Education Commons^™

Student Mental Health During And After The Coronavirus Pandemic, Olivia Harner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The educational setting serves as an influential force when considering the impacts that school can have on student mental health. Following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, research revealed negative effects on mental health for a variety of populations across the globe; however, comprehensive reviews about the effect that the pandemic had on the mental health of American K-12 students are limited. Consequently, the purpose of this specialist project is to evaluate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the mental health of American students in grades K-12 through a review of literature. Utilizing PRISMA procedures, 19 articles were selected …

Stress, Anxiety, And Depression In Aerospace Students, Harley L. Waters

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

This study investigates and compares the levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among a sample of 574 undergraduate students in the Aerospace Professional Pilot concentration, Aerospace majors in concentrations other than Professional Pilot, and Non-Aerospace students at Middle Tennessee State University. This study sought to determine if Aerospace students exhibited higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. The participants of this study completed the DASS-21, a survey instrument that measures three separate constructs: depression, anxiety, and stress. The scores from this survey were used to compare depression, anxiety, and stress levels between the three groups of students using ANOVA and …

Social Gender Norms And Depression In College Students, Derek Deeney

Masters Theses

The primary purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there was a relationship between the conformity to social gender norms (masculine and feminine) and depression among male and female college students at a mid-sized, four-year public institution in the Midwest. A secondary purpose was to investigate if there was a difference in depression between males and females, and if a there was a difference in conformity to social gender norms (masculine and feminine) between males and females. Understanding the trends in social norm conformity and depression can lead to changes in how faculty and staff in higher education …

Burnout And Depression In Teachers And Members Of Other Occupational Groups: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analyses On Potentially Overlapping Conditions, Gail Swingler

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Burnout has long been recognized as a workplace issue among teachers, and other occupational groups. Burnout has potentially been increasing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Researchers tend to regard burnout as a distinct syndrome comprising emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and reduced personal accomplishment (rPA). Recent evidence suggests that burnout (as a tripartite syndrome) lacks discriminant validity vis-à-vis depression. The overlap between burnout and depression was examined through two meta-analytic studies.

The first study (K = 13) examined the relationship between burnout and depression in teachers with burnout assessed using the MBI. The findings indicated that exhaustion (EE), and depression …

A Post Pandemic Analysis Of Covid-19 And The Impact On Mental Health Of High School Student-Athletes—Today, More Than Ever Minds Matter, Pastora Hernandez Barbee

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

The cancellation of sporting opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic caused many student-athletes to feel deprived of the only outlet they had, which held a significant component of their personal and athletic identities (Grubic et al. 2021). This study aimed to answer the following research question: What are the experiences of high school student-athletes in a Pacific Northwest school district with access and support for holistic wellness in a post-pandemic COVID-19 school environment? The research methodology used was the wellness theory framework (Adams, Bezner, & Steinhardt, 1997). A total of seven student-athletes participated in the study through in-depth interviews. From the …

Adjustment And Social Media Use During And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alexis Banner

Honors College

Adolescents are highly susceptible to developing depression, given the wide range of social and biological changes that happen during this developmental period. Many late adolescents transition to college, and this experience is associated with more responsibility, higher academic demands, and gains in independence from family, which have been associated with higher levels of depression. Most adolescents today use social media, and this has been linked to many positive effects, such as exploring one’s identity and staying in contact with peers. However, social media use also has been associated with negative effects, such as body-image issues and increased depression levels. The …

The Relationship Between Chronic Pain And Stress, Anxiety, And Depression In College Students

Journal of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this study was to measure chronic pain levels as they relate to stress, anxiety, and depression in college students. This is a non-experimental, correlational research design, using a survey methodology. Eighty-four participants, over the age of 18, were recruited (men = 33.3%, women = 66.6%) to participate in this study. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire which was a compilation of the Chronic Pain Grade Questionnaire (CPGQ) (Von Korff et al., 1992), the Perceived Stress Scale (Wickrama et al., 2013), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (Beck et al., 1988), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) (Beck …

Associations Between Instagram Addiction, Academic Performance, Social Anxiety, Depression, And Life Satisfaction Among University Students, Behzad Foroughi, Mark D. Griffiths, Mohammad Iranmanesh, Yashar Salamzadeh

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The use of social networking sites (SNSs) has become increasingly popular. Although several studies have been carried out on the addictive use of SNSs such as Twitter and Facebook, there is little research on Instagram addiction and its drivers. The present study investigated the association between students’ needs and Instagram addiction by incorporating physical activity as a moderator among 364 university students. Additionally, the associations between Instagram addiction, academic performance, depression, social anxiety, and life satisfaction were investigated. The results showed that recognition needs, social needs, and entertainment needs all contributed to Instagram addiction. However, information needs were not a …

