Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Process Of Mindful Breathing With Stressed Mothers, Caleb D. Farley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mindfulness exists in many parenting and family interventions and are intended to decrease stress, improve familial relationships, and indirectly improve child wellness, and these mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) are relatively effective at doing so. However, critical issues remain related to designing effective and useful interventions for school-based and other community practitioners. Specifically, research has not demonstrated clear relationships between parent mindfulness practice increasing generalized mindfulness behaviors (i.e., awareness and acceptance), experiencing subsequent parental stress reduction, and reporting decreased behavior problems in children. The current study examined these relationships between practicing mindfulness and experiencing changes in parents’ mindfulness process, wellbeing, and perceptions …

Finding Their "Why": Examining The Development Of Sense Of Purpose During The University Years And Its Role In Student Well-Being, Michael Q. King

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nearly 20 million students were expected to be enrolled for college or university studies during the 2020-2021 academic year. These institutions often advertise to prospective students that, in addition to advancing their education, they will discover their purpose. Given previous work and current interest in sense of purpose, additional attention on sense of purpose in the university setting is worthwhile. In addition, as many university stakeholders are concerned about an ongoing mental health crisis, a further examination into a developmental construct (i.e. sense of purpose) thought to provide a “sheltering fortress in a world of constant threat” seems …

Toddler Internalizing And Externalizing Problem Behaviors And Child Care Provider Mental Health, Danielle M. Jensen Egan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Caregiver depression, particularly maternal depression, has repeatedly been shown to be a risk factor for the development of problem behaviors in young children. Problem behaviors fit within two categories: internalizing and externalizing. Externalizing behaviors include peer aggression, defiance, and impulsivity. Internalizing behaviors include generalized anxiety, withdrawal, separation distress, depression, and inhibition to novelty.

Gaps still exist in the research regarding the mental health of other caregivers that directly interact with children’s lives. Increasingly more children spend a great deal of time in child care settings. Less is known about child care provider stress and depression in relation to toddler problem …

It's About Time: Examining The Role Of Time Together And Perceived Stress In Couple Relationships, Rachel J. H. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Because stress is a common struggle in romantic relationships and because stress can spill over into couples’ interactions and affect their level of relationship connection, it is important to understand what can help couples adapt to stress and maintain meaningful relationships. Quality time together has been found to have positive effects on relationship outcomes overall. Additionally, family stress theory has posited that having sufficient resources can help couples adapt to stress and avoid a crisis situation. As such, time together was examined as a potential resource for couples to draw upon to adapt to the potential negative effects of perceived …

The Effects Of Cannabinoids On Stress-Coping Behaviors And Neuroendocrinological Measures In Chronic Unpredictable Stress: A Preclinical Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Noa Reuveni

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is unclear if cannabis helps individuals cope with life’s stressors or increases the likelihood of developing stress-related disorders such as depression. Chronic unpredictable stress is a validated model of depression that exposes rodents to a series of frequently-occurring, intermittent stressors over the course of a few weeks. This systematic review and meta-analysis summarizes existing research using rodents on the effects of cannabinoids on stress-coping behaviors and neuroendocrinological measurements in chronic unpredictable stress. Databases were systematically searched for articles that met inclusion criteria, and effect sizes between control chronic unpredictable stress groups and cannabinoid-treated chronic unpredictable stress groups were calculated. …

The Relationship Of Acculturation And Acculturative Stress In Latina/O Youths’ Psychosocial Functioning, Marsha Tafoya

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was conducted to better understand how acculturation and acculturative stress are related to self-esteem, depression, substance use, and substance use problems in 206 Latina/o youth. Acculturation is the social and psychological process of change that occurs when an individual or group comes in contact with a different culture. The acculturation process can be positive, improving one’s life chances in the new culture, or it could be negative due to the challenging nature of change and adaptation to new cultural and social expectations. This difficulty creates a type of stress, called acculturative stress that has been found to be …

The Ability Of The Coping Competence Questionnaire To Predict Resilience Against Learned Helplessness Among Undergraduate College Students: An Experimental Study, Cindy L. Ollis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Coping Competence Questionnaire (CCQ), based on the reformulated learned helplessness theory, was designed to assess a general stress resistance versus a propensity towards learned helplessness with a brief, 12-item self-report questionnaire. In this study the CCQ was administered to 247 undergraduate students, who were then paired, in groups of around 24 at a time, and then randomly assigned to either success or failure conditions on the computer game TetraVex. Mood was pretested using the Profile of Mood States (POMS) depression subscale; the experimental condition, success or failure at TetraVex was conducted; then outcome measures including 20 five letter anagrams …

Yoga As An Intervention For Stress Reduction And Enhanced Wellbeing In African American Athletes, Jennifer Fallon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study explored the preventive impact of a brief Hat ha yoga program on stress-reduction and enhanced wellbeing in a sample of healthy African American college athletes. African Americans suffer higher rates of hypertension and sudden cardiac death syndrome, both linked to stress. Study design was single case, with six replications, utilizing comparison of pre- and post-intervention scores on physiological and psychological indicators of distress and wellbeing. Findings were inconsistent across participants and measures, though generally included beneficial increases in positive affect (i.e ., C = 0.567 , Z = 2 071, p < 0.05) and perceived physical health (i.e., C = 0489, Z = 1. 721, …

Children's Stress Behaviors And Developmentally Appropriate Practice In Family Child Care Homes, Chih-Ying Chang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated and qualitatively compared differences in children's stress reactions across two levels of developmentally appropriate practice in family child care homes. Data were collected through observations.

