your first job, how do you know what direction to take?


The Meaning Of Life – Or At Least University Life, Mark Routhier Aug 2013

The Meaning Of Life – Or At Least University Life, Mark Routhier

UCF Forum

The sun will one day burn itself out and all the magnificence and strife that is humankind will be a whisper in a vacuum, a ripple through dark space.


Finding The Sweet Spot In Your Life Can Be More Than Just A Dream, Bob Porter Jul 2013

Finding The Sweet Spot In Your Life Can Be More Than Just A Dream, Bob Porter

UCF Forum

When I was a small child, I had a recurring dream that I ran and jumped out of my second-story bedroom window and began to fly. I would fly around the neighborhood to see my friends and help people, and I had a lot of fun doing it. I can’t exactly recall how I learned to fly, but it was instinctive, and I just inherently knew it was a gift. I can still remember how my stomach would get jittery in the moments right before I took the jump in order to fly.


Evaluation Of A Digitally Enhanced Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (Ecalc) For Use With Mandated College Students, Abigail Fried Jan 2013

Evaluation Of A Digitally Enhanced Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (Ecalc) For Use With Mandated College Students, Abigail Fried

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use has been a longstanding problem on college campuses. Despite the efforts National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the commissioned Task Force on College Drinking (2002), there has been a recent rise in the number of alcohol related arrests and violations on college campuses. Within the high-risk mandated student population, the most successful programs utilize motivational enhancement strategies, such as the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS). Likely due to financial constraints, an important issue that has been raised is the limited availability of validated methods for alcohol prevention and intervention on college campuses. …


How Can You Change The World If You're Not Paying Attention?, Alexandra Pittman Nov 2012

How Can You Change The World If You're Not Paying Attention?, Alexandra Pittman

UCF Forum

It’s depressing to see many of my fellow University of Central Florida classmates, friends and coworkers so unaware of their own surroundings.


Students Disinterested In Voting Need To Smarten Up, Alexandra Pittman Sep 2012

Students Disinterested In Voting Need To Smarten Up, Alexandra Pittman

UCF Forum

My fellow college students have been abuzz with political stands and commentaries on Facebook and other social media – but I’m concerned that many of those same students will not show up to vote on Nov. 6.


Technology Can Be Blessing, Curse To Students, Alexandra Pittman Jul 2012

Technology Can Be Blessing, Curse To Students, Alexandra Pittman

UCF Forum

Many college students seem to have forgotten what a university is for because they have become lost within their own technology.


Aliterate College Students: A Neglect Of Reading Or A New Type Of Literacy?, Crystal Wells Jan 2012

Aliterate College Students: A Neglect Of Reading Or A New Type Of Literacy?, Crystal Wells

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the literacy practices of college students in order to determine whether their reading habits are likely to detract from their future professions. Based on reports that many college students and individuals in general do not read regularly, this study examines numerous studies that focus on the reading habits of students and their attitudes toward reading. Findings show that a considerable number of students do not practice what many educators consider to be “good” reading habits; that is, they do not read approved print literature and texts regularly. This study also introduces the idea that perhaps students are …


Metaphoric Competence As A Means To Meta-Cognitive Awareness In First-Year Composition, David T. Dadurka Jan 2012

Metaphoric Competence As A Means To Meta-Cognitive Awareness In First-Year Composition, David T. Dadurka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of writing research suggests college students’ and teachers’ conceptualizations of writing play an important role in learning to write and making the transition from secondary to post-secondary academic composition. First-year college writers are not blank slates; rather, they bring many assumptions and beliefs about academic writing to the first-year writing classroom from exposure to a wide range of literate practices throughout their lives. Metaphor acts as a way for scholars to trace students’ as well as their instructors’ assumptions and beliefs about writing. In this study, I contend that metaphor is a pathway to meta-cognitive awareness, mindfulness, …


Moving From A Textbook To Facebook College Students' Motivations For Using Social Networking Sites In Education, Heather J. Halter Jan 2010

Moving From A Textbook To Facebook College Students' Motivations For Using Social Networking Sites In Education, Heather J. Halter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined college student motivations for using social networking sites for educational purposes. Motives were examined through the uses and gratifications approach. If we can determine student motivations for using social networking sites, perhaps we can determine a way to successfully implement social networking sites into the classroom. By adding the concept of satisfaction, we can also determine if students will use the sites again. If students are satisfied with educational social networking site use, they will return to these sites for educational purposes again. Data was collected by giving a questionnaire to undergraduate students that assessed social networking …