The University of Vermont Wellness Environment: Feasibility and Initial Results of a College Undergraduate Health-Promoting Program

Five overlooked dimensions of campus wellness: Qualitative lessons from a Health Sciences Center's wellness program evaluation

Objective: Successful university wellness programs approach wellness holistically and regularly assess for improvements to program offerings. This case-study reports five lessons learned from a university wellness program evaluation that must be considered when developing wellness programming. Participants: Faculty, staff, and students at a public university health sciences center. Methods: A 23-question electronic survey with open-ended questions was administered to measure feedback on current and future wellness programming. Responses were analyzed with an open coding approach into five themes for program improvement to more holistically address wellness. Results: The five improvements to wellness programming identified by respondents were: wellness offering awareness, workplace culture and environment, racial representation, wellness programming policy enforcement, and creating an environmentally friendly campus. Conclusions: Themes identified in this case-study require additional attention by university wellness programs to ensure they are equitably accessible and comprehensive in their offerings.

The substance use behaviors change of first-year college students before and during COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVE

This article tests the substance use behaviors of college students before and during COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

In-depth assessment and nightly survey data was used from a longitudinal study (n = 675) which examined student substance use during the 2019-2020 academic year, both before and during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in beer/wine, tobacco, liquor, and marijuana use before versus during the pandemic, in addition to the interaction of COVID-19, were tested with gender and subjective social status.

RESULTS

Marijuana use significantly decreased from a weekly prevalence of 9.9% before COVID-19 to 6.4% during COVID-19 (p = 0.002). A similar decrease was seen in liquor use (10.6% before COVID to 6.4% during COVID, p = 0.01). There was no significant change observed for beer/wine use or for tobacco use.

CONCLUSION

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, liquor, and marijuana use decreased for college students, while other substance use stayed the same.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on College Student Mental Health and Wellness

OBJECTIVE

To test the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID) pandemic on the emotions, behavior, and wellness behaviors of first-year college students.

METHOD

A total of 675 first-year university students completed a full assessment of behavioral and emotional functioning at the beginning of the spring semester 2020. Of these, 576 completed the same assessment at the end of the spring semester, 600 completed at least 1 item from a COVID-related survey after the onset of COVID pandemic, and 485 completed nightly surveys of mood and wellness behaviors on a regular basis before and after the onset of the COVID crisis.

RESULTS

Externalizing problems (mean = -0.19, 95% CI = -0.06 to 0.33, p = .004) and attention problems (mean = -0.60, 95% CI = -0.40 to 0.80, p < .001) increased after the onset of COVID, but not internalizing symptoms (mean = 0.18, 95% CI = -0.1 to 0.38, p = .06). Students who were enrolled in a campus wellness program were less affected by COVID in terms of internalizing symptoms (β = 0.40, SE = 0.21, p = .055) and attention problems (β = 0.59, SE = 0.21, p = .005) than those who were not in the wellness program. Nightly surveys of both mood (β = -0.10, SE = 0.03, p = .003) and daily wellness behaviors (β = -0.06, SE = 0.03, p = .036), but not stress (β = 0.02, SE = 0.03, p = .58), were negatively affected by the COVID crisis. The overall magnitude of these COVID-related changes were modest but persistent across the rest of the semester and different from patterns observed in a prior year.

CONCLUSION

COVID and associated educational/governmental mitigation strategies had a modest but persistent impact on mood and wellness behaviors of first-year university students. Colleges should prepare to address the continued mental health impacts of the pandemic.