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SUBSTANCE ABUSE: RESEARCH PROJECT #1
Research conducted in collaboration with the UCLA Health Anti-Vaping Champions.
ABSTRACT
Substance abuse is a prevalent issue among U.S. college students and websites play a crucial role guiding students to resources – such as helplines, support groups, and counseling – to facilitate prevention and treatment. Therefore, it is important to evaluate and identify opportunities for improvement for these websites to act as more effective tools. To do this, we performed a content analysis from January to April 2024 to analyze the design and content of 29 student-targeted substance use resource websites from the nine University of California undergraduate campuses. Each website was analyzed using a codebook which compiles 15 website features into five main categories: usability and accessibility, interactivity and engagement, design and aesthetics, timeliness and updates, and content. Of the 29 websites identified, 100% met the criteria for the mobile responsiveness category. However, 31-34% did not have all working links and only 34-38% included digitalized personal tools for cessation support. High inter-UC campus variance revealed that UC Davis offered consistently high-scoring websites, whereas campuses like UCLA and UC Merced met far fewer of the criteria on average. Consistent with concerns that colleges and universities neglect cessation resources, the online substance use resources offered by UC campuses do not reliably meet our definition of quality and content standards necessary for accessible use. This reveals potential obstacles for UC students who are seeking substance use cessation support for themselves or others.
PRESENTATION
1/10
Full paper is currently being revised.
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