Final Report

Breanne O’Leary

COM 4550: Health Communication Campaigns

 As part of Team #Adulting, I helped create a health communication campaign that

revolved around stress in upperclassmen at UCF. According to a 2008 mental health study by the

Associated Press and mtvU, eight in ten college students say they have sometimes or frequently

experienced stress in their daily lives over the past three months. This was an increase of 20%

from a survey done five years ago (The American Institute of Stress 2017). According to the

National College Health Assessment for the year of 2010, stress was the number one reported

impediment to academic performance. This fact has not changed since then (American College

Health Association 2010). Further, in an article written for the Journal of Educational Psychology

titled, “An Approach to the Measurement of Psychological Characteristics of College

Environments,” the authors found, “Many of the emotional and physical symptoms that occur

commonly in the college population, such as headaches, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and the

inability to cope, can be attributed to or exacerbated by stress” (Pace and Stern, 1958). In an article

for the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management titled, “Health Consequences of Stress,”

researchers found that stress can cause immune system suppression, which increases not only the

likeliness to get physically ill, but also increases the likeliness to develop psychological conditions

such as anxiety and depression (Horn, J.C. Quick, and J.D. Quick 1987).

Stress on college campuses is clearly an important issue to address due to the physical and

mental health issues that it has been proven it can lead to. On the UCF campus, stress is pretty

equal with the national average. According to the National College Health Assessment for the year

of 2013, 30.7% of respondents said that stress has affected their academics within the last twelve

months (American College Health Association 2013). The 2015 UCF average for this question

was 31.6%. In both the national and UCF survey, stress was the number one contributor to

disruptions in academics. According to the 2015 UCF survey, within the last two weeks, 40.9% of
males and 63.3% of females felt overwhelmed by all they had to do (American College Health

Association 2015). According to the National College Health Assessment for the year of 2016,

40% of males and 36% of females experienced average stress. Further, 36% of males and 46% of

females experienced more than average stress (American College Health Association 2016). These

numbers are similar to the UCF survey, in which 40.6% of males and 35.8% of females

experienced average stress. 33.8% of males and 46.5% of females experienced more than average

stress (American College Health Association 2015).

Due to the high rates of stress on college campuses, our goal for this campaign was to get

more UCF upperclassmen to participate in de-stressing activities more often and to know that they

are not alone in the stress that they are feeling. With our campaign, we sought to prevent the

bottling up of stress so that it turns into a physical or mental health problem. To do this, we

encouraged de-stressing more often. The feasibility of changing a student’s behavioral practices to

include more de-stressing activities really depends on how much time they have to do the activity,

and also, whether their friends are doing it and have said it works for them.

The overall audience for both our persuasion and instruction messages were UCF

upperclassmen. We chose to target them because they face more of life’s stressors than

underclassmen might. Factors such as finances, jobs/internships, relationships, the future, etc. all

weigh on upperclassmen’s shoulders more than underclassmen. Within our campaign specifically,

the static posters that we created can be geared toward any UCF student because they do not

specify grade level or life stressors. With our multimedia BuzzFeed quiz, it is more geared toward

upperclassmen because the questions are about life stressors.

In order to figure out how to shape our campaign, we conducted a survey of UCF

upperclassmen. We collected 65 responses. Of the 65, 63.1% were seniors and 36.9% were
juniors. The average age of our respondents was 23.4 years old. We found these five important

results from our survey:

 Academics (mean= 3.95 “a lot”) and finances (mean= 3.68 “a lot”) contribute the most to

students’ stress

 Students are most likely to listen to a stress management message from their friends

(mean= 3.85 “somewhat likely”)

 Students are most likely to enjoy a funny message about stress management (mean= 3.88

“somewhat likely”)

 56.92% of respondents reported “yes” they go to their friends as a first resource when they

are stressed

 Listening to music (mean= 3.81 “a lot”) and talking to others (mean= 3.79 “a lot”) are the

de-stressing techniques that students use the most

From this information, we decided to create both a funny message and a message from students’

friends. In our static posters, we included a statistic about listening to music and talking to friends

in order to reduce stress since they are the de-stressing techniques that students use the most. In

our BuzzFeed quiz, we included questions about academics and finances.

We created static posters in order to persuade UCF students to de-stress more often. The

overall theme for our campaign is “What’s your escape?” Therefore, on the top of the posters we

wrote “My escape is ______.” We filled in the blank with “music” and “hanging with friends”

because those were the two most common de-stressing techniques that were reported in our

survey. Because we understood that UCF students value music and hanging out with their friends

as de-stressors, we used them as positive incentives for students to de-stress. On both of the

posters, we made the de-stressors, i.e., “music” and “hanging with friends,” look like a person’s
handwriting so as to make it more relatable to our audience— like their friend wrote it.

