Digital Commons Network^™

Sociocultural And Familial Factors Associated With Symptom Experience At Midlife Among Women In Nagaland, India, Peteneinuo Rulu

Doctoral Dissertations

This cross-sectional study examines the sociocultural and familial factors that are associated with symptom experience at midlife among women in Nagaland. More specifically, the study examines the factors associated with symptoms at midlife, the relationship between symptoms at midlife, household stressors, ethnopolitical problems, and various measures of stress, and the buffering effects of social support against the negative effects of stress on symptoms at midlife. Data from 151 women aged 40-55 were collected from 4 regions in Nagaland, India. The most common symptoms reported during the past two weeks were headaches (72%), tiredness or lack of energy (67.5%), and hot …

The Role Of Trait Mindfulness, Perceived Stress, And Impulsivity In Understanding The Relationship Between Stress Mindset And Psychological Intimate Partner Aggression, Sarah Joyanna Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

Perpetration of psychological intimate partner aggression is a pervasive health issue and has been estimated to occur in 60 to 90 percent of relationships. Effects of intimate partner violence on its victims has been demonstrated to have lasting physical and mental health issues. Psychological intimate partner aggression has been demonstrated to have particularly harmful effects, above and beyond those identified in physical intimate partner aggression. Psychological intimate partner aggression has been demonstrated to be impacted by impulsivity, stress-mindset, perceived stress, and mindfulness. The present study proposed to examine a path analysis model of the relation between stress-mindset and psychological intimate …

“Sometimes The People Giving The Care Get A Little Overlooked”: Athletic Trainers’ Personal Use Of Psychosocial Strategies And Interactions With Mental Performance Consultants, Alexander Bianco

Doctoral Dissertations

In National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I (NCAA DI) athletic departments, athletic trainers (ATs) must navigate an array of stressors in the workplace, and are effectively performers themselves (Estock & Simon, 2018, Mazerolle et al., 2013). While ample research has been conducted on the stressors that ATs experience (see Oglesby et al., 2020) there has been limited work surrounding how ATs can best navigate this environment. Therefore, the purpose of the current investigation was to explore NCAA DI ATs’ perceptions of and experiences with the personal use of psychosocial strategies and sport psychology services to manage their stress, improve their …

A Study Of The Effect Of Physiological Stressors On Hypothalamic Regulation Of Reproduction Using An In Vitro System, Lisa L. Amelse

Doctoral Dissertations

Stressors have a negative impact on reproductive efficiency in humans and other animals, which has an economic cost due to infertility treatments for humans and reduced income for food producers. We wished to determine the molecular pathways by which metabolic disturbances and low-level inflammation impact the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal (HPG) axis using an in vitro model. To this end, we used the GT1-7 cell line, an immortalized line expressing the Kiss1R receptor that responds to kisspeptin stimulation with the release of GnRH to assess the impact of stressors on the GnRH-releasing cells. Additionally, we used the KTaV-3 and KTaR-1[A1] …

Psychosocial Effects Of Providing Nursing Care To Patients From A Multi-Casualty, School-Associated Shooting Event, William Travis Mccall

Doctoral Dissertations

Secondary traumatic stress describes symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder but that result from witnessing or experiencing the trauma of another individual through a helping relationship. The associated symptoms include intrusions, avoidance, and hyperarousal. Secondary traumatic stress is also associated with the development of compassion fatigue and burnout. The current state of the science identifies that secondary traumatic stress may affect those nurses who provide care to critically ill or injured patients. Research has most commonly examined the prevalence of secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout among nurses in emergency department settings. While attention is frequently given to the …

Child Maltreatment, Perceived Stress, And Opioid Use In Pregnancy, Stephanie Brooke Kors

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study examined pathways from childhood trauma to opioid misuse in pregnancy. We sampled 93 pregnant women at a high-risk pregnancy clinic at a university medical center who were at least in their second trimester. 55 women were considered high-risk due to opioid misuse and 38 women were considered high-risk due to medical reasons other than drug use. Results revealed sexual abuse significantly predicted opioid misuse in pregnancy, while physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect did not. Women with histories of childhood sexual abuse reported significantly higher levels of perceived stress during pregnancy than women who did not report …

