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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Western Washington University

Theses/Dissertations

Stress

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Strengthening Mindfulness And Social Support As Psychosocial Skills; Improving First-Year Student’S Adjustment Into College, Raumilya Smith Jan 2023

Strengthening Mindfulness And Social Support As Psychosocial Skills; Improving First-Year Student’S Adjustment Into College, Raumilya Smith

WWU Graduate School Collection

Extensive research exists regarding the challenges and risk of negative outcomes first-year students face while transitioning into college. Given that psychosocial factors predict adaptive coping and adjustment in the presence of transition stressors, this study examined the efficacy of mindfulness and social support trainings in fostering psychosocial skills and adjustment among college freshmen. Fifty Western Washington University first-year students (75.7% white, 13.5% Hispanic or Latinx, 12.2% Asian, 4.1% Black, 1.4% Native American or Alaska Native, and 9.5% multiracial) participated. Students were randomly assigned to one of the two trainings and were measured pre- and post- training on psychosocial skills (mindfulness, …


Cannabidiol Administered Via Vapor Inhalation Restores Social Interaction Deficits In A Mouse Model Of Social Anxiety, Brennen Risch Jan 2023

Cannabidiol Administered Via Vapor Inhalation Restores Social Interaction Deficits In A Mouse Model Of Social Anxiety, Brennen Risch

WWU Graduate School Collection

Cannabidiol (CBD), the main non-intoxicating component of the plant cannabis, has shown various promising therapeutic effects in treatment of anxiety and depression in both humans and animals. One potential beneficial effect of CBD is restoration of social interaction deficits following chronic stress. Here I investigate the potential for CBD to be used as a treatment in animal models of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), as well as potential mechanisms of action by which CBD may produce these effects. Mice exposed to 10 days of chronic social-defeat stress were administered vaporized CBD in a single 30 minute session before being tested behaviorally. …


Understanding The Impact Of Stress On Sexual Behavior: A Study Of The Covid-19 Pandemic And The Masturbation Habits Of Americans, Holly Edwards Jan 2021

Understanding The Impact Of Stress On Sexual Behavior: A Study Of The Covid-19 Pandemic And The Masturbation Habits Of Americans, Holly Edwards

WWU Graduate School Collection

The COVID-19 Pandemic, officially declared on March 11, 2020, has shifted the world in a myriad of ways. Global citizens are now facing an increase in stress, anxiety, depression, and grief as the SARS-CoV-2 virus claimed thousands of lives as well as changed daily life. With every aspect of life different, I set out to understand how the negative emotions caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic influenced the sexual thought and behavior of American individuals, using masturbation as a focus. An online survey was employed using different Likert scale questions and a few qualitative questions, in order to gain opinions about …


Cultural Differences In Emotion Regulation And Social Support Seeking, Vida Pourmand Jan 2021

Cultural Differences In Emotion Regulation And Social Support Seeking, Vida Pourmand

WWU Graduate School Collection

Given the negative influences of stress on health, it is important to examine beneficial processes like social support, which can promote greater health. However, the willingness to seek social support may be qualified by emotion regulation strategy. Research indicates that there are cultural differences in both social support seeking and emotion regulation processes. In this ecological momentary assessment design, participants (N = 49) reported on their daily stress, whether they sought social support during stressful times, and if they emotionally suppressed (N = 913). They also responded to individual differences measures, including interdependent cultural orientation and ethnicity. Multilevel modeling was …


Does Text Messaged Social Support Attenuate Cardiovascular And Psychological Reactivity To A Laboratory Stressor?, Tabitha C. S. Caley Jan 2020

Does Text Messaged Social Support Attenuate Cardiovascular And Psychological Reactivity To A Laboratory Stressor?, Tabitha C. S. Caley

WWU Graduate School Collection

The current research examined the effects of text-messaged and in-person social support on cardiovascular and psychological stress responses. Of particular interest to this thesis was the question of whether text-messaged social support offered benefits similar to that of in-person social support. Female undergraduates (N = 49) and their female friends participated in an anticipated speech task. The participant’s friends provided either in-person (n = 14), text-messaged (n = 17) social support, or no social support (n =18). Cardiovascular and psychological outcomes were tested by incorporating a series of theoretically driven planned contrasts using HLM piecewise growth curve modeling. In-person social …