The Protective Effects of Parent-College Student Communication on Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.03.010

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 53, Issue 2, August 2013, Pages 300-302

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.03.010 Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

Recent studies suggest that parents maintain influence as their adolescents transition into college. Advances in communication technology make frequent communication between parents and college students easy and affordable. This study examines the protective effect of parent-college student communication on student eating and physical activity behaviors.

Methods

Participants were 746 first-year, first-time, full-time students at a large university in the United States who completed a baseline and 14 daily web-based surveys.

Results

On days when students communicated with their parents for 30 minutes or more, they consumed fruits and vegetables, an additional 14%, more times and were 50% more likely to engage in 30 minutes or more of physical activity, consistent with a protective within-person effect.

Conclusions

Encouraging parents to communicate with their college-aged children could improve these students' daily eating and physical activity behaviors and should be explored as a relatively easy and affordable component of a student preventive intervention.

Section snippets

Methods

Data used in the current analyses were drawn from the University Life Study, a longitudinal study of the daily life experiences of college students attending a large public university in the northeastern United States. A full description of the study, including participant recruitment and sample characteristics, is described elsewhere [7]. The University Life Study used a measurement burst design, with a baseline survey followed by 14 consecutive daily surveys each semester. Participants

Results

Among first-semester college students, the prevalence of parent-student communication was frequent. Across the 14 days surveyed, the mean number of days students communicated with their parents was 8.08 days (SD = 4.42). First-year college students consumed fruits and vegetables an average of 2.38 times per day. Students engaged in 30 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity on 3.37 days across the 14 days surveyed.

Within-person differences were found. Compared with days when

Discussion

Parent communication could directly or indirectly influence college students' eating and physical activity behaviors. Parents may directly remind students to eat a variety of healthy foods and engage in purposeful physical activity. Indirectly, communication with parents may remind students of shared values and internalized norms for health. Taken together, these possible mechanisms could be incorporated into a parent component of freshman orientation programs or online preventive

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Citation Excerpt :
In subsequent analyses controlling for eBAC to examine the unique effect of energy drinks above and beyond alcohol consumption, we hypothesized that on days with greater energy drink use: (4) subjective drunkenness would be less likely and (5) negative consequences would be greater. The University Life Study (ULS [25,26]) used a measurement-burst design to capture within-person variation across multiple days and between-person differences in change across college semesters. Each semester for seven semesters, beginning in the first semester of college, students completed a semester survey followed by 14 consecutive daily surveys.
To examine short-term consequences associated with consuming alcohol and energy drinks compared with consuming alcohol without energy drinks.
A longitudinal measurement-burst design (14-day bursts of daily surveys in four consecutive college semesters) captured both within-person variation across occasions and between-person differences across individuals. The analytic sample of late adolescent alcohol users included 4,203 days with alcohol use across up to four semesters per person from 508 college students.
Adding energy drink use to a given day with alcohol use was associated with an increase in number of alcoholic drinks, a trend toward more hours spent drinking, elevated estimated blood alcohol content (eBAC), a greater likelihood of subjective intoxication, and more negative consequences of drinking that day. After controlling for eBAC, energy drink use no longer predicted subjective intoxication but was still associated with a greater number of negative consequences.
The consumption of energy drinks may lead to increases in alcohol consumption and, after controlling for eBAC, negative consequences. Use of energy drinks plus alcohol represents an emerging threat to public health.
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Adolescent health briefThe Protective Effects of Parent-College Student Communication on Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Methods

Results

Discussion

J Am Diet Assoc

J Nutr Educ Behav

Add Behav

Alcohol use, eating patterns, and weight behaviors in a university population

Am J Health Behav

Protective effects of parent-college student communication during the first semester of college

J Am College Health

Adolescent health brief
The Protective Effects of Parent-College Student Communication on Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors