From 2024 to 2025, the research team at EVERFI conducted a two-phase analysis of the effects of three health and wellness courses, Vaping: Know the truth, Alcohol Education: Safe and Smart, and Understanding Mental Wellness. The study reveals that after taking the courses, students made significant improvement in critical health and wellness attitudes and behaviors, including decreased likelihood of vaping, improved understanding of the risks of alcohol abuse, increased confidence in coping with stress, and less perceived stigma toward mental health issues. Moreover, the analysis of the data collected from over 7,500 students in South Carolina clearly indicates that taking more than one course can profoundly benefit students, if the courses are taken in a delicate timeframe and order.  

Mental Health Basics Lay Foundations for Behavioral Health Courses  

Our analysis shows that students who took the introductory mental wellness education as the first course consistently achieved larger improvement in several critical learning outcomes in the Vaping and Alcohol education courses than students who did not take the mental wellness course. As numerous studies have shown, problematic behaviors such as excessive drinking and vaping may be caused by or lead to mental health issues such as stress and panic disorder. The findings of our study suggest that to benefit more from courses tackling those undesirable behaviors, students need to first understand how to identify, prevent, and manage mental health issues. Taking Vaping or Alcohol Education before taking Understanding Mental Wellness did not boost the learning outcomes of Understanding Mental Wellness in the way that taking Understanding Mental Wellness first boosted the outcomes from the prevention courses. This finding suggests it is optimal to first teach students the general theoretical background and the underlying causes of specific behavioral issues before focusing on how to handle and prevent unhealthy behaviors.  

Spaced-out yet Compact Learning Schedules Work the Best 

According to our analysis, taking all three courses can benefit students a lot. The two courses taken earlier can significantly boost students’ learning outcomes in the third course. However, there is a crucial caveat: to realize the potential of a three-course combo, the third course should be taken at least three weeks after the first two, but all three courses should be completed within two months. On the one hand, this finding confirms that the three courses, which focus on related or complementary topics, can reinforce each other. Students can benefit from a massed learning schedule where they are exposed to a series of knowledge in a relatively short period of time so that they can use what they learn in the earlier courses to help them understand concepts taught in the final course. On the other hand, enough time must be given to students to digest the new knowledge before moving on to the final course to avoid learning fatigue.  

The findings of this study are a good reminder for educators and supporters that how our courses are used can be as important as what the courses are teaching. Together with our strategic partners, EVERFI will continue to use rigorous data and research to uncover the most effective ways to use our courses and resources to realize the best learning outcomes for students. Contact the EVERFI Research Team ([email protected]) to learn more about this study and other research endeavors.