Purpose: To quantify the associations between perceived racial discrimination over the life course and financial stress. Methods: The data are from the 2023 Survey of Racism and Public Health, a cross-sectional survey of adults. We employed mixed-effects linear models with zip code-level random effects adjusted for covariates. Results: There were 4952 participants, with an average age of 46.8 years. The participants identified as follows: 2366 (48%) as White, 865 (17%) as Black, and 711 (14%) as Hispanic. The overall average financial stress index score was 40.1 (SD = 11.6); multiracial participants reported the highest average financial stress score, at 44.2 (SD = 12.3). On average, Black participants reported the highest perceived discrimination scores across the life course: child and teen (mean = 2.5, SD = 1.1), adult (mean = 2.6, SD = 1.1), and past year (mean = 2.2, SD = 1.1). Higher perceived discrimination was associated with financial stress in each window, and adulthood (b = 2.6, 95% CI 2.3, 2.9) has a larger association magnitude than in childhood (b = 2.2, 95% CI 2.0, 2.5) and the past year (b = 2.3, 95% CI 2.0, 2.6). Conclusions: These findings suggest that perceived discrimination at all life stages is associated with financial stress, and its effects during adulthood may appear slightly larger compared to those during childhood and the past year.

Background: The start of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the implementation of nonpharmaceutical interventions by US institutions of higher education at an unprecedented level. During the backdrop of an emerging pandemic, younger adults (eg, college students) had an overall lower risk for severe outcomes for SARS-CoV-2, making this population a potential source of transmission for age groups with high susceptibility and negative health outcomes. We examine how college students’ level of concern for COVID-19 was influenced by different sources of information, their living status, income level, and other demographic identifiers and its association with prevention behavior change. Objective: We sought to examine the level of concern, defined as the extent to which the participant would take corrective action to mitigate contracting or spreading the virus (to family or friends) by using personal protective equipment such as a face mask, practicing social distancing, and following other public health recommendations, among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional, web-based survey was conducted in 2021 among 185 college students aged 18-41 years, with most living in New York City and the United States (n=134, 72.4%). Out of 185 college students, 94 provided their zip codes, with 51 of those college students indicating they lived in New York City areas. The participants completed the survey via a QR code. Study participants who did not complete the full survey or were not college students in any US college or university were excluded. Analyses were conducted using R (version 4.2.2; R Foundation for Statistical Computing). Results: Of 185 respondents participated in the study, 25 (13.5.%) used emails from their schools, 51 (27.6%) used mainstream media, and 109 (58.9%) used social media and other sources to obtain information about COVID-19. Of the 109 participants who learned about the pandemic from social media, 91 (83.5%) were concerned; however, only 63% (32/51) and 60% (15/25) of the participants who sourced information from mainstream media and their schools’ email, respectively, were concerned. Further, the participants who received information from social media and other sources were about 3 times more likely to be concerned about COVID-19 than participants who received information from the university via email (P=.036; OR=3.07, 95% CI: 1.06-8.83).. Conclusions: College students who received information from social media and other sources were more likely to be concerned about COVID-19 than students who received information from their school via emails.

BACKGROUND The start of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the implementation of nonpharmaceutical interventions by US institutions of higher education at an unprecedented level. During the backdrop of an emerging pandemic, younger adults (eg, college students) had an overall lower risk for severe outcomes for SARS-CoV-2, making this population a potential source of transmission for age groups with high susceptibility and negative health outcomes. We examine how college students’ level of concern for COVID-19 was influenced by different sources of information, their living status, income level, and other demographic identifiers and its association with prevention behavior change. OBJECTIVE We sought to examine the level of concern, defined as the extent to which the participant would take corrective action to mitigate contracting or spreading the virus (to family or friends) by using personal protective equipment such as a face mask, practicing social distancing, and following other public health recommendations, among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS A cross-sectional, web-based survey was conducted in 2021 among 185 college students aged 18-41 years, with most living in New York City and the United States (n=134, 72.4%). Out of 185 college students, 94 provided their zip codes, with 51 of those college students indicating they lived in New York City areas. The participants completed the survey via a QR code. Study participants who did not complete the full survey or were not college students in any US college or university were excluded. Analyses were conducted using R (version 4.2.2; R Foundation for Statistical Computing). RESULTS Of 185 respondents participated in the study, 25 (13.5.%) used emails from their schools, 51 (27.6%) used mainstream media, and 109 (58.9%) used social media and other sources to obtain information about COVID-19. Of the 109 participants who learned about the pandemic from social media, 91 (83.5%) were concerned; however, only 63% (32/51) and 60% (15/25) of the participants who sourced information from mainstream media and their schools’ email, respectively, were concerned. Further, the participants who received information from social media and other sources were about 3 times more likely to be concerned about COVID-19 than participants who received information from the university via email (P=.036; OR=3.07, 95% CI: 1.06-8.83).. CONCLUSIONS College students who received information from social media and other sources were more likely to be concerned about COVID-19 than students who received information from their school via emails.

Background: Rising cancer diagnoses and survivorship have increased demand for reliable cancer information. Online platforms offer resources that can strengthen health information and engagement; however, variable information quality, misinformation, and unequal digital access remain concerns. Little is known about how internet-use frequency, device type, and cancer history associate with cancer information seeking. Objective: To examine how internet-use frequency, device type, and personal cancer history associate with cancer information seeking. Methods: This study uses nationally representative data from 7245 respondents, weighted to represent approximately a sample of 261,682,768 US adults in the 2024 Health Information National Trends Survey 7 (HINTS 7). Weighted adjusted logistic regression was used to examine associations between cancer information seeking, internet-use frequency, and personal cancer history. Results: The odds of seeking cancer information are statistically significantly higher among those who use the internet more than once per day (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.12–5.36). Individuals with a personal history of cancer also have significantly higher odds of seeking cancer information (aOR = 3.75; 95% CI: 1.23–11.5) than those with no cancer history. However, personal cancer history does not modify the relationship between internet-use frequency and seeking cancer information, suggesting that frequent daily internet exposure among US adults may independently affect the odds of seeking cancer information, regardless of personal cancer history. The proportion of participants seeking cancer information also increases significantly (p < 0.001) with educational attainment, from 24.8% among those with, at most, an 11th-grade education to 64.6% among college graduates. The odds of seeking cancer information were statistically significantly higher for college graduates (aOR = 3.06; 95% CI: 1.66–5.61), compared with those with ≤11 grades. Conclusions: Frequent internet use was associated with cancer information seeking, and there was no statistically detectable difference across personal cancer history. Public health efforts should prioritize improving digital health literacy, expanding access to credible online resources, and using culturally tailored strategies to reach populations less likely to seek cancer information.