Positions

Assistant Professor, Health Education and Promotion, College of Health and Human Performance

Contact Info

manesss23@ecu.edu

Publications in VIVO

Co-author Network

Co-investigator Network

Sarah Britney Maness

overview

Dr. Sarah Maness is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Education and Promotion at East Carolina University. She earned a PhD in Public Health from the University of South Florida and MPH from Emory University. She holds Bachelors Degrees in Biological Sciences and Spanish from North Carolina State University. Her research interests are in social determinants of health, focusing on reproductive health and community firearm violence prevention. Dr. Maness conducts community-engaged mixed methods research and has a strong interest in global health. She has led students on seven study abroad programs, served as a 2025 Fulbright Specialist in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and participated in the 2026 Baden-Wurttenburg/North Carolina Faculty Exchange Program in Freiburg, Germany. Dr. Maness is currently a member of the North Carolina Fulbright Association Board of Directors.

selected publications

article
- Active shooter training in university settings: a call for disability inclusive protocols
  . Journal of American College Health. 1-3. 2026
- An Integrated Regional Pediatric Asthma Program: Partnering With School Systems to Improve Child Health
  . Progress in Community Health Partnerships : Research, Education, and Action. 20:303-307. 2026
- Social determinants of access to healthcare services by race/ethnicity in a Southeastern Metropolitan Area
  . Journal of Health Equity. 3. 2026
- A qualitative analysis of health information seeking among African American adults in South Carolina
  . Journal of Health Equity. 2. 2025
- Changes in mental health problems and access to mental health care among US adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from the national survey of children's health
  . BMC Public Health. 25. 2025
- Community member perspectives on gun violence intervention in the southeast USA: a mixed-methods, cross-sectional study
  . BMJ Public Health. 3. 2025
- Contraception knowledge among college women in the Southeast United States
  . Journal of American College Health. 73:1010-1014. 2025
- Contraceptive Use and Its Associations With Social Determinants of Health Among Young Adults
  . Family & Community Health. 48:20-30. 2025
- Expert Consensus on Indicators of Social Determinants of Health: A Modified Delphi Study
  . Journal of Primary Care & Community Health. 16. 2025
- Exploring Vaccine Hesitancy, Structural Barriers, and Trust in Vaccine Information Among Populations Living in the Rural Southern United States
  . Vaccines. 13. 2025
- Exploring longitudinal associations between social determinants of health during adolescence and self-reported contraceptive use in young adulthood in the United States
  . Preventive Medicine Reports. 52. 2025
- HPV Vaccination Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Among Clinic Teams in North Texas
  . Journal of Cancer Education. 2025
- Health Equity and Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Interventions for Adolescents: A Systematic Review
  . Vaccines. 13. 2025
- Iron Deficiency Anemia in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Call to Action to Improve Patient Care
  . Inflammatory bowel diseases. 31:889-890. 2025
- Nativity and racial/ethnic differences in HPV infection among U.S. adults, NHANES 2007-2016
  . Frontiers in Public Health. 13. 2025
- Navigating Vaccines with Confidence: Assessing Current and Past Community-Based Vaccination Efforts in Rural Eastern North Carolina
  . Vaccines. 14. 2025
- Community and Academic Partner Perspectives on Collaborating Toward a Reduction in Community Gun Violence
  . Progress in Community Health Partnerships : Research, Education, and Action. 18:573-577. 2024
- Identifying System-Level Strategies to Engage in HPV Prevention Across Oral Health and Primary Care Settings
  . Vaccines. 12. 2024
- Contraceptive choice and decision making among college students in a Southeastern US state.. Reproductive, Female and Child Health. 3. 2024
- Beyond the First Trimester: Social Determinants of Delayed Prenatal Care at a Community Health Center Using the PRAPARE Tool. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2024
- Evaluation of a media literacy education program for sexual health promotion in older adolescents implemented in Southern universities. Journal of American College Health. 72:1561-1567. 2024
- "Do you want a period?" Launching and evaluating a brief contraceptive decision-making educational intervention. Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare. 37. 2023
- Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention: How cultural components play a role in programs tailored for minority youth.
  . Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice. 16:82-93. 2023
- A Qualitative Analysis of Access to Healthcare Among African American Adults in South Carolina
  . Journal of Primary Care & Community Health. 14. 2023
- Pregnancy-Specific Stress and Racial Discrimination Among U.S. Women
  . Maternal and Child Health Journal. 27:328-334. 2023
- Expansion of Programs and Schools Offering Dual Degrees in Master of Public Health and Master of Divinity: A Call to Action. Public Health Reports. 38:843-855. 2023
- Community service learning in the Teen Outreach Program in non-metropolitan Florida high schools.. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. 17:271-280. 2022
- Thirdhand Smoke in Multi-Unit Houses. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education. 65:12-21. 2022
- Associations Between Social Determinants of Health and Adolescent Contraceptive Use: An Analysis From the National Survey of Family Growth. Family & Community Health. 45:91-102. 2022