Underneath this, we wrote, “More than half of UCF students that deal with stress and being

overwhelmed [use music] or [talk to their friends] as an escape. What’s your escape?” We decided

to include these statistics from our survey because those surveyed said that they would most like

to hear a stress management message from their friends. By saying that more than half of UCF

students listen to music and talk to their friends to de-stress, students see this message as coming

from their peers. Likewise, this can incentivize students to de-stress more often because they know

that they are not alone in feeling stress and their peers are using the same coping methods. At the

bottom of the poster we instructed students to take our BuzzFeed quiz so that they could find out

more ways to de-stress. We also added a QR code so when the posters are hung up around

campus, students can easily access the quiz. Throughout the message, we used black and gold so

as to appeal to UCF students. With our posters, we wanted to change the belief that nothing can be

done to reduce the stress that college students are feeling. We provided evidence that already, over

half of UCF students are using music and their friends in order to cope with stress.

For our multimedia message, we created an instructional BuzzFeed quiz titled, “What

Level of Stressed Out College Student Are You?” This is a personality quiz that we created in

order to inform students of ways that they can de-stress based on how stressed they are. The quiz

consists of ten questions all having to do with different stressors in students’ lives. Specifically,

we asked about what their reaction would be if they slept through their alarm, how they are doing

financially, how much they overthink their problems, how they are doing relationship-wise, how

their semester is going, whether they know what they want to do after college, and in general, how

busy they are. The answers that students can choose from were either in the form of memes or text

answers. We made the answers funny because that was the type of message that the students that
we surveyed said they were most likely to enjoy. Four answer choices were given for each

question. The first one was the most stressed out, and the last one was the least stressed out. Based

on this, there are four types of results that students can get.

We delineated behaviors in the results section of the quiz. If students most often selected

the first answer, which was the most stressed out, then they get the “You have no chill” result.

Within the result, we told students to step back and breathe. We told them to set aside ten minutes

every day to get organized. We also told them to clear one “extra” thing from their schedule each

week. If students most often selected the second answer, then they got “You’re barely hanging

on.” Within this result, we told students to try something new like talking to their best friend or

joining a kickboxing class. If students most often selected the third answer, then they got “You’re

doing alright.” Within this response, we told students that they are experiencing an average

amount of stress. We told them when they are feeling stressed, they should listen to their favorite

Spotify Radio, go to the gym, or binge watch their favorite Netflix series. If students most often

selected the fourth and last answer, then they got “It’s like you’re not even trying.” We told

students that they are most likely not acknowledging the stress in their life, and that can be a

dangerous thing. We told them that stress is normal, and we instructed them to look at a section in

the link that we attached which specifically helps you discover sources of stress in your life. We

also included this link in the other three result options as well. The link gave a comprehensive

overview of how to identify sources of stress, how to replace unhealthy coping strategies with

healthy coping strategies, and how to “avoid, alter, adapt, and accept” stress. It also included

detailed descriptions of other ways to de-stress and resources to de-stress.

The main way that our messages will be disseminated is through social media. This is the

channel that our survey respondents said they would notice a message the most. For the static
posters, we would like to create an Instagram page, in which every month there is a new poster

posted to this Instagram page. Each poster would have to do with different ways that students can

cope with stress using our survey results. We would also like the poster to be hung up around

campus. Places like the Student Union and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), as

well as the Recreation and Wellness Center (RWC) and Health Services would be good to have

our poster hung up. Every month, the poster could be replaced with the new one for that month.

For the BuzzFeed quiz, we will share it on different social media platforms such as Facebook and

Twitter. We could share it to the UCF Facebook groups. We could also work with CAPS, the

RWC, and Health Services to have them post it to their Facebook pages as well. Every month, we

would repost it to social media around the same time as the new Instagram post/poster on campus.

The types of evaluation that we will measure are reaction, learning, behavior, and

results/effectiveness. To evaluate reaction, we will issue surveys to students about what their

impressions were of the poster and BuzzFeed quiz. We may also be able to measure reaction

through comments on the Instagram posts and comments on the BuzzFeed quiz. To measure

learning, we will issue pre- and post-tests. We would ask about what de-stressing techniques

students think their peers use the most, as well as ways to measure if they learned any new de-

stressing techniques. To measure behavior, we will issue a survey asking students about their de-

stressing habits both before and after the release of the campaign. To evaluate

results/effectiveness, we will see how much interaction there is with the Instagram posts and the

BuzzFeed quiz. We will look at the comments to see if students’ attitudes and perceptions

changed. We will also look at the UCF survey next year to see if students were feeling less

stressed/coping with stress better.

