“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.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of educational videos on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination intent among young adults aged 18-26. A two-group randomized control trial (RCT) is conducted among 156 individuals (control group n = 79, intervention group n= 77). Inclusion criteria were English-speaking young adults aged 18-26 who have not been vaccinated against HPV. Participants who met the inclusion criteria based on an online screening form were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and invited to join the study. They first completed a pretest (T0) online via REDCap, randomly assigned to the intervention or control group, and completed a posttest (T1) after viewing their assigned intervention. Participants assigned to the intervention group watched two brief animated videos while participants assigned to the control group examined an HPV educational brochure created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior, survey questions measured HPV-related knowledge, attitudes, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, vaccination intent (T0 and T1), sociodemographic characteristics, and health history (T0 only) of participants. The results showed the intervention group had an increase in vaccination intent while the control group had a decrease in vaccination intent. This shows that video education methods are more effective than traditional written education methods at increasing vaccination intention among young adults.