“College Students' Perceived Risk of COVID-19 Infection, Protective Behaviors, and Vaccination Intent” is a thesis project based on research conducted from the end of 2020 to the beginning of 2021. This project investigated various protective behavior factors against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) based on gender, race/ethnicity, and financial difficulty of college students in the United States. The plan for this thesis project was to send out two surveys through Amazon Mturk to a group of 500 college students. The first survey further narrowed down the sample size to include only the participants who met the eligibility factors. A second larger survey was sent to this sample which included the data for this research project. This paper will explore the topics of perceived risk of becoming infected with COVID-19, preventive behaviors, vaccination intent based on gender, race/ethnicity, and financial difficulty.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the comprehensive HPV educational video, “What is HPV?” on the vaccination intent of young adults. The study also aimed to collect information regarding knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs that influence vaccination and related health behaviors. The sample included 215 participants between the ages of 18-26 who had not received any HPV vaccine, were able to read and comprehend English, and had consented for participation through Amazon Mechanical Turk. After they completed the baseline survey (T0), participants were randomly assigned to two study conditions. The intervention group (n = 104) watched the “What is HPV?” video, and the control group (n = 111) read the CDC HPV Fact Sheet. Both groups then completed a post-intervention survey (T1). The analysis results show that the vaccination intent among participants in the intervention group significantly increased following the intervention (59.6% to 71.2%), while vaccination intent significantly decreased for the control group (65.8% to 55%) following the intervention. The results also show a significant difference in the changes in vaccination intent for the two intervention groups. The most change in vaccination intent following the intervention came from the group who was undecided in the initial survey. The findings of the study suggested that a brief HPV educational video that provides the most updated evidence while using non-stigmatizing language and tone has the potential to increase young adults’ vaccination intent to prevent HPV-related cancers and diseases. The findings also suggested that effective HPV education is key to combating negative attitudes and misinformation about HPV vaccines.

Minority mental health patients face many health inequities and inequalities that may stem from implicit bias and a lack of cultural awareness from their healthcare providers. I analyzed the current literature evaluating implicit bias among healthcare providers and culturally specific life traumas that Latinos and African Americans face that can impact their mental health. Additionally, I researched a current mental health assessments tool, the Child and Adolescent Trauma Survey (CATS), and evaluated it for the use on Latino and African American patients. Face-to-face interviews with two healthcare providers were also used to analyze the CATS for its’ applicability to Latino and African American patients. Results showed that these assessments were not sufficient in capturing culturally specific life traumas of minority patients. Based on the literature review and analysis of the interviews with healthcare providers, a novel assessment tool, the Culturally Traumatic Events Questionnaire (CTEQ), was created to address the gaps that currently make up other mental health assessment tools used on minority patients.