 References

American College Health Association. (2010, 2013, 2016). National College Health Assessment.

Retrieved from http://www.acha-ncha.org/reports_ACHA-NCHAII.html

American College Health Association. (2015). University of Central Florida Executive Summary

Fall 2015.

Horn, R.S., Quick, J.C., and Quick, J.D. (1987). Health Consequences of Stress. Retrieved from

https://www.nyu.edu/life/safety-health-wellness/live-well-nyu/priority-areas/stress.html

Pace, C.R., and Stern, G.G. (1958). An Approach to the Measurement of Psychological

Characteristics of College Environments. Retrieved from

https://www.nyu.edu/life/safety-health-wellness/live-well-nyu/priority-areas/stress.html

The American Institute of Stress. (2017, March 1). Stress in College Students. Retrieved from

https://www.stress.org/college-students/
 Appendix A

Qualtrics Survey Results

2. What is your age?

a. Mean: 23.4 years old
3. What year are you in school?
a. Junior: 36.9%
b. Senior: 63.1%
4. Are you Full Time or Part Time student?
a. We found that 83.08% are full-time.
5. Do you have a job? No/Part time/full time
a. We found that 44.62% of students work part-time
6. Are you in a Relationship? Yes/No
a. 50.77% said yes, however 49.23% said no. So, the results were pretty even.
7. Are you responsible for caring for anyone other than yourself? Yes/No
a. We found that 75.38% said no.
8. Do you go to your friends as a first resource when you feel stressed?
a. 56.92% of students said yes.
Questions 8-9 were on a scale of “None at all” to “A great deal”
9. How much do the following factors contribute to stress in life?
a. Academics: 3.95 mainly “a lot”
b. Family: 2.97 between “a little and a moderate amount”
c. Relationships: 2.72 mainly “a little”
d. Work: 3.22 mainly “a moderate amount”
e. Finances: 3.68 mainly “a lot”
10. How often do you use the following to reduce stress?
a. Yoga: 1.27 mainly “none at all”
b. Meditation: 1.65 mainly “a little”
c. Breathing Techniques: 1.98 mainly “a little”
d. Watch TV: 3.14 mainly “a moderate amount”
e. Exercise: 2.92 mainly “a moderate amount”
f. Talk to others: 3.79 mainly “a lot”
g. Listen to music: 3.81 mainly “a lot”
From these two questions we found that Finances and Academics were main contributors to stress
in their lives and they like to reduce stress by watching TV, listening to music, exercising, and
talking to others.
Question 11 was on a scale of “Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree”
11. Indicate which option best applies to you.
a. I feel stressed daily. Mean: 3.55 mainly “somewhat agree”
b. I get enough sleep every night. Mean: 2.75 mainly “neither disagree or agree”
c. Overthinking contributes to my stress. Mean: 4.46 between “somewhat agree and
strongly agree”
d. My financial obligations stress me out. Mean: 3.88 mainly “somewhat agree”
e. School obligations (academics, athletics, clubs, school sponsored activities, etc.)
stress me out. Mean: 3.6 mainly “somewhat agree”
 f. Family obligations stress me out. Mean: 2.92 mainly “neither disagree or agree”
g. I have a lot of time to use however I like. Mean: 2.08 mainly “somewhat disagree”
h. I use de-stressing techniques weekly, even if I'm not stressed during that week
(meditation, yoga, breathing techniques, etc.). Mean: 2.45 between “somewhat disagree
and neither disagree or agree”
i. Stress has impacted my health negatively in my junior and senior years of college.
Mean: 3.42 between “neither disagree or agree and somewhat agree”
j. The future and life after college stresses me out. Mean: 3.78 mainly “somewhat
agree”
Question 12-15 are on a scale of Extremely Unlikely to Extremely Likely
12. Indicate how likely you are to listen to a message about stress management from the
following sources.
a. Friends: Mean: 3.85 mainly “somewhat likely”
b. Parents: Mean: 3.69 mainly “somewhat likely”
c. Celebrities: 2.11 mainly “somewhat unlikely”
d. Health Care Professionals: Mean: 4.11 mainly “somewhat likely”
e. Professors: Mean: 3.55 between “neither unlikely or likely and somewhat likely”
13. Indicate how likely you are to notice a message about stress management through the
following channels.
a. Social Media: Mean: 3.35 mainly “neither unlikely or likely”
b. Poster: 2.63 between “somewhat unlikely and neither unlikely or likely”
