David L. Wyrick

Dr. Wyrick earned a B.S. in Exercise and Sports Science from Elon University (1994), his M.P.H. in Public Health Education from UNC Greensboro (1998), and his Ph.D. in Educational Research Methodology from UNC Greensboro (2002). Presently an Associate Professor of Public Health Education, he has received more than a dozen NIH funded grants and was recently awarded funding from UNCG through the BELL initiative to develop a new graduate course in Public Health Education titled “Promoting and Protecting Health through Entrepreneurship.” Dr. Wyrick also serves as the Chair for the Early Career Preventionist Network, as a member of the Board of Directors for the Society for Prevention Research, a member of various review groups for NIH, a reviewer for the journal Prevention Science, and as an expert consultant for various groups including the NCAA, Be Active, NC, NCAAHPERD, and the National Center for Drug Free Sport. Dr. Wyrick is also the founder and President of Prevention Strategies, LLC, an official affiliate of UNCG. With a deep concern for the community and the welfare of adolescents and young adults, he informs his thinking and acting with the findings of prevention research and creates programs and curricula that improve the quality of life for others. For example, he has created web-based programs targeting alcohol and other drugs that are being used by approximately 150 universities around the country. Dr. Wyrick lives with his wife, Cheryl, and three daughters, Katherine, Caroline, and Elizabeth in Greensboro, NC.

There are 55 included publications by David L. Wyrick :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
2526: Using the multiphase optimization strategy to engineer an optimized STI preventive intervention among college students 2017 350 OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The goal of this study is to develop an effective and efficient STI preventive intervention among college students following the principles and phases of MOST.
The Association between Coach and Teammate Injunctive Norm Reference Groups and College Student-Athlete Substance Use 2014 1103 This study assessed perceptions about teammate and coach approval of alcohol and other drug use (i.e., injunctive norms) among a sample of 3,155 college student-athletes in their first year of athletic eligibility. Student-athletes perceived that the...
Binge-drinking and non-binge-drinking student-athletes: The Role of Proximal Norms, Negative Expectancies, and Selected Socio-Demographic Variables 2016 614 Researchers have identified college student-athletes as a subgroup at risk for heavy drinking and associated consequences. Yet, few studies have examined multiple variables simultaneously to determine which stand out as most robust to explain drinkin...
Black First-Year College Students’ Alcohol Outcome Expectancies 2020 1024 Background: Alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs) are associated with college students’ varied alcohol consumption. Existing research on AOEs focuses primarily on heterosexual White students. Thus, it is important to explore how the intersection of mul...
Cigarette Smoking and Facial Wrinkles: A Review of the Literature 2012 4698 Research studies indicate that smoking cigarettes is related to a premature development of facial wrinkles. Given that facial wrinkles may act as motivation for people to quit smoking, it is crucial that smoking cessation professionals be able to acc...
Collaborative evaluation of a high school prevention curriculum: How methods of collaborative evaluation enhanced a randomized control trial to inform program improvement. 2012 1976 Blending high-quality and rigorous research with pure evaluation practice can often be best accomplished through thoughtful collaboration. The evaluation of a high school drug prevention program (All Stars Senior) is an example of how perceived compe...
College Alcohol Education and Prevention: a Case for Distance Education 2005 1245 College educators and program developers have responded to this need using a variety of different multimedia technologies. Alcohol-related web sites are among the most popular. Many of these sites are designed to improve -knowledge, attitudes, and be...
Coverage of Adolescent Substance Use Prevention in State Frameworks for Health Education 2001 2362 Ten secondary health education state curriculum frameworks were reviewed for their inclusion of 12 mediators commonly used to prevent adolescent substance use. Specific aims of the investigation were: a) to identify the extent to which the 12 mediato...
Coverage of adolescent substance use prevention in state frameworks for health education. 2013 1565 BACKGROUND: The use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) by adolescents is a national health issue. One way in which the United States approaches the prevention of substance use among adolescents is by teaching high school students about ATOD ...
D.A.R.E./Keepin’ It REAL Elementary Curriculum: Substance Use Outcomes 2023 909 In response to a need to implement an evidence-based prevention program, D.A.R.E. Americaadopted keepin’ it REAL. The program was previously developed and tested in middle schoolsettings. As part of its adoption, an elementary version of the program ...
