Purpose: Individuals after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) have reduced physical activity (PA) compared to uninjured peers. Achieving sufficient PA in this population is important for both short and long-term health, particularly to reduce the risk of chronic conditions (e.g., obesity, osteoarthritis). To address inadequate PA in this population, the purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and safety of a walking program early after ACLR.
Methods: This is a report of the quantitative data from a mixed-methods study. Individuals who underwent ACLR within the last 6-8 weeks were recruited. Ten participants completed a 10-week progressive walking program based on baseline step counts that were progressed by 10% weekly during Zoom meetings with a physical therapist. Feasibility metrics included appointment attendance, activity monitor (Actigraph GT9x Link) wear compliance, adverse events, and achievement of step count goals. A comparison group of individuals matched for sex, age, days since ACLR, BMI, and pre-injury activity levels from a separate longitudinal study was created. T-tests were used to compare steps/day, moderate to vigorous PA/day, and percentage of time in sedentary activity between these groups. A priori α was 0.05.
Results/Findings: Participants were 60% female, 20.2±3.9 years old, and BMI of 22.6±2.9kg/m2. Participants wore their activity monitor 94.2% of days, attended 94.2% of appointments, and met their recommended goal 54.8% of days with 40% averaging 10,000 steps per day for at least one full week. Fifty percent reached their PA target at least 50% of weeks. No adverse events related to the walking program were reported. When compared to matched controls, there was no statistically significant difference in any PA metric.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated feasibility and safety of a progressive walking program early after ACLR. Participants demonstrated high adherence wearing an activity monitor and completing weekly virtual PA program sessions. However, daily PA goals were only met approximately half of the time and did not lead to higher PA levels than in participants not completing a targeted PA program after ACLR. Future work will qualitatively assess participant feedback to the walking program to enhance the intervention to better meet patient needs.

Purpose: There is mounting evidence that people who get too little sleep have a higher risk of weight gain and obesity than people who get seven to eight hours of sleep a night (Harvard, n.d.). Studies have shown an average of 300-500 extra calories being consumed over 24 hours after limited sleep (McNeil, 2016). The purpose of this study is to determine if sleep impacts energy intake (EI) among midwestern US college-aged females.
Methods: Twenty-two college aged females (21 ± 1.5 years; BMI= 24.9 ± 3.1 kg/m2) wore activity monitors (FitbitTM or ApplewatchTM) on their wrist for three 24-hour periods to record total sleep time and daily energy expenditure (EE). During the same 3 days, participants kept a food diary using the MyFitnessPalTM app to record EI. Days of recording were divided into LOW sleep days (≤7 hours) and HIGH sleep days (≥9 hours). A T-test was used to compare EI between the LOW and HIGH sleep days and evaluate differences in EI and EE.
Results: 66 total days of measure were evaluated and the average sleep was 7 ± 1.3 hours/night. LOW sleep (6.4 ± 0.7 hours) was recorded on 18 nights (EI: 1,795 ± 713; EE: 2628 ± 668 kcals/day) and 11 HIGH sleep nights (9.8 ± 0.8 hours; EI: 1,683 ± 478; EE: 2274 ± 330 kcals/day). Overall, there was no significant difference between the LOW and HIGH sleep nights for EI. However, on LOW sleep days participants significantly underate (-708 ± 667 kcals) compared to the HIGH sleep days (-324 ± 665 kcals/day).
Conclusions: Although there was not a significant difference found in EI between the LOW and HIGH sleep groups, college aged females appear to get adequate sleep but are not eating adequate calories compared to their expenditure. Better measures of EE and sleep may be warranted for future studies.

Purpose: Establishing physical activity (PA) habits in college can create a foundation for maintaining a physically active lifestyle during adulthood. The interplay of current social environments and past adolescent friendships may influence college students’ PA behaviors.
This qualitative study aimed to explore the influence of adolescent friendships on current PA perceptions and behaviors.

Methods: College students from a midwestern U.S. university completed surveys (N=156) in the 2022 spring semester. Qualitative data from an open-ended survey question, “Describe what impact you believe your experiences with friends during adolescence had on your PA today”, were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.