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge, beliefs, and vaccine uptake among United States and international college students. Journal of American College Health. 70:2483-2490. 2022
- The Connection Between Social Determinants of Health and Human Papillomavirus Testing Knowledge Among Women in the USA. Journal of Cancer Education. 37:148-154. 2022
- Associations between Suicide Behaviors and Religiosity in Young Adults.
  . American Journal of Health Studies. 35. 2021
- An Assessment of Cancer Education Needs to Promote Mid-Adult HPV Vaccination Among Male Sexual Minorities. Journal of Cancer Education. 36:401-405. 2021
- Gay and Bisexual Men in the US Lack Basic Information About Anal Cancer. Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease. 25:48-52. 2021
- Gestational Women's Perceptions About the Harms of Cigarette and E-Cigarette Use During Pregnancy. Maternal and Child Health Journal. 25:1209-1220. 2021
- Interventions using mHealth strategies to improve screening rates of cervical cancer: A scoping review. Preventive Medicine. 143. 2021
- Risk Factors for Sexual Violence Among College Students in Dating Relationships: An Ecological Approach. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 36:7722-7746. 2021
- Social Determinants of Health and Health Disparities: COVID-19 Exposures and Mortality Among African American People in the United States. Public Health Reports. 136:18-22. 2021
- Conducting qualitative research in hard-to-reach young adults using online recruitment and interviewing.. SAGE Research Methods Cases Medicine & Health. 50:40-51. 2020
- High-risk adolescents' sexuality education preferences based on Hispanic ethnicity.. Sex Education. 20:217-226. 2020
- The relationship between parent-young adult religious concord and depression. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health. 22:96-110. 2020
- Associations Between Depressive Symptoms and Religiosity in Young Adults. Journal of Religion and Health. 59:3193-3210. 2020
- Awareness and knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination among adults ages 27-45 years. Vaccine. 38:3143-3148. 2020
- Pastors' Perceptions of the Black Church's Role in Teen Pregnancy Prevention. Health Promotion Practice. 21:344-354. 2020
- Social media engagement association with human papillomavirus and vaccine awareness and perceptions: Results from the 2017 US Health Information National Trends Survey. Preventive Medicine. 138. 2020
- Utilizing Social Determinants of Health to Elicit Perceived Control Beliefs About Physical Activity Among African Americans. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 7:336-344. 2020
- Wearable activity tracker use in young adults through the lens of Social Cognitive Theory.. American Journal of Health Education. 50:40-51. 2019
- Assessing the variation of measurement of family structure in studies of adolescent risk behaviors: A systematic review. Journal of Vulnerable Children & Youth Studies. 14:287-311. 2019
- Modifiable Risk Factors and Readiness to Change among Homeless Adults. American Journal of Health Behavior. 43:373-379. 2019
- Parents' beliefs of the Black Church's role in teen pregnancy prevention. Journal of Adolescence. 72:52-63. 2019
- Social Determinants of Health and Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Among Young Adults, National Health Interview Survey 2016. Journal of Community Health. 44:149-158. 2019
- Social Determinants of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Uptake: An Assessment of Publicly Available Data. Public Health Reports. 134:264-273. 2019
- Evaluating the effects of the Teen Outreach Program on positive youth development constructs. Health Behavior Research. 1:1-9. 2018
- Sexuality education preferences among at-risk youth: A social determinants of health approach using sex and sexual orientation.. American Journal of Sexuality Education. 13. 2018
- Current Age, Age at First Sex, Age at First Homelessness, and HIV Risk Perceptions Predict Sexual Risk Behaviors among Sexually Active Homeless Adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 15. 2018
- Effects of primary care physician density, urologist presence, and insurance status on stage of diagnosis for urologic malignancies. Cancer Epidemiology. 52:10-14. 2018
- Rural and Urban Differences in Sexual Behaviors Among Adolescents in Florida. Journal of Community Health. 43:268-272. 2018
- Beliefs about alcohol use and smoking in sorority and fraternity members. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education. 61. 2017
- Using the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction to predict vegetable subgroup consumption among college students. American Journal of Health Education. 48:240-247. 2017
- Social influences on sorority and fraternity member smoking. Journal of American College Health. 65:525-533. 2017
- Utilizing a Social Determinant of Health Framework as Determinants of Perceived Behavioral Control. Family & Community Health. 40:39-42. 2017
- Associations Between Social Determinants of Health and Pregnancy Among Young People: A Systematic Review of Research Published During the Past 25 Years. Public Health Reports. 131:86-99. 2016
- HPV Awareness, Knowledge and Vaccination Attitudes among Church-going African-American Women. American Journal of Health Behavior. 40:771-778. 2016
- Social Determinants of Health and Adolescent Pregnancy: An Analysis From the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Journal of Adolescent Health. 58:636-43. 2016
- The Impact of the Teen Outreach Program on Sexual Intentions and Behaviors. Journal of Adolescent Health. 59:283-290. 2016
- How Florida youth measure up to U.S. youth in sexual and reproductive health: Implications for youth across the U.S.. Journal of Vulnerable Children & Youth Studies. 10:26-35. 2015
- A systematic review of pregnancy prevention programs for minority youth in the US: a critical analysis and recommendations for improvement. Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice. 6. 2013