The Effectiveness Of Peer To Peer Mentoring In Reducing Symptoms Of Depression And Anxiety In College Students, Ryan Harra

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

University counseling centers are struggling against resource constraints to meet the rising demand for mental health care. Peer-based mentoring programs offer the potential for an alternative approach to mitigate the increasing demand for treatment and improve overall psychological well-being among college students. However, research investigating peer mentoring programs on college campuses is lacking. This study evaluates program feasibility and potential effectiveness in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms among college students that underwent a 4-week peer mentoring program. Results from this preliminary study indicate peer-based programs may be more effective in reducing symptoms of depression (especially anhedonic depression) compared to anxiety. …

The Effects Of The Transition From Pre-Nursing To Nursing On Mental Health, Andrew J. Davis, Paige R. Mullins, Kimberly A. Sell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mental health is an ever-growing crisis among adolescents and young adults, with suicide as second leading cause of death and the number of those negatively affected continually on the rise. Transitions are one of the major stressors prevalent among these age groups, placing individuals at risk for mental health deficits. This quantitative voluntary response comparative study assesses the transitional mental health of pre-nursing students and students in the nursing program at East Tennessee State University. Emailed to all with a declared major of pre-nursing or nursing, this study measured mental health using evidenced based assessment tools. The PHQ-9 for depression …

Maternal Depression Moderated By Family Resources When Children Have Developmental Disabilities., Timothy B. Smith, Terisa P. Gabrielsen

Faculty Publications

Children with developmental disabilities require extensive parental involvement in intervention, but parents with depression may be less able to intervene effectively. We examined prevalence of depression symptoms and predictors among 131 mothers of children with disabilities enrolled in early childhood special education. Participants completed several self-report measures of depression and child and family functioning. Children were directly evaluated using the Battelle Developmental Inventory. One year later, 68 mothers repeated self-report measures. Participants (30%) reported elevated depression symptoms across time. Depression scores were correlated with parental stress and family resources. An interaction between higher maternal depression and higher child functioning with …

The Impact Of Mindfulness Practices In Teachers, Shawn M. Martin Hettinga

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Mindfulness training has been identified as a promising means for cultivating social and emotional competencies and reducing stress. The purpose of the quantitative pre-post study using convenience sampling of educators in a rural K-12 in the Arkansas River Valley was to examine whether teachers’ participation in mindfulness activities were associated with changes in levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and job satisfaction. The study used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) and measured the responses from novice (0-3 years) and experienced (4+ years) teachers. The findings revealed that there was no difference between the …

Family Structure And Maternal Depressive Symptoms: A Cross-National Comparison Of Australia, The United Kingdom, And The United States, Kirsten Rasmussen, Elizabeth K. Sigler, Sadie A. Slighting, Jonathan A. Jarvis, Mikaela J. Dufur, Shana Pribesh

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between family structure and maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Family structures that involve transitions across life's course, such as divorce, can alter access to resources and introduce new stressors into family systems. Using the stress process model, we examine the links between family structure, stress, resources, and MDS. Using nationally representative data from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and cross-sectional models for each country, we find that family structure may influence MDS differently in the UK than it does …

What Long-Term Effects Occur From Combat Deployment In Effecting Later Adaptation To Civilian Life?, Corey E. Waites

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study shows the effects that combat exposure can have on an individual by compiling information gained from surveys and collecting data from Facebook interactions. Members of the study who were deployed to the Southern area of Baghdad, Iraq, between 2003-2005 were included in this research after they voluntarily responded to an initial group message on Facebook to members of the 703rd medical company members. This research sets out to determine how a review of the veterans of the US Army 3rd Infantry Division 703rd medical unit between the years 2003-2005 in Iraq can tell us about the long-term effects …

The Multicultural Distress, Depression, Anxiety, And Stress Levels Of Black Undergraduate Students As Compared To Asian, Latinx, And White Undergraduate Students, Franklin Dickerson Turner

Journal of Research Initiatives

College students who experienced poor academic performance, depression, and anxiety reported having higher levels of stress than those students who were more successful academically (Andrews & Wilding, 2004; Bennett, 2003). It is also known that marginalized students have a higher tendency to experience stress. This study took a systematic look at levels of Multicultural distress, stress, depression, and anxiety as reported by Asian, Black, Latin, and White students at a major urban university. The findings indicated no significant differences in the general stress, depression, and anxiety levels based on a students’ race. However, Asian, Black, and Latin students had a …

An Analysis Of The Effects Of Covid-19 On Students At The University Of Mississippi: Family, Careers, Mental Health, Hannah Newbold

Honors Theses

This study analyzes the effects of COVID-19 on students at the University of Mississippi. For students, COVID-19 changed the landscape of education, with classes and jobs going online. Students who graduated in May 2020 entered a poor job market and many ended up going to graduate school instead of finding a job. Access to medical and professional help was limited at the very beginning, with offices not taking patients or moving appointments to virtual only. This would require that each student needing help had to have access to quality internet service, which wasn’t always guaranteed, thus producing additional challenges.