Results/Findings: Three primary themes were identified: fun/enjoyable, building an active lifestyle, and social norms. Participants described how engaging in enjoyable activities with friends increased their motivation and desire to be active, built companionship, strengthened their relationships, and created lasting positive perceptions of PA (e.g., associating PA with a good mood). In some cases, having fun while being active with friends during adolescence encouraged individuals to seek out social opportunities to be active in college. Participants conveyed adolescent friendships helped establish value towards PA, the confidence to try new activities, and facilitated internal motivation and desire to build an active lifestyle. Similarly, participants sought to align with friends’ PA engagement to ‘keep up’ with them, shared daily activities (e.g., organized sports), and observed activities of their peers to help shape their PA engagement. Nonetheless, participants described challenges in maintaining an active lifestyle without the support of a friend group, potentially demonstrating codependency around PA, and those who socialized with more physically inactive peers tended to adopt similar behaviors.

Conclusion: The current findings contribute to a consistent body of evidence highlighting the strong positive and negative influences of peers on PA among adolescents and young adults. Many positive themes were identified that may contribute to college students valuing and prioritizing PA behavior, whereas negative influences highlight the challenges to maintaining an active lifestyle during young adulthood. Therefore, adolescent friendships are important to help form perceptions towards PA and potentially influence PA behavior during college.

Yuhuan Xie (presenting), Lingyi Fu (corresponding), Ryan D. Burns (corresponding), Julie E. Lucero (corresponding), Timothy A. Brusseau (corresponding), Yang Bai (corresponding)

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of goal setting, movement behaviors, and health perceptions in young adults after an online health coaching intervention. Participants were young adults from a US university (N=257; 57.2% female). Participants met with health coaches in an online setting for one hour and goals were set for two behavior areas. Physical activity (PA), sitting time, sleep, and perceptions of general health and emotional wellbeing were collected at baseline and 2- and 4-weeks after the coaching session. Mediation analyses determined the associations of goal setting and time on health perceptions and the indirect associatons of each movement behavior. No movement behavior positively mediated the associations of goal setting or health coaching, although PA, sitting time, and weeknight sleep at 2-weeks predicted general health at 4-weeks (β=0.17–0.39, p<0.01) and predicted emotional wellbeing at 4-weeks (β=0.16–0.21, p<0.01). Emotional wellbeing mediated the association of time (health coaching) on general health (IE=0.19, p<0.001) and general health mediated the association of health coaching on emotional wellbeing (IE=0.09, p<0.001). Movement behaviors correlated with health perceptions, but no positive mediating associations were observed. Emotional wellbeing mediated the effect of health coaching on general health and vice-versa, suggesting a bidirectional association between health perceptions.

Purpose: Intention-behavior discordance remains a challenge in understanding physical activity (PA) behavior. This study examined distributions of intention-behavior profiles for PA among adolescents and emerging adults, and explored predictors of these profiles using the Multi-Process Action Control (M-PAC) framework.
Methods: This study included independent samples of 2,418 college students (Mage = 19 ± 2 years; 64% female) and 1,849 high school students (Mage = 16 ± 1 years; 52% female) living in South-Central Texas. Participants completed surveys including measures to assess the reflective, regulatory, and reflexive processes outlined in the M-PAC framework as well as the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form to assess weekly moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) behavior and intention to engage in MVPA at age-specific public health recommendations (i.e., 150 min/week for adults; 60 min/day for adolescents). Participants were classified into profiles based on intention (yes/no) and PA guideline adherence (yes/no).
Results: Four intention-behavior profiles emerged: a) unsuccessful intenders (adolescents: 31.6%; emerging adults: 22.7%), b) successful intenders (adolescents: 39.9%; emerging adults: 60.0%), c) active non-intenders (adolescents: 6.4%; emerging adults: 5.6%), and d) successful non-intenders (adolescents: 22.1%; emerging adults: 11.7%). The intention-behavior gap was larger for adolescents (44.2%) than emerging adults (27.4%). Discriminant function analysis indicated 65.6% of emerging adults were classified into the correct intention-behavior profile via two separate functions that explained 93.3% and 6.7% of the variance, respectively. For the adolescent sample, 51.6% of participants were correctly classified via one discriminant function which accounted for 97.6% of the variance. Identity, habit, and behavioral regulation emerged as the strongest correlates of the discriminant functions, indicating their importance in predicting intention-behavior profiles. Follow up one-way ANOVAs demonstrated consistent findings across the samples; significant differences were observed between the intention-behavior profiles for all of the M-PAC framework variables, with successful intenders reporting the highest scores.
Conclusions: Most adolescents and emerging adults had intentions to be active, yet many failed to follow through. Intention-behavior discordance appears larger for adolescents, although this disparity may be an artefact attributable to differences in PA guidelines. Behavior change techniques that target post-intentional processes should be prioritized in interventions seeking to help translate PA intentions into action.

