Dr. Samantha Moss

Assistant Professor

University of North Texas

Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion and Recreation

(940) 369-7533

Email: Samantha.Moss@unt.edu

Education

PhD, University of Texas at Arlington, 2022

Major: Kinesiology
Dissertation: Reducing Disparities in Physical Activity and Early Child Development Systematic and Observational Approach

Development Activities

Workshop, Fall Faculty Grantsmanship Workshop, University of North Texas. Denton,TX,United States of America. (December 10, 2024).
Workshop, Grants Process Primer: Application to Award, National Institute of Health. United States of America. (November 13, 2024 - November 14, 2024).
Workshop, Find Funding Opportunities - Pivot Overview, University of North Texas. Denton,TX,United States of America. (November 12, 2024).
Workshop, Tenure/Promotion Workshop, College of Education, University of North Texas. Denton,TX,United States of America. (November 8, 2024).
Seminar, Texas Research and Evaluation Network for Development, University of North Texas. Denton,TX,United States of America. (October 29, 2024).
Workshop, Mentoring Luncheon and Faculty Speed Mentoring Session, Faculty Success, University of North Texas. Denton,TX,United States of America. (October 7, 2024).
Workshop, Talon Tidbits - Teaching Effectiveness, University of North Texas. Denton,TX,United States of America. (October 1, 2024).
Workshop, Responsible Conduct of Research Training, Institutional Review Board, University of North Texas. Denton,TX,United States of America. (September 25, 2024).
Workshop, Grant Development Workshop, College of Education, University of North Texas. Denton,TX,United States of America. (September 20, 2024).
Seminar, Land Use 101 for Increasing Physical Activity through Community Design, Physical Activity Policy Research and Evaluation Network. United States of America. (September 16, 2024).

Teaching

Teaching Experience

University of North Texas

KINE 3090 - Motor Behavior, 4 courses.
KINE 5900 - Special Problems, 1 course.
PHED 1000 - Scientific Principles and Practices of Health Related Fitness, 1 course.

Teaching at Other Institutions

State University of New York at Cortland, EXS 449/549 Motor Behavior, Spring 2024.
State University of New York at Cortland, EXS 380 Motor Control and Learning, Spring 2024.
Texas A&M University - Commerce, HHPK 350 Motor Learning and Control, Spring 2024.
State University of New York at Cortland, EXS 380 Motor Control and Learning, Fall 2023.
State University of New York at Cortland, EXS 250 Research Skills in Kinesiology, Fall 2023.
Texas A&M University - Commerce, HHPK 417 Measurement and Evaluation, Spring 2023.
State University of New York at Cortland, EXS 380 Motor Control and Learning, Spring 2023.
Texas A&M University - Commerce, HHPK 350 Motor Learning and Control, Spring 2023.
State University of New York at Cortland, EXS 250 Research Skills in Kinesiology, Spring 2023.
State University of New York at Cortland, EXS 449/549 Motor Behavior, Fall 2022.
State University of New York at Cortland, EXS 380 Motor Control and Learning, Fall 2022.
State University of New York at Cortland, EXS 250 Research Skills in Kinesiology, Fall 2022.
Texas A&M University - Commerce, HHPK 350 Motor Learning and Control, Spring 2022.

Directed Student Learning

Dissertation Committee Member, Kinesiology, Health Promotion and Recreation. (September 10, 2024).
Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Member or Grader, Kinesiology, Health Promotion and Recreation. (November 15, 2024).
Master's Thesis Committee Member, "The Relationship between Social Cognition and Team Cohesion in Collegiate Athletes," Other - Outside UNT. (August 2023 - May 2024).
Undergraduate Honors Thesis Chair, "Relationships between Parental and Youth Physical Activity Behaviors and Perceptions," Other - Outside UNT. (September 2022 - April 2024).
Supervised Research, "The Effects of Sport Injury in Collegiate Athletes' Mental Health," Other - Outside UNT. (May 2023 - August 2023).

Research

Published Intellectual Contributions

Abstracts and Proceedings

Moss, S., Gu , X., Zhang, T. (2024). Associations between motor skills and neuro-psychomotor development in urban kindergarteners.. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 95, 4-47..

