Research

Click on the below links to find out more about my current and ongoing research projects, and to find out more about some of my research areas. For a list of all of my peer-reviewed publications, click here.

Current/ongoing funded research projects

1. The perception of nuclear power as an energy source, the health of the local community, and the level of community and individual disaster and pandemic preparedness

2. College student expenses

3. Alternative high school students social network and health behaviors and outcomes

Example publications from key research areas

Objective measures of health

I have used objective measures of health to examine urinary bisphenol concentrations (BPA, BPF, and BPS) among a representative sample of US adults using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset. I have shown that participants who were food insecure had higher levels of Bisphenol A (BPA) when urinary creatinine (a measure of urine dilution) was not controlled for; and that there was no association between food insecurity and BPA when urinary creatinine was controlled for. I have also showed that improved dietary quality is associated with lower bisphenol exposure. I have also examined physical activity levels using objective measures, and discussed how even objective measures can be manipulated to have very different conclusions.

1. Hall, A., Hillebrant-Openshaw, M., Baca-Zeff, S., & van Woerden, I. (2021). Triaxial Accelerometry-Based Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity in Older Adults Using Four Different Methods. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity.

2. van Woerden, I., Bruening, M., Montresor-Lopez, J., & Payne-Sturges, D. (2019) Trends and Disparities in Urinary BPA Concentrations Among U.S. Young Adults. Environmental Research.

3. van Woerden, I., Payne-Sturges, D., Whisner, C., & Bruening, M. Dietary quality and bisphenols: trends in bisphenol A, F and S exposure in relation to the healthy eating index using representative data from the NHANES 2007-2016. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Food insecurity

Using objective measures of high school and college academic performance I have shown that food insecure students tended to obtain a lower GPA than their food secure counterparts. I have examined what factors were associated with college students’ food insecurity using both longitudinal and cross-sectional datasets. From the longitudinal study I have suggested that food insecurity may peak at the end of each semester. Most recently, I have drawn attention that the existing food insecurity measurements may not perform as expected when used with college students.

1. Ellison, B., Bruening, M., Hruschka, D. J., Nikolaus, C. J., van Woerden, I., Rabbitt, M., & Nickols-Richardson, S. M. (2021). Food insecurity among college students: A case for consistent and comparable measurement. Food Policy.

2. van Woerden, I., Hruschka, D., Vega-Lopez, S., Schaefer, D., Adams, A., & Bruening, M. (2019) Food insecure college students and objective measurements of their unused meal plans. Nutrients.

3. van Woerden, I., Hruschka, D., & Bruening, M. (2018). Food insecurity negatively impacts academic performance. Journal of Public Affairs.

4. Bruening, M., Brennhofer, S., van Woerden, I., Todd, M., & Laska, M. (2016). Factors related to the high rates of food insecurity among diverse, urban college freshmen. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Diet

I have examined how diet is associated with food insecurity, social networks, mental health, and BMI. For instance, I have shown how friends influence one another’s weekly drinking and binge drinking. I have shown how BMI is associated with romantic relationship status and also used objective measures to show the similarity of roommates’ meal plan use.

1. van Woerden, I., Bruening, M. (2022) Social context is related to health behaviors: mEMA findings from the SPARC study. Appetite.

2. Christensen N, van Woerden I, Aubuchon-Endsley NL, Fleckenstein P, Olsen J, Blanton C. (2021). Diet Quality and Mental Health Status among Division 1 Female Collegiate Athletes during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

3. Schaefer, D., van Woerden, I., Hruschka, D., & Bruening, M. (2021). Finding and Keeping Friends in College and their Influence on Alcohol Use: A Network Analysis. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

4. van Woerden, I., Schaefer, D., Hruschka, D., Vega-Lopez, S., Adams, A., & Bruening, M. (2019) Similarity in meal plan use among first-year roommates. Appetite.

5. Bruening, M., van Woerden, I., Todd, M., & Laska, M. N. (2018). Hungry to learn: the prevalence and effects of food insecurity on health behaviors and outcomes over time among a diverse sample of university freshmen. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

Social networks

I have examined how social networks (friends, roommates, romantic partners) are associated with changes in health behaviors and outcomes. I have shown how friends influence one another’s weekly drinking and binge drinking, whereas conversely, alcohol use contributes to both friendship formation and friendship instability. I have shown how BMI is associated with romantic relationship status and also used objective measures to show the similarity of roommates’ meal plan use.

1. Schaefer, D., van Woerden, I., Hruschka, D., & Bruening, M. (2021). Finding and Keeping Friends in College and their Influence on Alcohol Use: A Network Analysis. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

2. van Woerden, I., Brewis, A., Hruschka, D., Dunton, G., Adams, M. A., & Bruening, M. (2020). Young adults’ BMI and changes in romantic relationship status during the first semester of college. PloS ONE.

3. van Woerden, I., Schaefer, D., Hruschka, D., Vega-Lopez, S., Adams, A., & Bruening, M. (2019) Similarity in meal plan use among first-year roommates. Appetite.

Body Mass Index

As well as showing that both friends and roommates appear to influence each others’ BMI, I have examined potential behavioral factors that could explain the increased similarity on BMI among friends.

1. van Woerden, I., Hruschka, D., Brewis, A., Schaefer, D., & Bruening, M. (2020). First-year college students’ weight change is influenced by their randomly assigned roommates’ BMI. PLoSONE.

2. van Woerden, I., Hruschka, D., Schaefer, D., Fine, K., & Bruening, M. (2019) Evaluating Potential Behavioral Mediators for Increasing Similarity in Friends’ Body Size among College Students. Nutrients.

3. Bruening, M., van Woerden, I., Schaefer, D., Hruschka, D., Brewis, A., Whisner, C., Dunton, G., Todd, M., P, Ohri-Vachaspati., & Laska, M. (2018) Friendship as a social mechanism influencing body mass index (BMI) among emerging adults. PLoS ONE.