Determining Intention to Provide Culturally Responsive Clinical Mental Health Care to Collegiate Student-Athletes 2023 130 Mental health care providers’ cultural responsiveness related to athletics is crucial to their clinical care provision for student-athletes on college campuses. However, little research has been conducted in applying a theoretical framework to explor...
Developing a Web-Based Tool Using Information and Communication Technologies to Expand the Reach and Impact of Photovoice 2015 1429 Information and communication technologies are opening up vast new arenas for conducting the work of health promotion. Technology-based health promotions expand reach, standardize information and its delivery, provide opportunities for tailoring, cre...
Diffusion of medication drop-boxes in North Carolina from 2007 to 2016 2018 1080 Introduction: A permanent drug donation box (“drop-box”) is one strategy implemented in communities across the United States to reduce the availability of excess controlled medications, including prescription opioids, for diversion. The objective of ...
Dimensions of Athletic Identity and their Associations with Drinking Behaviors among a National Sample of University Athletes in the United States 2021 181 Although prior studies have indicated athletic identity plays a role in alcohol use among college athletes, this research has largely drawn on a unidimensional conceptualization. Addressing this gap, the current study utilized a sample of 8,550 unive...
Does providing nutrition information at vending machines reduce calories per item sold? 2015 2537 In 2010, the United States (US) enacted a restaurant menu labeling law. The law also applied to vending machine companies selling food. Research suggested that providing nutrition information on menus in restaurants might reduce the number of calorie...
Effectiveness of a web-based alcohol-misuse and harm-prevention course among high--and low-risk students 2007 4382 Objective: In the current study, the authors assessed whether a new online alcohol-misuse prevention course (College Alc) is more effective at reducing alcohol use and related consequences among drinkers and nondrinkers. Participants: The authors com...
The Effects of a Web-Based Alcohol Prevention Program on Social Norms, Expectancies, and Intentions to Prevent Harm among College Student-Athletes 2016 3024 College athletes are at risk for heavy alcohol use, which jeopardizes their general health, academic standing, and athletic performance. Effective prevention programming reduces these risks by targeting theory-based intermediate factors that predict ...
Evaluation of an infused alcohol and drug prevention programme 2019 1044 Purpose: Alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs use typically increases in prevalence and frequency during middle and late adolescence. School health instruction often focusses on providing facts and rarely provides tools for addressing the psyc...
Factors Related to the Number of Fast Food Meals Obtained by College Meal Plan Students 2014 9156 Objectives: This study tested whether days on campus, financial access through a meal plan, and health consciousness were associated with number of meals that college students obtained from fast food restaurants. Participants and Methods:
First-year college students’ alcohol and hookup behaviours: Sexual scripting and implications for sexual health promotion 2019 1727 This study used a sexual scripting framework to analyse data from the Online College Social Life Survey to examine the role of individual, (e.g. gender, race and alcohol use), relational (partner type, condom use behaviours), and contextual factors (...
Going the distance: Delivery of high school drug prevention via distance education. 2010 2023 The purpose of this project was to develop a technology that can be used in schools where there are insufficient resources to implement a quality drug prevention program. The specific technology—distance education via teleconferencing—allows a highly...
Group Nature-Based Mindfulness Interventions: Nature-Based Mindfulness Training for College Students with Anxiety 2023 285 The mental health crisis across college campuses is accelerating, with anxiety listed as the top mental health issue for undergraduate college students. Although evidence suggests the COVID-19 pandemic escalated the mental health crisis on college ca...
Hazardous drinking by first-year college-athletes: The differential roles of drinking motives, alcohol consequences, and season status 2013 5430 College student-athletes and first-year students are two undergraduate populations at risk for heavy-episodic drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. In this study, 63 (56% female, 62% Caucasian) first-year student-athletes completed a pr...
Health-Related Social Norms Among High School Students 2004 1745 Adolescents tend to overestimate the prevalence and acceptability of high-risk behaviors such as drug use and underestimate that of protective behaviors such as proper nutrition. Educational campaigns designed to correct social norms have demonstrate...
A hybrid evaluation-optimization trial to evaluate an intervention targeting the intersection of alcohol and sex in college students and simultaneously test an additional component aimed at preventing sexual violence 2021 698 Background: Using the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST), we previously developed and optimized an online behavioral intervention, itMatters, aimed at reducing the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STI) among first-year college students b...
Implementing an Alcohol and Other Drug Use Prevention Program Using University–High School Partnerships: Challenges and Lessons Learned 2015 1904 Background: School-based alcohol and other drug use prevention remains an important national strategy. Collaborative partnerships between universities and high schools have the potential to enhance prevention programming; however, there are ch...