Journal Article

Moss, S., Zhang, X., Taleb, Z.B., Gu, X. (2024). The associations of physical activity and health-risk behaviors toward depressive symptoms among college students: Gender and obesity disparities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 21 (4) 401. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
Moss, S., Zhang, X., Tamplain, P., Gu, X. (2023). Overweight/obesity and sociodemographic disparities in children's motor and cognitive function. Frontiers in Psychology. 14 2081.
Zhang, X., Moss, S., Gu, X. (2023). Disparities in physical activity and depressive symptoms among young adults in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moss, S., Gu, X. (2022). Home- and community-based interventions for physical activity and early child development: A systematic review of effective strategies. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19 (19) 19968.
Moss, S., Lind, E., McGinnis, P., Ferkel, R., True, L. (2020). Relationships among motor competency, perceived motor competency, and health-related fitness in college-aged males.
Rasberry, J., Zhang, X., Moss, S., Chen, S., Gu, X. (2020). Movement behaviors and health-related fitness among peripubertal adolescents: 2012 NHANES national youth fitness survey data. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 61 (7)
Xiang, M., Gu, X., Zhang, X., Moss, S., Huang, C., Nelson, L., Zhang, T. (2020). Psychosocial mechanism of adolescents' depression: A dose-response relation with physical activity.

Presentations Given

Oral Presentation

Vanhoose, K. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), West, A. (Author), Keller, J. (Author), Zhang, T. (Author), Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America Annual Convention & Expo, Preventing Childhood Obesity: Implementing Evidence-based PA Strategies in Home Environments, SHAPE America, Baltimore, MD, United States of America. (2025).
Moss, S. (Author & Presenter), Gu, X. (Author), Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America National Convention and Expo, Environmental Determinants of Physical Activity and Early Child Development - Findings from the Thomas L. McKenzie Research Grant, SHAPE America, Baltimore, MD, United States of America. (2025).
Gu, X. (Author & Presenter), Bao, S. (Author), Moss, S. (Author), Zhang, T. (Author), American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Annual Meeting, Examining physical activity, motor performance, and executive functioning among young minority children, ACSM, Denver, CO, United States of America. (2023).

