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 …

Evaluation Of Noninvasive Methods For Determining Pregnancy, Diet, Nutrition, And Stress Among Pronghorn Antelope: Implications For Population Monitoring, Cole Bleke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was conducted to increase our understanding of the influence of adult female pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) physiology on fawn summer survival. Pronghorn are a valued big game animal in Idaho, but are particularly sensitive to capture; therefore, we designed a noninvasive fecal sampling study to measure pregnancy (progesterone and estrogen), diet, nutrition (fecal nitrogen and DAPA), and stress (cortisol), during metabolically-demanding female life history stages (late gestation, early lactation, and breeding season). We also compared survey results between ground and aerial methods within mountain valley landscapes.

Pregnancy determination, via progesterone, is possible for pronghorn, but sample collection …

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. …

Effects Of Premortem Stress On Heat Shock Protein Abundance, Oxidation, And Color In The Longissimus Lumborum Of Holstein Steers Following Harvest, Reganne K. Briggs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consumers consider tenderness and steak color to be two important attributes associated with meat quality. However, inconsistencies in both tenderness and steak color remain despite similar production practices of beef cattle. Stressful events before harvest may impact meat quality by initiating certain pathways such as abundance of heat shock proteins (HSP) and oxidation within the skeletal muscle. Heat shock proteins have been associated with tenderness while oxidation may affect steak color and flavor. In this study, 40 Holstein steers were administered adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) to mimic a stressful event before harvest. Animals were harvested at different times following the ACTH …

The Relationship Between Mindfulness, Academic Stress, And Attention, Tida Blackburn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Some degree of anxiety in learning situations is expected and normal. However, excessive anxiety and stress negatively affect cognitive performance, especially working memory, concentration, and sustained attention. Studies have shown that higher success in academics is related to a better ability to maintain focus on the information presented including auditory and visual attention. College students who are better able to manage stress are more successful than those who cannot. One method of coping with stress and anxiety is the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present in the moment, be aware of one’s mind, body, and …

Are Effort And Helpfulness Ratings Of Session Activities Associated With Improved Outcomes In Web-Based Acceptance And Commitment Therapy (Act) For Caregivers?, Hannah R. Cragun

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Family caregivers for people with dementia are providing care for up to ten years because people with dementia are living longer. This role can be demanding because the person with dementia can have behavioral and psychological symptoms that can be stressful for the caregiver to witness and manage. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in its traditional face-to-face format has strong scientific support in helping caregivers to be less depressed and better cope with the stress associated with taking care of their loved one. However, because caregiving is a time-demanding role, caregivers can struggle with accessing face-to-face therapy, making online ACT …

Landscape Of Stress: Does Drought Prevail Over Anthropogenic Activity In Influencing Cortisol Levels And Fitness In The Pacific Fisher?, Jennifer R. Kordosky

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are a species of concern in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone released to mobilize energy in response to stress and has been used as an indication of an individual’s physiological response to its environment. By collecting samples of fisher hair and measuring an individual’s cortisol, we examined the physiological stress response of the animals to human disturbances (housing density, road density, habitat type, and silvicultural treatements) and drought (tree mortality) in their home ranges. Using AICc model selection, we found that levels of tree mortality within a fisher’s home …

Thermal And Stress Analysis Of Nasa X-57 Maxwell Battery Pack, Bhumika Nautiyal

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Air travel has long been an established way of life for millions around the world, but innovation continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in the skies. While aviation has made it easy to travel long distances, the need to lower emissions from flights is pressing. The European Commission has described aviation as “one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions.”

Airplanes release around 500 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, representing a significant contribution to global warming. The very concept of a fossil-fuel-powered airplane needs to evolve to fully mitigate the impacts …

Coping Mechanisms And Level Of Occupational Stress Among Agriculture Teachers And Other Teaching Populations, Kasee L. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Teacher stress has been a concern in educational research for several decades. This research sought to identify the specific coping methods which Utah agriculture and non-agriculture teachers utilize to manage potentially stressful events, and to determine if differences exist in the coping mechanisms used between agriculture teacher and non-agriculture teacher groups.

