The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #60242

Molly B. Kerby, MPH, Public Health, Western Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, One Big Red Way, Bowling Green, KY 42101-3576, 270-745-6103, molly.kerby@wku.edu

Over the past several decades the retention of college and university students has been a major concern for educators and administrators in higher education. Theoretical models designed to predict whether or not students will persist in higher education can be valuable tools for educators and administrators in creating appropriate behavioral intervention programs. Some of the early explanatory models of the college dropout process viewed retention as a longitudinal process that incorporated both the academic potential of the student and social systems of the institution. Others expanded the theoretical models to develop predictive models using logistical regression and structural equation modeling. This session will examine the concern of persistence from the freshman to the sophomore year of college, which now is the central focus of many educators and administrators. The model presented will emphasize the role external variables play in retention including diet and exercise, drug and alcohol use, and sexual behavior. Most models concentrate efforts on retention factors that play a major role within the institution rather than factors that are external of the university. In addition, the pressures placed on public institutions in the last decade for greater accountability (outcomes) should motivate change in predictive models as well. Precursory models focused only on retention, or most often dropout, as the sole outcome of the model. In building predictive path models for the new millennium, researchers must conceptualize the outcomes of these models as multifaceted and include other variables such as health risk behaviors that effect retention in higher education.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) will be able to:
• 3. Recognize and evaluate the correlations between health risk behaviors (external factors) and retention in higher education.
  6. Discuss and analyze a path model constructed to predict retention based on health risk behaviors.
  9. Assess and apply a predictive path model for behavior intervention program in higher education settings.

Keywords: College Students, Health Risks

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.