Date of Conferral

8-20-2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Health Education and Promotion

Advisor

Misty Luther

Abstract

Despite making up approximately 12% of the United States’ population in 2020, African Americans ages 15 to 24 years old comprised 32% of the reported sexually transmitted diseases. The purpose of this quantitative research was to examine the impact of digital sexual health education (SHE) information on sexual health behaviors among African American undergraduate college students aged 18 to 24 years. The two research questions explored if the use of digital SHE information reduced the risk of adverse sexual health behaviors among African American undergraduate college student ages 18 to 24 years old; and if there was a relationship between the use of digital SHE information, college classification, and modifiable adverse sexual health behaviors risk among African American undergraduate students ages 18 to 24 years old. The theoretical framework was the social cognitive theory. The research design was non-experimental cross-sectional study with a single point-in-time survey utilizing a convenience sample. Sample size 364, 85.1% of research participants reported using digital SHE information. Of those using digital SHE, 58.1% changed health behaviors. These findings were statistically significant. Examining behaviors based on time, specifically within the last 30 days, results revealed a statistically significant relationship between college classification and ever having been screened for an STI and HIV. The findings of this research extend the current field of knowledge as it relates to the use of digital SHE, sexual behavior change, and classification in college. The results have implications of positive social change at the individual & societal levels, promoting reputable digital SHE, reduced incidents of STIs lower medical cost, and shaming affecting mental health.

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