Health Sciences Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Science

Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

Department

College of Health Care Sciences – Health Science Department

First Advisor

Brianna Black Kent

Date of original Performance / Presentation

January 2023

Publication Date / Copyright Date

1-1-2023

Abstract

Young adults are very socially active. During infectious disease outbreaks, their interpersonal interactions serve as a mode of viral transmission, especially to vulnerable populations such as the elderly and immunocompromised. A lack of compliance with recommended health behaviors among college students during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic posed a health risk to the students themselves and to public health. The goal of the study was to understand college students’ motivation to comply with public health guidelines. The participants of this study (n=28) were undergraduate students enrolled in health professions education programs at a private university in South Florida. Using the constructs of Protection Motivation Theory (Threat Appraisal, Coping Appraisal, Protection Motivation, and Health Behavior), students’ willingness to adopt recommended behaviors against COVID-19 and their actual adoption of these behaviors were examined. The findings indicate that female, undergraduate, health professions students had a greater level of concern for the well-being of others compared to themselves. Students’ protection motivation is most informed by their perceived severity of COVID-19, their vulnerability to COVID-19, their perceived response efficacy of recommended protective behaviors, and their self-efficacy in carrying out these behaviors. Students were able to overcome social disapproval in order to adopt protective behaviors. Frequent handwashing was the most widely adopted behavior, while social distancing was the most difficult to adopt due to living circumstances. These findings could be utilized in public health education for this population that emphasizes the importance of compliance with recommendations to self and community health.

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Keywords

COVID-19; Health behaviors; Protection motivation; Undergraduate students

Download
To access this thesis/dissertation you must have a valid nova.edu OR mynsu.nova.edu email address and create an account for NSUWorks.

Free My Thesis

If you are the author of this work and would like to grant permission to make it openly accessible to all, please click the Free My Thesis button.

  Contact Author

Share

 
COinS