Purpose: Food insecurity (FI) and substance use (SU) are both common in college students and may be mechanistically linked. FI predicts disordered eating behaviors (DEB), which are independently linked with SU. Thus, DEB might mediate associations between FI and SU; however, this role remains to be investigated in populations at risk of all three. This study examined the mediating role of DEB in the relationship between FI and SU in undergraduate students.

Methods: Participants were drawn from a convenience sample of incoming first-year undergraduate students (n=2312; 50% female; 34% BIPOC) in a study about student life prior to arrival on campus from a large U.S. university. FI and SU over the past year were assessed using the Adult Food Security Survey Module and the Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drug questionnaire, respectively. SU was a summed score of the total number of substances used. DEB were assessed using the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDEQ; 6.0), in which subscales were summed for a global DEB score. Mixed linear regression and logistic regression were applied, adjusting for sex, race/ethnicity, Pell Grant status, parent’s highest education, and parent’s employment status.

Results: In total, 8% of participants reported FI, 37% reported a global DEB score of at least 1, and 28% used at least one substance. FI was significantly associated with higher SU (β=0.34, SE=0.07, p<.0001) and global DEB (β =0.64, SE=0.11, p<.0001). DEB was significantly associated with SU (β=0.13, SE=0.01, p<.0001). When global DEB was included as a mediator, the impact of FI on SU was reduced (β=0.27, SE=0.07, p<.001). Global DEB partially mediated the association between FI and total SU, accounting for 23% of the overall effect.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that DEBs may partially mediate the association between FI and SU. Food–insecure students may develop DEB to regulate aversive emotional states, which may stimulate greater engagement in SU. Screening FI and effective strategies to manage FI and DEB may reduce the risk of SU in youth transitioning to college. Future research is needed for a comprehensive understanding of the complex interplay between FI, DEB, and SU in this population.

Purpose: This study examines the influence of food parenting practices on college students' dietary self-efficacy and subsequent fruit and vegetable consumption, considering the moderating effect of food insecurity. The research aims to elucidate the complex interplay between early-life parental influence, individual self-efficacy in dietary choices, and the challenges posed by food insecurity.
Methods: A sample of 360 college students completed an online survey, providing data on their fruit and vegetable intake, recollections of food parenting practices during childhood, current levels of dietary self-efficacy, and experiences with food insecurity. A moderated mediation model was applied to assess the direct and indirect effects of recalled parental food restriction and pressure to eat, with dietary self-efficacy as the mediator and food insecurity as the moderator.
Results/Findings: Parental food restriction and pressure to eat in childhood are significantly and negatively associated with dietary self-efficacy (a-path = −.2188, p = .0024), suggesting these practices may diminish children's confidence in making healthy food choices. Dietary self-efficacy was found to be a significant predictor of fruit and vegetable consumption; however, this relationship is compromised under conditions of food insecurity (b-path coefficient = −.1495, se(HC4) = .0692, t = −2.1606, p = .0314, R^2-change = .0076). The direct effect of food parenting practices on consumption, not mediated by dietary self-efficacy, was not significant (c’-path coefficient = −.0892, se(HC4) = .1075, p = .4070, R^2-change = .0015), indicating that the impact of food parenting practices is primarily through dietary self-efficacy. The index of moderated mediation was significant (value = .0327, BootLLCI = 0.0018 to BootULCI = .0728), indicating food insecurity significantly moderates the indirect effect of food parenting practices on fruit and vegetable consumption through dietary self-efficacy.
Conclusions: The findings underscore the critical role of early food parenting practices in shaping dietary self-efficacy and the exacerbating effect of food insecurity on young adults' dietary behaviors. Interventions to promote healthy eating among college students should support dietary self-efficacy and the challenges posed by food insecurity, which is a growing concern with increasing rates among college students.