These …

Teachers’ Stress, Anxiety, And Depression: What Are Special Education Teachers Experiencing?, James H. Potter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that people in the teaching profession have high levels of stress and often report increased levels of symptoms of anxiety and depression. Students’ academic progress may have adverse effects when their teachers have high-stress levels or report mental distress. Those who teach special education often face high levels of stress. However, there is little research considering special education teachers’ job-related health. This study collected data on 598 general and special education teachers in the United States. This study compared the endorsements of both stress and psychopathology between special education and general education teachers. This research found that …

The Effect Of Depression On Adolescent Deviant Behavior And The Mediating Effect Of Autonomy, Theresa Lee

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to synthesize the relations among the adolescent need for autonomy in decision making process, depression, and tendencies for deviant or risk-taking behaviors as adolescents. Background variables such as socio-economic status, sex, race, previous academic achievement, parent warmth and support, resistance to peer pressure were controlled for. Using the NICHD database set, multiple regression analyses revealed that adolescent autonomy was not correlated with adolescent depression, and earlier depression at sixth grade was not a significant mediator of the effect of earlier deviant behaviors at sixth grade on later adolescent deviant behaviors. More importantly, however, the …

Emotional Support Dogs’ Effects On Anxiety, Depression, And Somatization In Elementary Students, Truman Arthur James Spring

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Within the last few decades, there has been an ever-increasing clinical role for trained emotional support dogs (ESD) and their trained therapists in hospitals, courtrooms, and schools. More recently, within the last 5 years, there has been a prevalent trend toward introducing ESDs into schools, which has created an ongoing controversy about the legitimacy of this practice due to the lack of objective data and research on the topic. In this study, archival data analysis was conducted using data from 68 students with elevated scores for anxiety, depression, or somatization, 34 of which were in the treatment group and the …

Academic Stress, Physical Activity, Sleep, And Mental Health Among Chinese Adolescents, Xihe Zhu, Justin A. Haegele, Huarong Liu, Fangliang Yu

Human Movement Sciences & Special Education Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of academic stress on physical activity and sleep, and subsequently their impacts on anxiety and depression. Methods: This cross-sectional study collected data from a convenience sample of 1533 adolescents in an eastern province in China. Surveys were used to collect data on academic stress, anxiety, depression, sleep, physical activity, and demographics. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and path analysis were used to analyze data. Results: The participants reported about 6.77 ± 0.89 h of sleep per day and 1.62 ± 1.79 days of 60 min of physical activity each week. Academic …

It’S All The Rage: An Animated Approach To Screening For Postpartum Depression, Amanda Gorham

Doctoral Dissertations

Postpartum depression presents a complication for mothers which can, in some cases, be severe and even life-threatening. Instruments commonly used to screen for this psychological condition have been challenged by an extensive body of literature, with many mothers being unidentified and even untreated for their symptoms. The presented research introduces a newly developed screening instrument for detecting probable postpartum depression using text-free scenario-based animations, based on the lived experience of the condition as qualified by empirical research and the existing body of literature. Developed items were controlled for quality via Think Aloud Protocol and alignment studies with subject matter experts …

Comparison Of Public Mental Health Stigma In Youth, Desiree A. Clarke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study looked at mental health stigma in youth. Mental health stigma is devaluing, disgracing and disfavoring individuals with mental illness. Participants aged 11-14 completed a measure to rate their stigmatizing beliefs toward peers with either ADHD, depression, or asthma. Their ratings were compared for significance between genders and for the three different conditions: ADHD, depression, and asthma. Significant differences were found between the stigma ratings for asthma, depression and ADHD. ADHD had significantly higher stigma ratings than asthma, and depression had significantly higher stigma ratings than ADHD (on some, but not all, areas rated) and had consistently higher …

Counseling Clients With Traumatic Brain Injury: Exploring Counselors’ Perceived Knowledge, Comfort, And Self-Awareness, Michelle Bradham-Cousar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The number of traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnoses continues to rise each year. Counseling is a critical factor in TBI treatment, and although numerous studies have investigated TBI outcomes, a paucity of researchers have studied professional counselors’ knowledge, comfort, and self-awareness when working with TBI clients. Due to the diversity of counselor caseloads, it is likely that counselors will serve clients with a dual diagnosis that includes TBI. These dual diagnoses include depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, psychosis, or another neurocognitive disorder. The purpose of this study was to explore counselors’ knowledge, comfort, and self-awareness when working with individuals with …

