health risk behaviors

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Relaxation Exercise. Seek friend. Watch Tv/read. Slerp. COPING. Thoughts ofltried suicide. Fight involving violence. Pulled an all-nighter. Engage in risky activity.
HEALTH RISK BEHAVIORS: A COMPARISON OF FIVE CAMPUSES JoYce Morrus, PllD' CHES DoNA SCIINEIDER, PliD, MPH Rutgcrs UniversitY

fcw sludies have camous environment influcnces sludcnl bchavior' but eflvircnmcnl' iJiJJit-rto*' tt"or,rt behaviors are utto6;31sd wilh camous of lm studcnls on cach of five fir'u"Oy a".p""a rhc hcald bchaviors a larec univcrsily 'Ihc hcallh bchavior ptofilcs o[ de live wili lic differcnt campus cnvironnrenls' orir"i"",,

""-."."t'"f iLirli, *.

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associate Particular behaviors wi(h Panicu-

Introduction

lar environments. This study attemPts to

In developing programming, colleges often assume thal students have similar health behavior practices because most students

determine what types of health risk behavior seem to be associated with different campus environments at a major university'

adulthood. Students are drawn to a college campus because of the physical environmeni, as well as the social, economic, and psychological characteristics it possesses' The characleristics of the student in tum are influenced by the environment of that

The survey was conducted at four undergraduate colleges (5 campuses) of a large northeastem university College l, a land-

are moving from adolescence to young

Methods

qrant college, is a professional school of isriculrural, environmental, and life sciences' S!venty percent of College I's 2,800 srudents

campus. The educational setting, t}ten, makes a difference

both socially and academically

live on campus. College II is a large women's liberal ans college with about 3,400 students' The mission al this college is to develop leadershiP skills in women. College III is a relatively new college with 3,500 undergraduates and a mission to bring together a diverse sroup of srudents, faculty, and staff' While it

in students' lives (Moos, 1987). The campus environment has also been shown to be associated with physical and emodonal symptoms and subsequent health services utilization (Moos and Van Dort, 197'l , l9't9). For example, students may exhibit signs of stress such as ulcer pain' headaches or nausea and seek medical attention at student heallh sewices. At the extreme' some may attempt suicide, requiring emergency medical treatment. A Previous study showed 0tat students living in dormitories

im

matured into

a

standard liberal ans

college, it still maintains a focus on cultural and ethnic diversity College IV with over 8,000 srudents is an academically rigorous inslirution with a long history. lt has two

Draclice fewer risky health behaviors than do srudents who live off campus (Scl'neider

and Morris. l99l). Although it is acknowledged that differences in environment influence risk-taking behavior. little work has been done to try to

camDuses

- one the original liberal arts col-

lege campus (A) and the other (B) a new rapidly developing science and engineering ca mPus.

The study employed a quota sampling lechnique to oblain an equal representation

390

Health Risk Behavlors . . . /391

from each campus. One hundred undergraduate students were chosen on each of the five campuses. To control for the effect of living anangemerrt, half of the students sampled on each campus were dormitory residents and half were commuters. A research assistant solicited dormitory students at the cafeteria on each campus. Commuter respondents were solicired in the respective comrnuter lounges. Ninety-five percent of the solicited students elected to complete the survey. Srudents refusing to complete tle survey were similar to respondents on sex and ethnic background. Among respondents, if the population of Campus II (women's college)is excluded, $ere were no significant differences in gender distribution among the remaining four campus samples. If Campus In (multicultural) is excluded, there were no significant differences racial/ethnicity between the remaining four campus samples. Overall, the sample was l2Vo Asian, 227o black, llVo Hispanic, 547o white and ZVo

other. No significant differences were found between campus samples on class level or credit load. Information from student health services, housing, and the registrars were combined with previous sludies to develop a 49 item questionnaire. In addition to 9 demo' graphic questions, fony questions dealt with risky behaviors, especially stress, smoking, drinking, drugs, sex, and dieting. Dieting behaviors are not reponed here because of the gender differential in dieting behaviors. Data were complete for all items excepl. coping behaviors, discuss sexual health, and always practice safe sex. Cross-tabulations were performed. Significance testing (Chi square) was used where numbers were suffi-

ciently large. RF^sULTS

in

Stress and Coping

Behaviors

The three mos( popular coping behaviors on all carnpuses were seeking out a friend,

Table

I

Stress and Coping Behaviors by Campus, Percent

II

III

9

3

3

I

I

'1

I 4

2

l6

5

l0

z7

IVA IVB

TOTAL

STRESS

Go drinking Take drugs Eat food Exercise

Relaxation Exercise Seek friend

!;;i

ii

i'l

i j:i

*

i

3

I

I

3

0

0

6

27

30

30 44 22

I

I

5

23

0 0

Watch Tv/read

I8

36

27

38

Slerp

23

20

28

27

Thoughts ofltried suicide

5

4

6

1

t6

lt

9

I

0 0

3

Fight involving violence Pulled an all-nighter

79

86

9l

86

100

88

in risky activity

l0

3

4

9

9

7

33

26

COPING

Engage

7

r ., .,"

i

r:; .r.,;:'