c. Flyer/Pamphlet: Mean:2.92 mainly “neither unlikely or likely”
d. Website: Mean:3.09 mainly “neither unlikely or likely”
e. YouTube Video: Mean:3.06 mainly “neither unlikely or likely”
14. Indicate how likely you are to enjoy a message about stress management through the
following formats.
a. Funny: Mean:3.88 mainly “somewhat likely”
b. Emotional: Mean: 3.44 between “neither unlikely or likely and somewhat likely”
c. Testimonial: Mean: 3.57 mainly “somewhat likely”
d. Statistics/Facts: Mean: 3.62 mainly “somewhat likely”
Questions 15 & 16 were Fill In The Blank
15. What are the biggest barriers in your life that stop you from feeling stress-free? Explain. (i.e.
not having money to participate in de-stressing activities, not having time to de-stress, etc.)
a. The most common answers we found were finances, time, and school load.
16. How do you know when you are stressed? What are the physical and mental symptoms for
you?
a. The most common answers were headaches, anxiety, crankiness, fatigue, and lack of
sleep.
17. Was our first example of a Stress Campaign. This was the picture of man with his head as a
whole bunch of wires.
Question 18 was on a scale of Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree
18. I found this message to be…
a. Informative: Mean: 3.23 mainly “neither disagree or agree”
b. Engaging: Mean: 3.53 between “neither disagree or agree and somewhat agree”
c. Interesting: Mean: 3.89 mainly “somewhat agree”
d. Important: Mean: 3.64 mainly “somewhat agree”
Question 19 had 5 options: 1= Extremely unlikely, 2= somewhat unlikely, 3= neither, 4=
somewhat likely, and 5= extremely likely. How likely are you to engage in the behavior
suggested by the ad?
19. Mean 2.87 mainly “neither unlikely or likely”
Question 20 is Fill in the Blank
20. Describe what you liked and didn’t like about this ad.
a. The most common answers for what they didn’t like were: It gave them more
anxiety, was too busy, small print, and not very informative.
b. The most common answers for what they liked were: it caught their attention and
was appealing to the eye.
21. Was the second Stress Campaign we used. This one was bright and had a bunch of words on
it.
Question 22 is on a scale of Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree
22. I found this message to be…
a. Informative: Mean: 4.21 mainly “somewhat agree”
b. Engaging: Mean: 3.98 mainly “somewhat agree”
c. Interesting: Mean: 3.84 mainly “somewhat agree”
d. Important: Mean: 4.06 mainly “somewhat agree”
Question 23 had 5 options: 5= Extremely unlikely, 4= somewhat unlikely, 3= neither, 2=
somewhat likely, and 1= extremely likely. How likely are you to engage in the behavior
suggested by the ad?
23. Mean: 2.32 mainly “somewhat likely”.
Question 24 was Fill in the Blank
24. Describe what you liked and didn’t like about this ad.
a. The most common answers for what they didn’t like: it was too busy, not enough
info, and cluttered and overwhelming
b. The most common answers for what they liked about it: the colors, the information
was there but not too much, gave you solutions to the problem being portrayed, and
intriguing.
25. Was the third Stress campaign we used. This one had lots of statistics / facts.
Question 26 was on a scale of Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree
26. I found this message to be:
a. Informative: Mean: 4.49 between “somewhat agree and strongly agree”
b. Engaging: Mean: 3.61 mainly “somewhat agree”
c. Interesting: Mean: 3.87 mainly “somewhat agree”
d. Important: Mean: 4.33 mainly “somewhat agree”
Question 27 had 5 options: 1= Extremely unlikely, 2= somewhat unlikely, 3= neither, 4=
somewhat likely, and 5= extremely likely. How likely are you to engage in the behavior
suggested by the ad?
27. Mean: 3.94 mainly “somewhat likely”
Question 28 was Fill in the Blank:
28. Describe what you liked and didn’t like about this ad.
a. The most common answers for what they didn’t like: very wordy, too much info, and
the words were small.
b. The most common answers for what they liked about it: very informative and made
good stress reducing suggestions.
 Appendix B

Static Messages:
 Appendix C

Multimedia Message:

BuzzFeed Quiz “What Level of Stressed Out College Student Are You?”

https://www.buzzfeed.com/adulting/what-level-of-stressed-out-college-student-are-you-

2wbid?utm_term=.chlVP1xod#.arYMp7mKR