Initial indicators of effectiveness for a high school drug prevention program 2003 708 All Stars, Sr. is a comprehensive high school health education supplement designed to prevent high-risk behaviors among adolescents. The program includes topics such as personal health, nutrition, interpersonal relationships, and stress, with a speci...
Investigating Risk Factors Predictive of Problem Outcomes Experienced by First Year Drinking and Non-Drinking Collegiate Student-Athletes 2016 1023 This study examined risk factors for problem outcomes experienced by drinking and non-drinking first year collegiate student-athletes. Freshman and transfer student-athletes (N=2956) reported their alcohol use, problems experienced and demographic/sp...
Moving beyond the treatment package approach to developing behavioral interventions: addressing questions that arose during an application of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) 2014 1721 Given current pressures to increase the public health contributions of behavioral interventions, intervention scientists may wish to consider moving beyond the classical treatment package approach that focuses primarily on achieving statistical signi...
A National Study of the Reasons for Use and Non-Use of Alcohol Among College Student-Athletes by Sex, Race, and NCAA Division 2014 1353 Alcohol use among college student-athletes should be of great concern due to their risk for excessive consumption and related negative consequences compared to their non-athlete peers. Previous research has focused on reasons and/or motives for alcoh...
Normative Beliefs, Expectancies, and Alcohol-related Problems among College Students: Implications for Theory and Practice 2001 2250 This investigation (1) examined the interrelations among normative beliefs, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol-related problems and (2) investigated whether alcohol-related expectancies mediate associations between normative beliefs and alcohol-relate...
Parental Influence on Drinking Behaviors at the Transition to College: The Mediating Role of Perceived Friends’ Approval of High-Risk Drinking 2016 1370 Objective: This study tested whether perceived parental approval of high-risk drinking is directly linked to alcohol-related outcomes or whether the link between perceived parental approval and these outcomes is mediated by perceived friends’ approva...
Perceived norms and alcohol use among first-year college student-athletes' different types of friends 2017 1266 Objective: To describe first-year college student-athletes' friendship contexts and test whether their perceptions of alcohol use and approval by different types of friends are associated with their own alcohol use. Participants: First-year student-a...
Perceived Norms, Outcome Expectancies, and Collegiate Drinking: Examining the Mediating Role of Drinking Motives 2015 750 The authors examined the mediational role of drinking motives in explaining the associations among psychosocial antecedents and collegiate drinking. Results indicated that drinking motives partially mediated the relationships between outcome expectan...
Polysubstance use among first-year NCAA collegiate student-athletes 2018 365 The purpose of this article is to investigate polysubstance use among college student-athletes and determine whether use is independent of gender, race, season status, and athletic division. College student-athletes responded to questions related to ...
Pre-post evaluation of the “Supporting Student-Athlete Mental Wellness” module for college coaches 2019 2378 This study sought to determine whether completion of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s “Supporting Student-Athlete Mental Wellness” online module for coaches increased mental health literacy, reduced stigma, and increased intentions to: ...
Quantifying littered cigarette butts to measure effectiveness of smoking bans to building perimeters. 2012 2732 Objective: The authors estimated the number of violations of a university policy that prohibited smoking within 25 ft of all campus buildings. Participants: The project was conducted by 13 student researchers from the university and a member of the l...
A Randomized Iterative Approach to Optimizing an Online Substance Use Intervention for Collegiate Athletes 2021 497 Background Rates of drug use among collegiate athletes are high, yet there are few evidence-based interventions for this population. myPlaybook, an online intervention for collegiate athletes, targets multiple predictors of drug use (i.e., norms, pos...
Reducing Sensitive Survey Response Bias in Research on Adolescents: A Comparison of Web-Based and Paper-and-Pencil Administration 2011 1979 PURPOSE. Using the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT), the effect of mode of administration on (1) students' willingness to disclose sensitive information and (2) response rates was investigated.DESIGN. A2 × 2 unequal N facto...
A Review of Social Host Policies Focused on Underage Drinking Parties: Suggestions for Future Research 2012 696 Underage drinking continues to be a public health concern, partially due to the ease in which adolescents obtain alcohol and consume it in private locations. States and municipalities have implemented strategies to counteract this, including adopting...