principal investigator on

Alternative Textbook Program 2026-2027 awarded by ECU - Joyner Library 2025 - 2026
Faculty Workshop on Integrating Sustainability into the Curriculum awarded by ECU Sustainability Program 2025
Collaborative Online International Learning - Women's Health awarded by COIL Project Development Grant- ECU Global Academic Initiatives 2025
Multi-partner Community Gun Violence Prevention in Eastern North Carolina awarded by Catalyst Program ECU Office of Engaged Research 2025
Open Access Publishing Support Program awarded by East Carolina University Joyner Library 2025
Community Preferences for Firearm Safety Education in a Rural Southeastern Community awarded by EOSA Scholars ECU Office of Engaged Research 2024

investigator on

Regional Needs Assessment for Region 6 awarded by Access East, Inc 2026
Neighborhood environments and heart failure outcomes in the Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure Registry awarded by AHA - American Heart Association 2025 - 2026

professional service activities

Peer Reviewer, Fulbright Specialist Program Selected as a peer reviewer for 2026 third peer review cycle of Fulbright Specialist Roster. 2025 - 2027
North Carolina Chapter of the Fulbright Association, Board of Directors Elected to the Board of Directors 2025
Fulbright Specialist Program Dr. Maness served as a visiting consultant at Escuela Superior Politecnica Del Litoral University in Guayaquil, Ecuador for 5 weeks in January/February 2025. She collaborated with host institution leaders and community representatives to lead 6 workshops to strengthen crisis management skills, psychological preparation for high-risk situations, and emotional and behavioral response strategies. 2024

education and training

B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature, North Carolina State University
B.S. in Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University
MPH in Public Health, Emory University
Ph.D. in Public Health, University of South Florida

credentials

Certified in Public Health

awards and honors

Achievement in International Service and Engagement Award, conferred by ECU Office of Global Affairs, 2025
Emory's 40 Under 40, conferred by Emory University Alumni Association, 2025