Date of Award

Summer 2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Exercise Science

First Advisor

Toni M. Torres-McGehee

Abstract

Academic success is strongly influenced by student well-being, with nutrition, sleep, and mental health emerging as critical and interconnected components. Health profession students often face significant mental and physical demands, as they navigate their educational training, which can challenge their ability to maintain healthy behaviors and access necessary support. Although these students are often trained to recognize, treat, and promote wellness in others, they may struggle to prioritize or seek care for themselves. This work aims to explore the health behaviors and care-seeking patterns of health profession students, with a focus on dietary habits, sleep, and barriers to mental health care. Using a cross-sectional design, we conducted two studies that gained insight into the health behaviors, wellness challenges, and help-seeking patterns of health profession students at one large university in the southeastern United States. Study 1 We examined the dietary behaviors, eating disorder (ED) risk, and sleep patterns of 34 professional master’s-level athletic training students (age = 23 ± 1 years). Participants completed an online prescreening, lab visits (including anthropometrics, resting metabolic rate, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI], Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3), and EDI-3 Symptoms Checklist (EDI-3 SC), and free-living monitoring (7-day food log and Polar Ignite watch for sleep tracking). Results showed that most participants had poor energy balance (EB = -1078.1 ± 695.1 kcal/day), low carbohydrate intake (70.8%), and high saturated fat intake. ED risk was high (61.8%), and PSQI scores indicated poor sleep quality (6.3 ± 2.2). Additionally, a significant association was found between year in school and ED risk (χ²₍₁,₃₄₎=3.85, P=.05). Study 2 We assessed the attitudes and barriers to mental health care among 176 health profession students (age = 23 ± 3 years) across multiple health profession disciplines using an online survey. The survey included demographic questions, past medical history, the the Barriers to Help Seeking Checklist (BHSC), the Mental Help Seeking Attitudes Scale (MHSAS), and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help–Short Form (ATSPPH-SF). Results showed that 48.3% of participants reported previous mental health concerns while being a health professional student, and 31.8% of the sample had history of utilizing campus mental health services. MHSAS and ATSPPH-SF scores were 5.38 ± 1.13 and 19.7 ± 5.1, respectively, indicating generally positive attitudes toward seeking help. However, major barriers included lack of time (75.6%), difficulty accessing services (73.5%), and concerns that providers would not understand their needs (42.6%) were present. Conclusion Findings highlight that health profession students, specifically those in athletic training are experiencing elevated risk for eating pathologies, insufficient sleep, and inadequate diet. Factors that may be influenced by their academic and clinical education demands. Across multiple disciplines, health profession students generally possess positive attitudes toward seeking mental health care. Although significant barriers such as lack of time, limited availability, and concerns about provider understanding, are hindering utilization of available services. The personal health and help-seeking behaviors exhibited illuminate the need for institutions to prioritize accessible, supportive environments that bridge gaps between education, behavior, and resource utilization for health profession students.

Rights

© 2025, Kenya Shereece Moore

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