School-Level Longitudinal Predictors of Alcohol, Cigarette, and Marijuana Use 2023 223 This study analyzed measures aggregated at the school level to identify key predictors of drinking alcohol, binge drinking, smoking cigarettes, and using marijuana. Using data collected from 6th through 12th grade students between 2011 and 2015, we i...
Secondary effects of myPlaybook on college athletes’ avoidance of drinking games or pregaming as a protective behavior strategy: A multisite randomized controlled study 2019 793 Rationale: Student-athletes are at risk for engaging in drinking games and pregaming. Research suggests that brief motivational and alcohol education intervention approaches designed to reduce harmful drinking behaviors may not be effective in loweri...
Sexual sensation seeking, hookups, and alcohol consumption among first-year college students 2020 1388 Objective: To explore sexual sensation seeking (SSS) among an ethnically-diverse sample of first-year college students and their hookup behaviors. Participants: 1,480 first-year college students who hooked up in the last 30?days were recruited from f...
Short-term Evaluation of a Web-Based College Alcohol Misuse and Harm Prevention Course (College Alc) 2006 1359 This study examined the short-term effects of a web-based alcohol misuse and harm prevention course (College Alc) among incoming freshmen at a California public university. Analysis results indicated that at the end of the fall semester, students ran...
The snowball survey and peer-education posters: Methods of teaching social norms. 2011 10022 Adolescent substance use is a major health issue in the United States. Adolescent substance use is associated with motor vehicle crashes,1 risky sexual behaviors,2 and the development of substance disorders during adulthood.3 National studies indicat...
Social Host Policies and Underage Drinking Parties 2013 918 Social host policies focused on underage drinking parties are implemented to reduce social availability of alcohol and high-risk drinking by adolescents in private locations. We examined the policies’ relationship with drinking location, peer-group d...
Sport-related Concussion Reporting and Coach-Athlete Attachment Among Collegiate Student-Athletes 2018 1371 Between 2001 and 2015, 3.4 million traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurrences in the U.S. were accounted for by sport participation. It is estimated between 12% and 60% of athletes delay seeking care after sustaining a concussion. Differences in sport-...
Student-athlete concussion disclosure and coach communication within collegiate athletics 2019 1199 Background: Between 1.6 and 3.8 million sports- and recreation-related concussions occur in the United States annually. Reports indicate that a significant number of athletes who have experienced symptoms of a potential sport-related concussion did n...
Synthetic Cannabinoid Use and Descriptive Norms among Collegiate Student-Athletes 2016 972 Synthetic cannabinoids have gained popularity over the past decade, especially among young adults, due to sharing similar psychoactive properties with Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). A limited number of studies have examined synthetic cannabinoid use amo...
Twitter as a tool to warn others about sobriety checkpoints: A pilot observational study. 2012 1528 Anecdotal evidence suggests that young people use the website Twitter as a tool to warn drivers about the locations of sobriety checkpoints. Researchers investigated this claim by independently analyzing the website’s content regarding a sample of 10...
A University System-Wide Qualitative Investigation into Student Physical Activity Promotion Conducted on College Campuses 2012 1886 Purpose. This study aimed to examine college student physical activity promotion.

Design. A cross-sectional approach to qualitative research was used. Setting. Southeastern state university system. Participants. Fourteen of 15 (...
Using the Integrated Behavioral Model to Determine Sport-Related Concussion Reporting Intentions Among Collegiate Athletes 2020 1045 Purpose: A significant proportion of sport-related concussions goes unreported among adolescents, which can result in irreversible brain damage. It is critical to identify and intervene on factors that significantly impact concussion reporting. Metho...
Using the Photovoice Method to Advocate for Change to a Campus Smoking Policy 2012 2803 Objective: The authors used the photovoice method as a strategy for empowering students to advocate for change of a campus smoking policy. Participants: Participants included 49 college students and 160 photo-exhibit attendees during spring 2011. Met...
Wake up call for collegiate athlete sleep: narrative review and consensus recommendations from the NCAA Interassociation Task Force on Sleep and Wellness 2019 1818 Sleep is an important determinant of collegiate athlete health, well-being and performance. However, collegiate athlete social and physical environments are often not conducive to obtaining restorative sleep. Traditionally, sleep has not been a prima...
YouTube: An international medium for sharing videos about hookah smoking. 2011 1944 The hookah pipe is an ancient tool for smoking tobacco and is a growing public health concern at the global level. YouTube is a website that allows its members to post videos for people to watch and to share comments about the videos in an online for...