Child Maltreatment, Perceived Stress, And Opioid Use In Pregnancy, Stephanie Brooke Kors

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study examined pathways from childhood trauma to opioid misuse in pregnancy. We sampled 93 pregnant women at a high-risk pregnancy clinic at a university medical center who were at least in their second trimester. 55 women were considered high-risk due to opioid misuse and 38 women were considered high-risk due to medical reasons other than drug use. Results revealed sexual abuse significantly predicted opioid misuse in pregnancy, while physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect did not. Women with histories of childhood sexual abuse reported significantly higher levels of perceived stress during pregnancy than women who did not report …

Effect Of Transcendental Meditation On The Social Emotional Well-Being Of Bilingual Teacher Leaders, Margaret Peterson

Doctoral Dissertations

Teaching is one of the most stressful professions in the human service industry (Curry & O’Brien, 2012; Fisher, 2011; Herman et al., 2018; Martin, et al., 2012; Montgomery & Rupp, 2005; Schonert-Reichl, 2017). Stress and burnout have been shown to contribute to the attrition of teachers (Darling-Hammond, 2001; Fisher, 2011; Johnson et al., 2005; Klingbeil & Renshaw, 2018; Winchester, 2020). While there are shortages across many disciplines, the bilingual teacher shortage has been documented as the most severe (Swanson & Mason, 2017). This study utilized Community Cultural Wealth as a theoretical framework to investigate how bilingual teacher leaders experience stress …

Fighting Obesity Through Communication: A Longitudinal Study Examining The Association Between Communication, Relationships, Stress, And Weight-Loss, Ambyre Lp Ponivas

Doctoral Dissertations

Obesity is one of the greatest health challenges in the world today. As such, there is a large focus on weight-loss in order to improve health outcomes for those who are overweight or obese. One area that has an impact on obesity and weight-loss is communication. Communication behaviors are directly tied to health outcomes. Positive, constructive communication can help to improve health directly by improving physiological outcomes, including stress, which is in itself a factor co-morbid with obesity. Communication also helps to build and strengthen relationships, which in turn often lead to better health outcomes. Conversely, negative and destructive communication …

Stress Appraisals And Coping Strategies In Response To Palatable Food Cues Among Women With A Spectrum Of Internalized Weight Stigma, Mora A. Reinka

Doctoral Dissertations

Across two experiments, we set out to explore whether palatable food—densely caloric, low nutrition food—acts as a stigma-based stressor for individuals who have internalized negative stereotypes and beliefs against larger bodies. Using a sample of women with a normative BMI spectrum, we test whether participant’s cognitive, physiological, and psychological responses to food map onto a commonly theorized stress appraisal process—specifically that the food images are appraised as relevant, negative, and exceeding the available resources the individual possesses to deal with the implications or consequences. Furthermore, we explore coping responses to stress through direct measurement of caloric intake in the laboratory …

Development Of A Facebook Group Intervention To Increase Health-Promoting Self-Care Among Primary Caregivers Of Children With Developmental Disabilities, Emily Auerbach Iovino

Doctoral Dissertations

Primary caregivers of children with developmental disabilities (DD) are critical for supporting the development of the children for whom they provide care. In order to most effectively provide care, caregivers of children with DD need to be physically and psychologically healthy. However, caregivers of children with DD can experience challenges in these areas as a result of stress. Health-promoting self-care and social support can mediate the stress process to influence health outcomes. Given that a lack of social support is a barrier to engaging in health-promoting self-care, social support is needed for caregivers to engage in health-promoting self-care and together …

Tpr-Containing Proteins Control Protein Organization And Homeostasis For The Endoplasmic Reticulum, Jill Bradley-Graham

