School of Public Health
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
Note: Prior to July 1, 2007, the School of Public Health was named the College of Health & Human Performance.
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Item The Impact of Short-Term Sleep Extension on Cognitive and Motor Performance in College Tactical Athletes(2018) Ritland, Bradley Michael; Hatfield, Bradley D; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)U.S. service members are commonly referred to as “tactical athletes” because of the physical training they undergo to maintain and improve occupational performance. Because performance in the military can literally determine the outcome in ‘life and death’ situations, it is critical that tactical athletes are prepared to perform optimally, both physically and mentally. Accordingly, it is important for tactical athletes to focus on health behaviors, like sleep, known to impact both aspects of performance. Little is known about the sleep health of college tactical athletes enrolled in The Reserve Officer's Training Corps (ROTC) and there have been no well-controlled studies on the immediate and residual effects of sleep extension on executive and cognitive motor performance. To address this knowledge gap, a randomized control trial (Sleep extension versus Control) was conducted to determine the immediate and residual effects of a four-night sleep extension intervention (10 hours time in bed) in this population. Consented participants wore a wrist actigraph for fifteen nights in order to measure sleep duration and a cognitive motor battery was conducted after seven nights of habitual sleep (Day 8 – pre-test), after the four nights of sleep extension intervention (Day 12 – post-test), and after the resumption of habitual sleep for four nights (Day 16 – follow-up). Between group comparisons of mean pre- to post-test score changes and mean pre-test to follow-up score changes were performed using independent sample t-tests. Results revealed that the sleep extension group significantly increased their mean sleep duration over the intervention period and that the four nights of sleep extension resulted in immediate benefits in alertness, psychomotor vigilance/attention, executive function performance, standing broad jump performance, and motivation levels. Benefits of sleep extension on broad jump performance and motivation level were still evident four days after resumption of habitual sleep schedules. These results suggest that sleep extension enhances both cognitive and motor performance in college tactical athletes, with some performance benefits lasting days after returning to habitual sleep patterns. Considering the performance improvements noted following sleep extension, a four-night intervention should be considered for training programs aiming to enhance overall performance.Item RISK FACTORS FOR NONMEDICAL PRESCRIPTION ANALGESIC USE AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS: RESULTS OF A PROSPECTIVE STUDY(2016) Morioka, Christine Kempsell; Howard, Donna; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Purpose—Nonmedical Prescription Analgesic (NPA) use is a serious public health concern and studies on risk factors for NPA use are lacking. This investigation used preexisting data from a landmark longitudinal, prospective study of college students, the College Life Study (CLS), to examine the longitudinal relationship between four suspected risk factors—affective dysregulation, conduct problems, depressive symptoms, and general psychological health—and NPA use. Methods—The sample was comprised of 1,253 young adults originally recruited as first-year college students from a large, mid-Atlantic university. Results—10.5% (n=103) of the participants during year 3 of the study reported past year NPA use, of which 55.3% (n=57) were male and 81.6% (n=84) were white. Affective dysregulation and conduct problems were found to be significantly and longitudinally (baseline to year 3) associated with incident NPA use after controlling for gender, parents’ education, and race/ethnicity. Conclusions—Affective dysregulation and conduct disorder are longitudinally associated with NPA use among college students. These findings might aid in prevention efforts to reduce NPA use among college students.Item Predictors of Abstinence, Safer Sex & Higher Risk Sexual Behaviors At A Historically Black College & University(2009) Saunders, Darlene Renee; Desmond, Sharon M; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this cross sectional study, purposive sampling was used to examine the sexual behaviors and practices of African American college age students (n=681) attending a Mid-Atlantic HBCU. The majority of participants were women (72%) and sexually attracted to men (69%); the mean age was 20 (SD=1.3). The primary purpose of this research was to explore specific factors that may contribute to African American college students' decisions to practice abstinence, engage in safer sex or higher risk sexual practices. The Theory of Planned Behavior loosely guided the selection of variables, specifically normative beliefs, attitudes and behavioral control constructs were used to examine the sexual behaviors of African American college students. Binge drinking, marijuana use, the number of hours per day students' listened to rap music and viewed rap music videos, and the extent rap music or rap music videos influenced their sexual attitudes were variables examined using backward logistic regression. Additionally, the investigator examined religiosity and students' perceptions of whether peers and parents would approve of their engagement in specific sexual behaviors, using valid and reliable scales developed by other researchers. Demographic variables explored included age, gender and the students' sexual orientation. Results from research question one (predicting whether students would be abstinent or sexually active) indicated age, marijuana use, and binge drinking were the best predictors, accounting for 22% of the variance. Students who reported binge drinking or marijuana use were more liked to report being sexually active than students not engaging in these behaviors. Research question two (distinguishing between sexually active students who engage in safer vs. riskier sexual behaviors) found that sexual orientation was the only significant predictor. The study documented greater sexual risk-taking behaviors among heterosexual women when compared to heterosexual males. This exploratory study helps fill the void in the literature about the sexual behaviors of African American college students.Item Scale Development and Dimensionality Analysis of a Protective Behavioral Strategies Multi-item Scale for Use with College Student Drinkers(2008-06-17) Griffin, Melinda; Boekeloo, Bradley O; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) have been defined as self-control behaviors individuals practice prior to, during, and/or after drinking to limit consumption and/or the negative consequences. Although a multi-item PBS measurement scale has been used in the research literature, the psychometrics, reliability, and validity of the PBS scale needed further examination. This study examined the 1) dimensionality of the PBS scale for self-identified college student drinkers as well as for gender and race/ethnicity subgroups, 2) internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the PBS sub-scales, and 3) construct validity of the PBS sub-scales. College students who self-reported as recent alcohol users (n=320) on a web-based survey administered during fall semester of the 2006 academic school year comprised the study sample. Factor analysis was utilized to determine the underlying factor structure of 22 item PBS scale. Additionally, congruence of the factor structure among gender and racial sub-groups was examined by rotating the sub-groups' matrices via the Procrustes orthogonal method. Reliability analysis was utilized to determine the internal consistency of the PBS sub-scales. Separate multiple linear regressions were performed to determine the construct validity based on relationships between the PBS sub-scales and potential motivations (refusal self-efficacy, protection self-efficacy, drunkenness avoidance self-efficacy, alcohol abstinence expectations) and potential alcohol-related outcomes (multiple alcohol use items, negative consequences) while controlling for gender and race. Examination of the output from repeated factor analyses, Procrustes rotation, and reliability analyses resulted in a 2-factor solution with 17 items. Both PBS sub-scales (Planning and Execution) had acceptable internal consistency across all samples and acceptable test-retest reliability. Construct validity of the Execution PBS was fully supported whereas the Planning PBS was partially supported. Specifically, the Planning PBS sub-scale was highly correlated with protection and drunkenness avoidance self-efficacy as projected but not alcohol-related outcomes. The Execution PBS sub-scale was highly correlated as projected with refusal, protection and drunkenness self-efficacy, alcohol use, and negative alcohol effects. Special attention was given in this study to PBS construct validity considering potential PBS motivations and PBS scale dimensionality across gender and race subgroups. This study contributes to parallel research attempting to identify a definitive, standardized measure of PBS.