Six children, five boys and one girl from six different family child care homes, between the ages of 36 and 60 months, were observed for the type and frequency of stress behaviors. The six family child care homes were divided into two groups based on more or less use of appropriate practices, and they were observed for the use of appropriate practices. Three one-hour observations were held in each family child care …

The Relations Between Parenting Stress, Father Involvement, And Leisure, Among Fathers Of Preschool-Age Children, Patricia Mehl Brown

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examined relations between fathers' parenting stress, father involvement in child care giving, and family leisure activity among 46 fathers of preschool age children. Results indicate that the relations between parenting stress and father involvement depend on child gender. A negative association was found between parenting stress and father involvement in caregiving among fathers of boys but a positive association was found between these two variables among fathers of girls. furthermore, higher levels of family play are associated with lower levels of parenting stress among fathers of boys. Results also indicated a negative association between father involvement and mothers' …

The Influence Of Workplace Stressors, Resources And Perceptions On Work-To-Family Spillover: An Application Of The Double Abcx Model, Steven A. Dennis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Changes in the American workforce have raised concern over the interface between family and work. The responsibilities and frustrations of the work domain frequently spill over to the family domain and vice versa. The purpose of this research has been to investigate the influence of workplace stressors, resources, and perceptions on subsequent negative work-to-family spillover. The theoretical direction for the study stems from a modified application of McCubbin and Patterson's double ABCX model, which fits well into the larger spillover perspective.

The data for the study came from 1992 National Study of the Changing Workforce [NSCW). A subsample of respondents …

Lack Of Control As A Predictive Factor For Stress-Related Symptoms In Rape Victims, Chad Sombke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Researchers have agreed that most rape victims experience stress-related symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. There have also been numerous studies that have tried to predict the severity of those stress-related symptoms, but the literature is inconclusive. Lack of perceived control is consistently mentioned in the rape research literature as being present in rape victims, but no study has empirically examined the relationship between perceived control and a rape victim's stress-related symptoms.

The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the relationship between perceived control and stress-related symptoms in rape victims. This was accomplished by comparing a group of …

The Influence Of Social Support On The Stress Level Of Parents With Disabled Children, Shannon J. Pratt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the relationship between social support and stress in 572 families of disabled children in various parts of the United States. To utilize multidimensional models such as Dunst's ecological model and the Double ABCX model of stress, additional variables were investigated; these included family characteristics and recent life events (FILE). A regression design was used, with family characteristics, recent life events (FILE), perceived helpfulness of social support (FSS), and perceived adequacy of resources (FRS) as independent variables, and parental stress (PSI) as the dependent variable (PSI). Helpfulness of social support, recent life events, and family characteristics all predicted …

Reducing Stress Of Inservice Teachers, Jeffrey R. Curley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A prototype treatment developed to significantly reduce symptoms of stress among inservice teachers was tested in this experiment. Thirty participants selected for high stress levels were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. They were assessed on environmental, personality, and emotional variables, using self-report and expert-judge measures, both pre- and posttreatment. The experimental treatment was holistic, incorporating all processes previously found to be related to reducing teacher stress. At posttreatment, the treatment group averaged 1.02 standard deviations lower on the stress measures than the control group. Significant differences in the posttest means, favoring the experimental group, were found for 23 …

The Effect Of Support Groups In Reducing Stresses During The Transition To Parenthood, Lynne Wilson Myers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Forty-two couples expecting their first child volunteered to participate in a study of the transition to parenthood. Personal well-being, self-esteem, marital satisfaction, and parenting competence of the couples were assessed during pregnancy, and then again when babies were six weeks and fifteen weeks old. Parents were asked to report how much support they had received from their doctors, churches, family, and friends, and other sources, after their baby was born. Personal well-being and parenting competence increased for women after they became mothers. Personal well-being decreased and parenting competence increased for new fathers. Marital satisfaction decreased significantly after couples had their …

Objective Indices Of Disaster-Related Stress: The Mount St. Helens' Ashfall, Paul R. Adams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

On May 18, 1980, the town of Othello, Washington was covered with volcanic ash from the Mount St. Helens eruption. Disaster research suggested that a natural disaster acted on impacted populations as a major stressor and could result in such stress-related symptoms/problems as anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, family problems, etc. It was hypothesized that there would be an increase in the incidence of such symptoms/problems following the ashfall. Most previous research has relied on subjective accounts of victims, but data for this study came from selected objective indices such as mental health caseloads, welfare assistance grants, hospital admissions, police records, …