Doctoral Dissertations

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a complex, multifunctional organelle comprised of a continuous membrane and lumen that is organized into several functional regions. It plays various roles including protein translocation, folding, quality control, secretion, calcium signaling, and lipid biogenesis. Cellular protein homeostasis is maintained by a complicated chaperone network, and the largest functional family within this network consists of proteins containing tetratricopeptide repeats (TPRs). TPRs are well-studied structural motifs that mediate intermolecular protein-protein interactions, supporting interactions with a wide range of ligands or substrates. Nine TPR-containing proteins have been shown to localize to the ER and control protein organization and …

Roles For The Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex In Resistance To Acute Social Stress, Johnathon Grizzell

Doctoral Dissertations

The ventromedial aspect of the prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is an evolutionarily conserved region of the frontal lobe with primary roles in social processing and emotional regulation. During particularly stressful situations, neurons of the vmPFC are recruited and, through dynamic circuit-based activity patterns, help the organism integrate pertinent sensory cues and act in a context-specific manner. In the dissertation that follows, I discuss investigations of vmPFC neural and immune system activity as they confer resilience and susceptibility, respectively, to the effects of acute social defeat stress in male Syrian hamsters. We have previously shown that vmPFC neural activity, as indexed by …

The Impact Of Estradiol And Stress On Spatial Memory, Soniya Assudani Patel

Doctoral Dissertations

Spatial memory is a critical cognitive function that involves for navigating, interpreting, and representing environments, planning a route, remembering the location of an object or event, and understanding spatial configurations. The three studies presented are original investigations on how estradiol, anxiety, and stress influence hippocampal-dependent spatial memory. The first study assessed the impact of estradiol level on spatial memory in young adult women. Salivary assays were obtained to determine the exact estradiol level. Women at the high and low estradiol phases of their natural menstrual cycle were compared to each other and to women on oral contraceptives (OCs). Behavioral performance …

Decreasing Stress Through An Emotion Regulation And Non-Judging Based Intervention With Trauma-Exposed College Students, Megan Cherry

Doctoral Dissertations

Among college students, trauma and PTSD symptomatology are associated with negative consequences (e.g., poor academic performance, stress sensitivity, and negative coping). College is often a stressful time, and those who have experienced trauma, particularly those experiencing PTSD symptoms, are vulnerable to heightened stress sensitivity and negative outcomes. It is imperative to identify interventions that decrease stress for trauma-exposed college students to reduce the deleterious effects of related outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether emotion regulation and non-judgment could be enhanced in trauma-exposed college students through a short, mindfulnessbased intervention, and whether the intervention would lead to …

Appraising Opportunities To Better Understand Well-Being And Performance In The Organizational Sciences, Michael Paul Lerman

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite a strong base of literature that shows appraisal (i.e., an individual’s assessment of the relevance of a possibly stressful situation to their own goals and their likelihood of effectively coping with it) is an important predictor of individual emotion, behavior, and performance, appraisal has been largely relegated to theory by the organizational sciences. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate why studying appraisal adds value to organizational science phenomena. This is accomplished through two empirical essays and a theory essay. First, a metaanalysis assesses the extent to which the challenge-hindrance framework, a perspective that explicitly suggests appraisal is …

Behavioral And Neuroanatomical Outcomes Following Altered Serotonin Expression And Hypoxic-Ischemic Injury In A Neonate Rodent Model, Sharon G. Casavant

Doctoral Dissertations

Children born prematurely (weeks, GW) risk numerous adverse medical events, with risks increasing as GW/size decreases. Preterm infants may experience ischemic and/or hemorrhagic events due to cardiovascular immaturity, leading to negative neural sequelae. These same infants are exposed to repeated painful/stressful procedures as part of life-saving care within the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Although necessary, chronic painful/stressful events have been associated with methylation of SLC6A4, a gene coding for serotonin transport proteins. Methylation of the gene is associated with reduced serotonergic tone, increased anxiety, depression, and incidence of autism. To gain a deeper understanding of the events associated with …