Results showed that agriculture teachers showed a greater level of occupational stress than non-agriculture teachers. It was also concluded that occupational stress for the two teaching groups came from different sources. In regard to the agriculture teacher group, certain demographic characteristics that led to a higher frequency of use …

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, …

Parents Of Children With Severe Disabilities: Parental Stress, Depression, And The Marital Relationship, Melinda W. Christensen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper provides an overview of parental stress and depression in families with children diagnosed with severe cognitive disabilities. Previous research on parents with children with disabilities was reviewed. Studies were selected from peer-reviewed journal articles that specifically included children with an IQ below 70 or a noted cognitive impairment of a severe degree. Children in the study had to be living at home and below the age of 21. Significant levels of stress and depression were not found consistently in the studies reviewed. Parents of children with disabilities did report levels of stress and depression above the control groups …

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 Job Task Model As A Means For Understanding Computer Usage In The Work Place, Vicki S. Napper

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A qualitative study of a workplace was conducted through the use of interviews and observation of ten participants working in hardware and software engineering. The study arose from a lack of information on computer usage in workplace settings and a lack of identified functional needs for skills-based training.

There were three primary guiding questions and areas of findings in this study:

l. Does the job task model define the areas of computer literacy for the individual worker?

The job task model proved to be an effective method for analyzing tasks, tools, and the environment for usage of computer technologies in …

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 …

The Effects Of Calcium On The Response Of Snapbean To Sodium-Induced Stress, Masud Ahmad Khan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Soil salinity is a major concern to agriculture in arid and semiarid regions, where evapotranspiration causes salts originating from irrigation water (or sometimes naturally from the soil) to become concentrated in the rooting zone. In some areas, with good management, it has been economically feasible to ameliorate a sodic soil with Ca. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of Ca amelioration of salinity (sodicity) on biomass, number of nodules, number of pods, weight of pods, ion uptake, and photosynthesis of Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Plants were grown in one liter styrofoam pots under greenhouse conditions. In the …

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 Interaction Of Ultraviolet-B Radiation Stress And Plant Competition In Agricultural Plant Populations, Warren Glenn Gold

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effect of ultraviolet-B radiation enhancement upon the competitive interactions of two species pairs was studied in the field. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L. 'Bannock') was paired with wild oat (Avena fatua L.) and jointed goatgrass (Aegilops cylindrica Host) to represent competition between species pairs in agricultural situations. Specially modulated ultraviolet lamp systems provided either low ultraviolet-B enhancement (simulation of a 16 % ozone layer reduction based upon the generalized plant action spectrum), high ultraviolet-B enhancement (40 % ozone reduction) or control (ambient solar ultraviolet-B) irradiance.

Ultraviolet-B radiation enhancement significantly altered the competitive interactions of the species pairs. …

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, …

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 …

Physiological Response To Hooking Stress In Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmoides), A. Wayne Gustaveson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent concern about large initial and delayed mortalities resulting from tournament angling for largemouth bass has indicated that it would be desirable to further evaluate the fate of fish that are released after being captured by angling. This study was designed to evaluate sublethal physiological disruptions caused by hooking stress after largemouth bass were played under standardized conditions (0-5 minutes) and to estimate the time needed for recovery of the homeostatic mechanisms (to 72 hours). Blood lactate was used as a measure of metabolic fatigue; plasma osmolality and chloride measurements were used to evaluate osmoregulatory disturbances and gill ion-exchange; and …

The Effect Of Time And Stress On The Heart Rate-Oxygen Consumption Relationship Of Uinta Ground Squirrels, Thomas E. Oldfield

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Uinta ground squirrels (Spermophilus armatus) were instrumented with ECG radio-transmitters. Heart rate and oxygen consumption were monitored for one hour at ambient temperatures above, within and below the thermoneutral zone. These measures were made at predetermined intervals throughout the active season of squirrels to determine if the heart rate-oxygen consumption relationship was a stable linear regression within and between squirrels during this period. Heart rate and oxygen consumption were also monitored for squirrels exposed to artificial and natural stressors. These squirrels were then released in an outdoor enclosure. Heart rate and behavior of animals were monitored simultaneously during …