COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among College Students at a Midwest University.

COVID-19 is responsible for over 750,000 Americans deaths. Despite efforts to vaccinate, many college students are hesitant. Hesitancy has hindered efforts to achieve high COVID-19 vaccination rates. Students at a Midwest university completed an online survey. Questions included COVID-19 vaccination intent and behavior. Over 1600 students participated. Half reported being vaccinated. Of those not vaccinated, 49% did not intend to get vaccinated, and 22% were undecided. Reasons for hesitancy included not trusting the vaccine was fully tested (85%), fear of potential side effects (78%), not trusting the vaccine is safe (72%), not trusting the US government (61%), and having read negative reports from the media about the vaccine (60%). Additionally, students were concerned the vaccine was not safe (B = - 0.902; 95% Χ2 = 11.68; p = 0.001) and that it could not protect them from COVID-19 (B = - 0.834; Χ2 = 12.43; p < 0.001). Students' religious beliefs (B = - 1.245; Χ2 = 4.61; p = 0.032) and having unvaccinated family members (B = - 0672; Χ2 = 11.50; p = 0.001) also contributed to intention not to receive the vaccine. Unexpectedly, students reporting fear of potential side effects (B = 1.26; Χ2 = 12.86; p < 0.001) were significantly more likely to indicate intention to get vaccinated than students who did not report this fear. College students may be more hesitant to receive the vaccination than others. Targeted messaging addressing concerns/fears may be a way to influence those who are hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed dying and grief: Will there be a surge of complicated grief?

Worldwide, more than 3 million people have died from COVID-19. Each decedent represents a person who was loved, will be missed, and whose death elicited grief. COVID-19 has changed the way we die and grieve. Many people have died without family members and friends present and many of the bereft have grieved and mourned alone. Individuals and communities have experienced multiple losses within a short time while suffering from concomitant stress, anxiety, and depression. More deaths and more grief will continue in the foreseeable future. Preventive education is needed to prepare for and manage the likely increase in complicated grief.

COVID-19 brings a new urgency for advance care planning: Implications of death education.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases and deaths of any nation. Deaths due to COVID-19, especially among older adults and people of color, have created an urgency for advanced care planning (ACP). Despite benefits of ACP, only one-third of U.S. adults have completed advance directives, in part due to a lack of death education. We recommend four actions to increase death education and ACP completion: (1) integrate death education into teacher preparation programs, (2) incorporate death education in undergraduate curricula, (3) provide better education in death and dying to future health professionals, and (4) educate the public.

Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Address Drunkorexia among College Students.

BACKGROUND: The many consequences related to alcohol consumption among college students are well documented. Drunkorexia, a relatively new term and area of research, is characterized by skipping meals to reduce caloric intake and/or exercising excessively in attempt to compensate for calories associated with high volume drinking. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to use the Elaboration Likelihood Model to compare the impact of central and peripheral prevention messages on alcohol consumption and drunkorexic behavior. METHODS: Researchers employed a quasi-experimental design, collecting pre- or post-test data from 172 college students living in residence halls at a large Midwestern university, to assess the impact of the prevention messages. Participants in the treatment groups received the message in person (flyer), through email, and via a text message in weekly increments. RESULTS: Results showed that participants exposed to the peripherally framed message decreased the frequency of their alcohol consumption over a 30-day period (p =.003), the number of drinks they consumed the last time they drank (p =.029), the frequency they had more than five drinks over a 30-day period (p =.019), as well as the maximum number of drinks they had on any occasion in the past 30 days (p =.014). Conclusions/Importance: While more research is needed in this area, the findings from this study indicate that researchers and practitioners should design peripheral (short and succinct), rather than central (complex and detailed), messages to prevent drunkorexia and its associated behaviors.

Primary versus secondary prevention messages: College students' perceptions of effectiveness by marijuana user status.

Objective: With medical and recreational marijuana legislation expanding throughout the country, the need to educate high-risk populations is evident. The purpose of this study was to assess college students' perceptions of health communication messages comparing primary and secondary prevention messages concerning marijuana. Participants: Participants (n = 487) included college students, ages 18-25, enrolled in a Midwestern University. Methods: Participants assessed messages based on likeability, creativity, believability, persuasiveness, relevance, and usefulness using an online questionnaire that also included open-end comments. Results: Rasch analyses indicate that nonmarijuana users rated primary prevention messages higher than secondary prevention messages, whereas marijuana users ranked secondary prevention messages more favorably than primary prevention messages. Conclusion: Interventions designed to address marijuana use among college students may be more effective if tailored toward user status. Specifically, primary prevention materials should be designed for abstainers, while secondary prevention messages that focus on harm reduction strategies should be used with marijuana users.