How 6-12th Grade Staff Support Students With Depression: A Pilot Study To Develop Measures Of Implicit Associations, Explicit Attitudes And Helping Behavior, Paul M. Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students with emotional disabilities are disproportionately suspended and expelled in K-12 schools. Attribution theory suggests individuals are less likely to provide assistance to others if they believe the individuals are responsible for their own difficulties. To test attribution theory, this study created new measures of explicit attitudes and implicit associations of licensed 6-12th grade staff regarding students with depression as well as a helping behavior measure of staff toward students with depression. The survey was distributed within a single school district in the western United States. A majority of the sample (N = 52) held a mental health license (60%), …

Utilizing Act Daily As A Self-Guided App For Clients Waiting For Services At A College Counseling Center: A Pilot Study, Jack Haegar, Carter H. Davis, Michael E. Levin

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Considering increasing demands for mental health services at college counseling centers (CCCs), there is a need for cost-effective solutions that avoid depleting stressed CCC resources. This study examined if ACT Daily, a mobile application based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), could serve as an effective self-guided intervention.

Participants: 11 individuals on a CCC waitlist suffering from anxiety/depression participated in the study over 2 weeks.

Methods: This study implemented a pre-post, open trial design of ACT Daily. Assessments were completed at baseline and 2-week post assessment.

Results: Results indicated that ACT Daily was acceptable and that participants improved on …

The Protective Influence Of Self-Compassion Against Internalized Racism Among African Americans, Alexandra Emery

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Racist experiences and internalized racism may lead to poorer mental health outcomes for African Americans born and socialized in the United States (Graham, West, Martinez & Roemer, 2016; Mouzon & McLean, 2017). Self-compassion has been shown to protect against poor mental health outcomes, but limited research exists with respect to African Americans specifically (Lockard, Hayes, Neff and Locke, 2014). The present study explored whether self-compassion could serve as a protective factor between the relations of internalized racism and racist experiences, and the negative mental health outcomes of anxiety, depression, and stress among (N = 230) African American adults. To …

Examining The Coping Resources Of Polyvictimized Youth And Young Adults, Zachary Robert Myers

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Bullying represents a significant concern for many youth and young adults in the United States and abroad. However, the growth of technology has allowed for new platforms in which perpetrators can engage in bullying behaviors, such as text and video messaging, social media applications, and online gaming. In addition, research has suggested that the majority of cyberbullied individuals experience co-occurring in-person victimization as well. These trends are concerning, given that findings within both the traditional and cyberbullying literatures place victimized youth at-risk for a host of social and emotional concerns. However, research has yet to fully explore the unique experiences …

The Relations Between Anxiety Symptoms And Friendships In Adolescence, Phoebe Welcome

Honors College

Anxiety symptoms can often be experienced as a silent struggle in adolescence, as many anxious adolescents do not exhibit outward symptoms. Identifying adolescents who are struggling with subthreshold anxiety symptoms can be even more difficult. As adolescence is a time where friendships become primary sources for emotional support, youth who experience anxiety symptoms and associated distress may have trouble navigating close relationships with peers. The current study aims to investigate the relations between adolescents’ anxiety symptoms and their friendship functioning, as well as the impact of their anxiety symptoms on friends’ emotional adjustment. Data were taken from a larger project …

The Relationship Between Campus Wellness Center Usage And Symptoms Of Depression In College Freshmen, Allison Leonard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is limited research done on the relationship between the program utilization at a campus wellness facility and the symptoms of depression in college freshmen. College students have been found to have a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms than the general population, possibly due to the stressors college life can add. Studies have been done on the effects of physical activity as an intervention for depression as well as on the benefits of campus wellness facilities; however, there have been few studies that look at both campus recreation and depression. The author’s purpose for this study was to see if …

The Association Of Victimization And Depression: An Investigation Of The Implicated Factors Of Social Anxiety, Body Esteem, And Social Support, Jacqueline Jo Klossing

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Victimization is an experience that affects a substantial portion of the adolescent population, and it is well established that it is associated with a host of negative outcomes, including depression. While the relations between victimization and depression have been researched extensively, there are a number of factors that may contribute to this association. Furthermore, both internal and external factors can play a role. Internally, the unique attribute of being socially anxious as well as the perceptions one carries regarding their appearance (i.e., body esteem) are implicated as potential mediators between victimization and depression. Externally, the social support an adolescent perceives …