MyStudentBody-Community College: A Health Website for Students

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In the current economic climate, community colleges are playing a more vital role than ever in educating the workforce. Enrollment at community colleges has grown by 17 percent since fall 2007 to a total enrollment of 8 million (AACC, 2010a). Moreover, President Obama has called on community colleges to produce five million more graduates by 2020 (Gonzalez, 2010). However, community college students have a number of psychosocial and health behavior risk factors for failing to meet their academic goals. Among first-time students who start at a four-year college, approximately three-quarters persist to the second year, compared to roughly half of first-time students who start at a two-year college (McIntosh and Rouse, 2009). The objectives of the proposed research are to create the first comprehensive wellness and alcohol and other drug (AOD) intervention prevention program specifically for community college students. The following Phase I specific aims were successfully completed: (1-3) Interview students, health staff, and institutional decision makers; (4) Produce Content, Design, and Development Plans; (5) Create a demonstration; (6) Conduct usability and acceptance testing with students; (7) Conduct acceptance testing with institutional decision makers and health staff, and (8) Complete the Phase II research design. Results indicate that the MSB-Community College program has feasibility as an intervention and as a technical project. The specific aims of the Phase II are to: (1) Convene an advisory board of community college presidents and health professionals to inform implementation strategy; (2) Produce the online program, and (3) Conduct a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of the online program. We hypothesize that, compared to students in the control group, students exposed to MSB-Community College will demonstrate: (1) decreased stress; (2) increased use of protective behavioral strategies; (3) decreased substance use negative consequences; (4) decreased substance use, and (5) increased college adjustment. Secondary hypotheses are that students will report: (1) increased likelihood of reaching a personal academic goal and (2) increased likelihood of attainment of a degree/certificate, or persistence with a program of study. The innovation of the current Phase II application is in adapting to a new population theoretical approaches that have been successful in research with four year students. This will be achieved by creating a program that is informed by advances in four-year college health programs while incorporating findings from research with community college students to create appropriate content, features, and a delivery method. Successful completion of the aims of this Phase II application will expand the field of college health by acknowledging and addressing the needs of a large and diverse, yet underserved, population. If the program is successful, it will have a significant public health impact in terms of improving the health of almost half of all undergraduates (AACC, 2010a), with the secondary goal of also increasing retention.