392 / College Studont Journal

flt:t

watching TV or reading, and slecping (Table I ). Alftough walching TV and sleeping may be negative behaviors when engaged in excess, for tle purposes of tiis study they were considered positjve. College students oflen try to be full-time studenb, full-time socialites, and some try to be part-time employees as well. Anything which slowed a student down to relax, then, was viewed as positive. Campus I (land-grant) students were most likely to use negative coping behaviors such as alcohol, drugs, or food. They were also most likely to use physical or relaxation exercises, the coping behaviors most often suggested by college personnel and health experts university-wide. It is unclear whether students have not been reached by educational programs or whether they have chosen to use other coping mechanisms. Students on Campus I (land-grant) and Campus II (women) were most Iikely to have thought seriously about commining suicide. One of the surveyed students on Campus II had tried to commit suicide. Although only five percent of the students on Campus I have scr-iously thought abour suicide, rhis is significant because ir is an extreme reaction to stress

Students on Campus I (land-grant) and ll (women) were the most likely to

Campus

be involved in

s violent

encounter. While

Campus IVB (new) students had not been in any fightJ involving violence in tie past school

year, they

all indicated that they pulled at least one all-nighter during the pas! academic year. Smoking

Although all campus smoking rates were high in relation to national rates, Campus II (women) and Campus IVA (original) were significantly higher than the other three campuses (Table 2). Of those who smoke, almost

two-thirds on Campus

IIi

(multicultural)

and Campus IVA (original) smoke at least one pack of cigarettes per day. Other forms of tobacco were more likely to be used by

I (land-granr) and Campus III (multicultural) students. Campus

Alcohol

Almost all Campus IVA (original)

Table 2 Smoking Behaviors by Campus, percent

II

III

?o

4t

23

44

a9

u

pacVday

2A

5l

'14

'70

29

52

Other Tobacco

7

0

5

0

3

:.1

Current Smoker ..,

)

!i::i

*2

I

,1,;

tiri

tr nl

*Current smokers only

};i

Chi sqare (cunent smoker)

.tri

si -t

\:i

ffi si fii .tj ,1

Chi square (2

I

-

10.963, p. = .0Zl

pUday) = 30.753, p =.002

and

Campus IVB (new) srudents drink alcohol regularly (Table 3). On the other three campuses more tban ten percent of l}re students do not drink ar all. Slightly less than ten

IVA IVB TOTAL

:t't--l

H

':.[

lli

Health Risk Behaviors . .

i-

. /393

\i:l 't:,

Table 3

Alcohol Related Behaviors by Campus, Percent .:

1.,

II

III

IVA IVB

TOTAL

DRINKING BEHAVIOR

'l)',

i;, i.+,

Do Not Drink

t2

l3

l4

0

2

8

Drink Occasionally

2t

9

5

0

0

7

Drink Regularly

ffi

't7

80

99

98

83

7

4

I

0

2

Drink Daily

;! .:;

'x j'

ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORS

Drinking

'l

l6

5

tl

8

20

l8

5

l0

ll

Drove Under

l6

t2

18

14

t5

Passenger

Influence 16 w/Drunk Driver n

29

12

ll

l3

t7

Injured While

Missed Class Due to

Drinking

:

t ";*:li ',s!

Chi square (DUI) = 1.614, p =.806 Chi square (Passenger)

=

16.300, p = .003

percent of t}re students on Campus I (landgrant) drink daily, while less than five per-

been a passenger

cent were daily drinkers on Campus II (women) or IU (multicultural). Despile the large numbers of students on Campus IVB (new) who drink on a regular basis, few have been injured while drinking or have missed class due to drinking. About one-fifth of the srudents on Campus I (land-

largest numbir of students driving under the influence, almost one-fifth, were on Campus IVA (original). One-lifth of the students on Campus I (land-grant) and almost one-tlird of the students on Campus II (women) reponed having been a passenger in a car where the driver was drunk.

grant) and Campus II (women) have missed at least one class due to drinking. Almost

Drugs

der the influence of alcohol or that thev had

tobacco commonly used on any of the campuses was marijuana (Table 4). The lowest (new) and the usage was on Campus highest was on Campuses I (land-grant) and

one-fifth of Campus II (women) students also have injured themselves while drinking. AII campuses had over ten percent of students reporting that they had driven un-

in a car where the driver of alcohol. The

was under the influence

The only drug other than alcohol

M

and

394 / Col169e Studont Journal Table 4

Drug Use by Campus, Percent

II

III

IVA IVB TOTAL 0

0

LSD 32

29

Cocaine

9

Crack

23