The Moderating Role Of Culture In The Job Demands-Resources Model, James A. De Leon

Doctoral Dissertations

During the past few decades, occupational health researchers have examined the effects of work characteristics on job stress and employee wellbeing (Beehr & Franz, 1987; Caulfield, Chang, Dollard, & Elshaug, 2004; Jex, 1998; Jex & Britt, 2014; Schaufeli & Greenglass, 2001; Sparks, Faragher, & Cooper, 2001). With the help of the Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R model; Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Bakker, Demerouti, & Schaufeli, 2003; Demerouti, Bakker, de Jonge, Janssen, & Schaufeli, 2001; Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004), researchers have been able to examine the impact of jobspecific work characteristics (demands and resources) on employee wellbeing. The work processes outlined in …

The Relationship Of Physical Activity Participation On Executive Functions And Stress Regulation Among Youth In Poverty, Jesse Mala

Doctoral Dissertations

Individuals living in poverty are exposed to greater amounts of adversity, resulting in greater levels of circulating stress hormones. Elevated levels of stress hormones are associated with a plethora of negative health outcomes including the early onset of diabetes, heart disease, and impaired brain development and executive functions. Deficits in executive functions can result in detrimental health, education and life outcomes among school-aged youth. Conversely, physical activity participation have been shown to improve executive functions among youth. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine if physical activity participation is related to greater executive functions and stress regulation among …

The Interplay Between Pain/Stress, Inflammation And Microbiota In Human Health, Wanli Xu

Doctoral Dissertations

Archival abstract submitted

The Neurochemistry And Neural Circuitry Of Stress Resilience, Brooke Nichole Dulka

Doctoral Dissertations

Stress is a contributing factor in the etiology of several mood and anxiety disorders, and animal models of social defeat have been used to investigate the biological basis of stress-related psychopathologies. Syrian hamsters are highly aggressive and territorial, but after social defeat they exhibit a conditioned defeat (CD) response which is characterized by increased submissive behavior and a failure to defend their home territory against a smaller, non-aggressive intruder. We have previously shown that dominant male hamsters show increased c-Fos expression in the infralimbic (IL) subdivision of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) following social defeat and display a reduced CD …

A Deep Breathing Intervention For Stress Reduction In 5-Year-Old Children, Tara Jean Veerman

Doctoral Dissertations

This multi-manuscript dissertation concentrates on child stress, an important area of attention for social workers. Many children we work with are exposed to chronic stressors such as poverty, child maltreatment, and other forms of stressors and/or trauma. These experiences can be damaging to a child’s development, especially if they occur early in life, and the effects may be long-lasting. The first manuscript provides an overview of the human stress response and its potential deleterious effects on child brain development. It highlights specific brain regions affected by stress, and possible physical and mental health consequences of stress later in life.Building on …

The Effects Of Racialization On European American Stress In The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries, Kimberly T. Wren

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores disparities in stress among European Americans (EA) and between EA and African Americans (AA) in racialized communities in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Comparisons among EA and between EA and AA are conducted to understand the biological consequences of racialization. Racialization is the process of assigning people to hierarchical categories for purposes of political, social, and economic discrimination. This dissertation investigates how racialization might have affected childhood stress using biocultural theory and facets of critical archaeology theory. Indicators of stress from skeletonized individuals in the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection, Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection, and the Robert …

A Grounded Theory Inquiry Into Crying In Women Dealing With The Emotional Stress Of Personal Crisis, Mary Bess Griffith

Doctoral Dissertations

The belief that crying leads to healing is so widely held and of such longstanding that many healthcare professionals—including nurses, physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists—accept it as fact even though there is little substantiating scientific evidence. Crying is commonly believed to be an essential factor in restoring mind-body equilibrium after physical and/or emotional trauma has been experienced. If, as has been hypothesized by many scientists and healthcare practitioners, emotional crying is a biopsychosocial healing modality, then specifics of its therapeutic praxis, including limitations and ambiguities, should be incorporated into nursing education and practice. In this grounded theory study, the meaning and …

