Gpa Among African American Female College Students: Examining Lifestyles and Preventive Health Behaviors

Introduction/Background: Although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) invests in prevention and wellness,  African American (AA) females still suffer from higher illness and disease rates, as compared to their counterparts. Many of the causes of these illnesses can be classified as preventable risk factors which involve lifestyle patterns (e.g., diet, exercise) and seeking preventive care (e.g., dental examinations, well woman visits). This is particularly relevant for AA females in college, who may be at greater risk given their "college-appropriate" behavior patterns (e.g., unhealthy eating, sleeping behaviors), which have been shown to impact academic performance. Drawing from health behavior theory, it is important to explore the understudied area of lifestyle and preventive health behavior associations with grade point average (GPA) for AA female college students, which typically become longevity predictors for overall health in adulthood.

Methods: An analytic sample of self-reported African American females (N=1296; mean age=23 years) was selected from the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment II (ACHA-NCHA II; Fall 2012) of US college students. The outcome of interest, grade point average (GPA), was self-reported by respondents on the scale of A to F, which was converted into a dichotomous variable: higher (A or B grade) or lower (C, D, F grade) GPA. Independent variables included lifestyle factors to lose weight (following a diet; diet pill use) and preventive health factors (dental examinations, breast self-examinations, routine gynecologic examinations).  Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the influence of lifestyle and preventive health factors on GPA.

Results: This African American sample consisting of only females included primarily full-time students (90%), freshmen (26%); with health insurance (89%), either from their college/university (17%) or from their parents (54%); worked part-time (i.e. less than 40 hours [93.5%]), and volunteered for a minimum of 10 hours (96%). More than half of the sample were not in a relationship (59%), and reported being single (87%). Almost half of them lived on campus (47%) and most were not a fraternity or sorority member (91%). Almost 70% of the females reported a GPA in the “higher” range. The variables diet to lose weight and dental examination within the past 12 months were positively significantly associated (OR=1.40, 95% CI=1.02, 1.91, p<0.05; OR=1.38, 95% CI=1.02, 1.85, p<0.05, respectively) and past 30 day breast self-examination was marginally positively significantly associated with increased odds of a higher GPA (OR=1.31, 95% CI=0.96, 1.78, p<0.05). Taking diet pills to lose weight was negatively associated with the odds of a higher grade of GPA (OR=0.456, 95% CI=0.246, 0.846, p<0.05).

Conclusion/ Implications: These findings support the literature which indicates that lifestyle and preventive health behaviors can predict other important non-health-related outcomes. There are many implications for social work providers and health educators, and researchers to develop tailored health promotion and education interventions, specifically for AA female college students, which will impact their overall health and wellness, promoting longevity.