Poster

Wu, C. (Author & Presenter), Zhang, X. (Author), Moss, S. (Author), Vanhoose, K. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America Annual Convention & Expo, Built Environments' Impact on Adolescent Physical Activity and Executive Function, SHAPE America, Baltimore, MD, United States of America. (2025).
Oristian, S. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Transformations, Investigating mental health in injured and non-injured collegiate athletes, State University of New York at Cortland, Cortland, NY, United States of America. (2024).
DeAngelis, B. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Transformations, Relationships between parental and youth physical activity behaviors and perceptions, State University of New York at Cortland, Cortland, NY, United States of America. (2024).
Moss, S. (Presenter), Gu , X. (Presenter), Zhang, T. (Presenter), National Convention and Expo of the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America), Associations between motor skills and neuro-psychomotor development in urban kindergarteners., Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America), United States of America. (2024 - 2024).
Moss, S. (Author & Presenter), Gu, X. (Author), Zhang, T. (Author), Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) of America National Convention & Expo, Associations between motor skills and neuro-psychomotor development in urban kindergartners, SHAPE America, Cleveland, OH, United States of America. (2024).
Zhang, X. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Annual Meeting, Associations of movement behaviors and executive function among college students, ACSM, Denver, CO, United States of America. (2023).
Moss, S. (Author & Presenter), Gu, X. (Author), Zhang, T. (Author), American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Annual Meeting, The roles of home and neighborhood environments on childhood activity behaviors during weekend and weekday, ACSM, Denver, CO, United States of America. (2023).
Moss, S. (Author & Presenter), Gu, X. (Author), Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America National Convention & Expo, Home- and community-based interventions in early childhood: A systematic review, SHAPE America, Seattle, WA, United States of America. (2023).
Vanhoose, K. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Ghraizi, M. (Author), Guevara, M. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (TAHPERD) 99th Annual Convention, 24-hour movement behaviors and executive function during different phases of COVID-19: Obesity-related analysis among young adults, TAHPERD, Corpus Christi, TX, United States of America. (2022).
Bao, S. (Author & Presenter), Zhang, X. (Author), Moss, S. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (TAHPERD) 99th Annual Convention, The longitudinal effects of movement behaviors on depression among college students, TAHPERD, Corpus Christi, TX, United States of America. (2022).
Moss, S. (Author & Presenter), Vanhoose, K. (Author), Schuman, D. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Annual Meeting, Gender disparities in obesity-related behaviors and mental health during COVID-19: A repeated measures design, ACSM, San Diego, CA, United States of America. (2022).
Ghraizi, M. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Vanhoose, K. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Graduate Research Day, Obesity and physical activity profiles during COVID-19 and their associations with health-related quality of life, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, United States of America. (2022).
Moss, S. (Author & Presenter), Zhang, X. (Author), Nelson, L. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America National Convention & Expo, Dose-response relationship of physical activity with cognition and classroom behaviors, SHAPE America, New Orleans, LA, United States of America. (2022).
Vanhoose, K. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Zhang, X. (Author), Taleb, Z.B. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America National Convention & Expo, Obesity and ethnic disparities in physical activity, tobacco use, and depression during COVID-19 pandemic, SHAPE America, New Orleans, LA, United States of America. (2022).
Jones, A. (Author & Presenter), Gray, K. (Author & Presenter), Ghraizi, M. (Author), Moss, S. (Author), Vanhoose, K. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Undergraduate Research Day, Identifying environmental and social inequity in physical activity and childhood obesity among preschool-aged children, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, United States of America. (2022).
Ghraizi, M. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Vanhoose, K. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (TAHPERD) 98th Annual Convention, The associations of obesity and physical activity with health-related quality of life among young adults during COVID-19, TAHPERD, Arlington, TX, United States of America. (2021).
Vanhoose, K. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (TAHPERD) 98th Annual Convention, The effects of virtual reality exercise on mental health in adults: A systematic review, TAHPERD, Arlington, TX, United States of America. (2021).
Moss, S. (Author & Presenter), Gu, X. (Author), Build and Broaden: Conference on Social Connections to Promote Individual and Community Resilience in Post-COVID-19 Society, Ethnic and SES disparities in built environment: Impact on youth activity and behaviors during COVID-19, National Science Foundation, Arlington, TX, United States of America. (2021).
Gu, X. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Zhang, X. (Author), International Motor Development Research Consortium (I-MDRC) 5th Annual Meeting, Effect of the virtual reality-infused movement and activity program (V-MAP) on physical activity and cognition in Head Start preschoolers, I-MDRC, Virtual, United States of America. (2021).
Moss, S. (Author & Presenter), Gu, X. (Author), Graduate Research Day, Sedentary behavior, physical activity, and classroom behavior among preschoolers: Gender disparity exploration, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, United States of America. (2021).
Moss, S. (Author & Presenter), Zhang, X. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Zhang, T. (Author), Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) 42nd Annual Meeting, Health disparities and socio-demographic correlates among overweight and obese children and adolescents, SBM, Virtual, United States of America. (2021).
Moss, S. (Author & Presenter), Zhang, X. (Author), Melton, M. (Author), Zhang, A. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America National Convention & Expo, Association of physical activity and sedentary behavior with classroom behavior in preschoolers: A gender-based approach, SHAPE America, Virtual, United States of America. (2021).
Zhang, X. (Author & Presenter), Moss, S. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America National Convention & Expo, Effects of weight status and sedentary behavior on depression among young adults, SHAPE America, Virtual, United States of America. (2021).
Pham, S. (Author & Presenter), Shoaib, S. (Author), Moss, S. (Author), Zhang, X. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America National Convention & Expo, Gender disparities in fundamental motor skills development during early childhood, SHAPE America, Virtual, United States of America. (2021).
Moss, S. (Author), Zhang, X. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Tamplain, P. (Author), International Motor Development Research Consortium (I-MDRC), Fundamental motor skills and cognitive function among preschoolers: Does weight status matter?, I-MDRC, Virtual, United States of America. (2020).
Corriddi, A. (Author & Presenter), Zhang, X. (Author), Moss, S. (Author), Gu, X. (Author), Annual Conference of the Texas Chapter of the American College of Sport Medicine (TACSM), Assessing sleep, sedentary behaviors, and physical activity among college students, TACSM, Waco, TX, United States of America. (2020).
Zhang, X. (Author & Presenter), Gu, X. (Author), Moss, S. (Author), Annual Conference of the Texas Chapter of the American College of Sport Medicine (TACSM), Effects of weight status and sedentary behavior on depression among young adults, TACSM, Waco, TX, United States of America. (2020).

Contracts, Grants, Sponsored Research

Fellowship

Oristian, S. (Principal), Moss, S. (Supporting), "Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship," sponsored by SUNY Cortland, Local, $2000 Funded. (2023 - 2023).

Grant - Research

Moss, S. (Principal), Gu, X. (Supporting), "Environmental Determinants of Physical Activity and Early Child Development," sponsored by Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America, National, $2000 Funded. (2021 - 2022).

Service

University Service

Committee Member, Search Committee. (September 25, 2024 - Present).