The Effects Of Industrialization And Urbanization On Growth And Development: A Comparison Of Boys And Girls From Three Industrial European Skeletal Collections, Sarah Reedy

Doctoral Dissertations

Exposure to poor environments, malnutrition, and labor during childhood can lead to stunted height and increased mortality. Studies of skeletal samples from Industrial Era Europe show height is stunted when compared to Medieval samples, suggesting harsher conditions. While poor conditions can negatively impact all children, boys may be particularly disadvantaged, because girls can reserve nutritional components buffering them during times of stress. This study examines the environmental effects on growth in three Industrial European skeletal samples. Juveniles (0-18 years) from varied SES backgrounds were used to test three hypotheses. H1) Industrial Era children will exhibit shorter femora relative to a …

Is Meaning In Life A Positive Resource When Adjusting To Stressful Life Events?, Login S. George

Doctoral Dissertations

Having a sense of meaning in life is often considered to be a positive resource that can facilitate better adjustment to major stressors. However, few studies have directly and adequately examined this idea. The present study addresses this question by examining 1) if meaning predicts trajectories and changes in key distress-exacerbating factors and distress 2) if meaning buffers negative effects of distress-exacerbating factors on distress, and 3) if the different dimensions of meaning are differentially important in adjustment. The sample consisted of 180 undergraduates prescreened to have had a recent stressor that they found stressful at prescreening. Participants were assessed …

Hiv-Related Stigma And Health Among People Living With Hiv In Middle Georgia: Examining The Roles Of Stress And Coping, Kaylee Burnham

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective – HIV-related stigma and discrimination are drivers of health disparities among people living with HIV (PLWH). The U.S. South bears much of the burden of the domestic HIV epidemic. This study seeks to explore the dynamic effects of HIV-related stigma on health outcomes in a population of PLWH in middle Georgia. Experiences of enacted HIV stigma in the past year were assessed and participants indicated how stressful these events were and how they coped with the most impactful event. The primary study aim tested a moderated serial mediation model of HIV stigma on health in this population.

Method – …

Self Hypnosis For School Success: Empowering Adolescents With Anxiety And Stress, Nilani Shankar

Doctoral Dissertations

Self-hypnosis is a treatment that has been utilized to address the social-emotional concerns of adolescents with high levels of anxiety and stress. In this study, a multiple baseline design across three high school-aged participants was implemented to examine whether self-hypnosis could decrease symptoms of anxiety and stress and help to improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The results of the study indicated that the treatment resulted in decreases in trait and state anxiety for two out of three participants, improvements in stress levels for two out of three participants, and improvements in HRQoL for all three participants. Participants reported that …

Gestational Weight Gain And Maternal Health Among Hispanic Women, Megan W. Harvey

Doctoral Dissertations

More than 70% of women do not gain within their target range of gestational weight gain (GWG), as recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2009. Risks associated with inadequate GWG include small-for-gestational age, low birthweight, pre-term birth, and difficulty establishing breastfeeding. Risks associated with excessive GWG include large-for-gestational-age, macrosomia, and delivery complications. There are also long-term consequences for maternal and fetal metabolic processes. Higher pre-pregnancy BMI, lower education level, and higher parity are known risk factors for excessive GWG. There are also possible racial / ethnic differences, and Hispanic women, in particular, may be at high risk for …

Characterization Of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Cells In The Medial Prefrontal Cortex Of Rats, Yi-Ling Lu

Doctoral Dissertations

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is the major peptide involved in regulating the body’s autonomic, hormonal, and behavioral responses to stress. Cells that produce and release this peptide are widely distributed throughout the brain. This dissertation focuses on a specific population of CRF cells residing in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) that could potentially influence a number of higher order functions through modulation of local circuits. The prefrontal cortex is known to function sub-optimally in patients suffering from various stress-related psychiatric conditions including alcohol use disorder (AUD), and dysregulated CRF signaling may be an underlying mechanism. Surprisingly little is known about this …