Keene State College – New HampshireMarj Droppa, PhDDick Jardine, PhD

ACHA Annual Conference2013

Objective 1 Relationship between

wellness & academics

Objective 2 Impact of risky health

behavior on success of first-year cohorts

Objective 3 Using research to keep

our first-years in school

Relationship between Wellness and Academic Performance

Dropout

1. Stress – 29%

2. Sleep – 20%

3. Anxiety – 19%

4. Cold/flu – 14%

7. Depression – 11.3%

2 first-year cohorts

Entry – Graduation

Race/ethnicity

By 2017: 20 million college students

First generation Female Black, Hispanic,

Asian Veterans Disabilities

SexualWellness

Emotional Wellness

Physical Wellness

Drug/AlcoholWellness

COLLEGE WELLNESS SURVEY

Overall Wellness Score

Score in each Wellness Dimension Drugs/Alcohol Sexual Wellness Emotional Wellness Physical Wellness

Impact of risky health behavior on first-year academic performance

Institution comparison – Respondent racial composition

Difference in GPA from first-second year was not significant

MEAN WELLNESS SCORE

Sophomores at KSC were less well than in their 1st year

DifferenceSample Mean

Std. Err. DF T-Stat P-value

μ1K - μ2K 0.0175 0.0081 318.89 2.160 0.0314

μ1T - μ2T -0.0019 0.0084 508.35 -0.225 0.822

Hypothesis test results: μ1k : mean of KSC 1st

μ2k : mean of KSC 2nd

μ1k - μ2k : mean difference

H0 : μ1k - μ2k = 0

HA : μ1k - μ2k ≠ 0

Hypothesis test results: μ1T : mean of TAMU 1st

μ2T : mean of TAMU 2nd

μ1T - μ2T : mean difference

H0 : μ1T - μ2T = 0

HA : μ1T - μ2T ≠ 0

Significance testing of difference in mean wellness scores

CONCLUSION: KSC students’ wellness score worsened from first to the second year, and the difference is statistically significant.

CAVEAT: Data distribution skewed, not a probability sample, groups not independent

Wellness score KSC 1st KSC 2nd TAMU 1st TAMU 2ndmean 0.804 0.787 0.793 0.797

standard deviation 0.090 0.103 0.102 0.089

Dimension subscore (mean )

D&A 65.7 64.5 66.7 66.7Sexual 50.9 49.1 51 51.4

Physical 23.3 22.5 21.7 21.2Emotional 33.9 33.8 33.3 34

Numerical summary of Wellness Survey scores

• KSC students’ wellness scores dropped across all dimensions

• Which wellness dimension had significant effect on GPA?

Logistic regression analyzes relationships between dichotomous response variable (e.g., higher and lower GPA) and categorical or quantitative explanatory variables (e.g., Wellness Score)

Combines the explanatory variables to determine the probability that the response variable would occur

Logistic regression requires no assumptions of normality or of similar variability in the explanatory variables

Applied Logistic Analysis Hosmer, Lemeshow and Sturdivant

Variable Estimate Std. Err. Zstat P-valueOdds Ratio

Intercept -4.438 1.459 -3.042 0.0023

Wellness Score

0.020 0.0083 2.423 0.0151 1.020

Logistic regression results Dependent Variable: High GPA Independent Variable(s): Weighted Wellness Score

Parameter estimates

Conclusion: Student GPA performance most significantly influenced by their propensity to smoke cigarettes.

TAMU-CC Cohort

While women claimed to have higher GPA, their wellness score was lower than their male counterparts

% High GPAMean Weighted Wellness

Score

Female (n = 151) 49.7% 0.79

Male (n = 73) 38.4% 0.82

Students who reported as Asian or multiracial had higher Wellness scores and reported higher GPA

If resource constrained, intervention should be targeted on the Hispanic and White student groups

race n% High

GPAMean Weighted Wellness Score

Asian 12 75.0% 0.85Biracial 11 36.4% 0.80Black 18 44.4% 0.80

Hispanic 89 43.8% 0.79Multiracial 11 81.8% 0.83

White 94 45.7% 0.79

Using research to keep our first-year students in school

Questions

Freshmen programming focus?If use our analysis, what would you have to change on your campus?Please share

Drugs & Alcohol SmokersSmokers

SOPHOMORES

2 more years of First-Year Cohorts study New Wellness Survey New Collaborations

Marj Droppa, PhDKeene State College, New HampshireEmail: mdroppa@keene.edu