Psychology Commons^™

Associations Between Tiktok Use, Mental Health, And Body Image Among College Students, Alexz Carpenter

Honors Theses

Background. Social media use continues to increase globally, and there is a large field of research examining the relationships between social media use with anxiety, depression, and body image. College-aged students are particularly vulnerable to these associations because they are at a unique developmental point of their life. College-aged students also use social media more frequently than almost any other age group, which may put them at increased risk for negative mental health and body image outcomes related to their social media use. TikTok is a relatively new social media app that has exponentially risen in popularity, especially among younger …

Emerging Adult College Students' Perceptions Of Immigrants: A Multisite Experimental Study, Alexa Dee Barton

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States (U.S.) has consistently had the largest populations of immigrants worldwide over the last two centuries, contributing to immigration’s ongoing importance as a political, social, economic, and health topic. A central point of focus has been attitudes toward immigration, which prior research has noted is influenced by both individual level and sociopolitical contextual factors. However, few studies have examined these attitudes comparatively across differing immigrant populations (e.g. nation of origin, type of immigration). Nor has the influence of perceivers’ stage of identity and social development been considered (e.g. emerging adult, generation of immigration, civic values). Utilizing quantitative methods, …

Cultural Taxation And College Students: Undergraduate College Students And Their Experiences With Unfair Cultural And Identity Taxation, Sherry Chowdhury

Senior Projects Spring 2021

A popular but burdensome commonality amongst minorities is the seemingly universal experience of bearing some mental or emotional burden as a result of our identities and membership in said minority group, where expectations are made of us to educate, endure, and explain culturally relevant issues. Amado Padilla (1994) initially coined this experience with the term “cultural taxation,” but specifically in relation to faculty of color and ethnic scholars who did double the work their White colleagues did in respective fields. As much past research on cultural taxation and identity taxation (Hirschfield & Joseph, 2012) has been conducted largely on faculty …

The Relationship Between Social Media Engagement And Psychological Well-Being In College Students At The University Of New Hampshire, Emily G. D'Antonio

Honors Theses and Capstones

Social media use has increased substantially in recent years, and for the college-aged population, social media is often the leading method of communication. Research indicates this reliance on digital connection could have a negative impact on the health of young adults (Bagroy et al., 2017). The college years are a time of personal growth and defining actions, yet can also be burdened by mental health issues related to stress, anxiety, and depression (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010). Acknowledging these trends, the current study explores how college students’ specific frequency and intentionality while interacting on social media relates to their psychological well-being. …

An Examination Of The Relationships Between Social Anxiety Dimensions And Alcohol-Related Outcomes: The Mediating Role Of Drinking Context, Margo Cooley Villarosa

Dissertations

The problematic drinking patterns of the college student population has elicited a campus-wide initiative to promote effective prevention and intervention efforts to reduce the range of associated academic, physical, and psychosocial consequences. Identifying those college students at greater risk for developing an alcohol use disorder informs student life personnel of ways to tailor efforts to ensure effective, healthy changes. Students with social anxiety pose a particular risk for developing problematic drinking patterns because of their heightened focus on how they are viewed by others in social situations coupled with drinking being viewed as a normative behavior. Because these students’ anxiety …

Extrinsic/Intrinsic Religious Orientation: A Moderator Between Religiosity And Prejudice In Christian And Muslim College Students, Brian Vazquez, Kelly Mcclure

Undergraduate Research

This cross-sectional correlational study examines the extrinsic/intrinsic features of religiosity and their relevance to prejudiced attitudes about homosexuality in Christian and Muslim college students. The main research question is whether extrinsic/intrinsic religious orientation in Christian and Muslim college students moderates the relationship between religiosity and prejudice against homosexual individuals. We hypothesized a correlation between centrality of religiosity and attitudes towards homosexuals, and extrinsic/intrinsic religious orientation as a moderator in the relationship. We have a sample of 84 participants who completed the self-report questionnaire through Qualtrics. Our findings indicate that, as a whole, our sample is religious, holding favorable attitudes toward …

Associations Between Financial Avoidance, Emotional Distress, And Relationship Conflict Frequency In Emerging Adults In College, Josh R. Novak, Rhees R. Johnson

Journal of Financial Therapy

Some research shows that college students are not aware of their financial situation and even avoid engaging with their finances. Research has yet to investigate how this financial avoidance is associated with emotional and relational health for college students in romantic relationships. As such, the purpose of this study was to identify the associations between financial avoidance and conflict frequency. Emotional distress was included as a possible mediator of the association. Results revealed that for both men and women, higher financial avoidance was indirectly associated with increased conflict frequency with their partner through increased emotional distress. A direct association was …

The Role Of Afrocentric Features In Mental Healthcare Utilization And Counselor Preferences In Black College Students, Randl B. Dent

Theses and Dissertations

Though mental health issues are prevalent in Black young adults, they underutilize mental healthcare services. This research examined the role of feature-based discrimination in mental healthcare (under)utilization. Study 1, a secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, provided no evidence supporting a link between skin tone and mental healthcare utilization, when controlling for depression diagnosis. However, when controlling for depression symptoms, there was a trend such that Black young adults with darker, as opposed to lighter, skin tone utilized healthcare less. Study 2, an experimental study with 33 Black college students, showed 73% of the …

Online Usage Among College Students: A Comparison Of Online Gaming And Facebook Users, Jonathan M. Ingram

All Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study is to investigate undergraduate students' patterns of use and perceived consequences of online gaming and Facebook. In Study 1, 38 male and 31 female participants completed measures examining online gaming usage, whereas Study 2 included 24 male and 75 female participants who were asked to complete measures examining Facebook usage. Study 1 results indicated online gaming participants identified time loss (78.3%) and playing longer than planned (91.3%) as common consequences of use. In contrast, Facebook users in Study 2 were less likely to report time loss (20.6%) but were more likely (91.8%) to visit …

The Relationship Between Sleep And Nutrition In Message Framing Among College Students, Abbey G. White

Doctoral Dissertations

The college years are often depicted as a time of immense change, specifically in relation to college students' level of nutrition and sleep quality. However, these health concerns not only impact college students' health but also their academic performance, mood, and as a result their future. The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether technologically enhanced health messages are more effective than the traditional text format for creating healthy behavioral changes amongst college students. Secondly, the study provides the opportunity to examine previous research involving message framing, specifically, regulatory focus theory and self-efficacy, in order to provide further …

Reading Between The Lines: Cultural Sexual Scripts And Collegiate Sexual Behaviors, Lauren Yadlosky

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Cultural sexual scripts provide individuals with a general understanding of how to respond in sexual situations given their environment. College students navigate the college culture keeping various elements of these sexual scripts in mind. Utilizing 1,007 undergraduates, the researcher investigated the current relevance of traditional sexual scripts and the relationships between various levels of cultural sexual scripts (i.e., the collective versus individual perceptions of them) and their relation to reported sexual engagement. Researchers also explored factors that predict these relationships. Results suggested current sexual scripts still largely reflect traditional ones, depending on the sexual behavior being assessed. Individual perceptions of …

An Evaluation Of Behavioral Skills Training To Teach Assertiveness Skills To College Students, Savannah Warrington

All Master's Theses

Assertiveness skills are related to a variety of life factors including stress levels, social relationships, social fears, and anxiety. The previous research has shown that engaging in nonassertive behavior can have negative effects, and assertive behaviors can lead to a healthier life (Eldeeb, Enstar, & Eldosoky, 2014; Elliot & Gramling, 1990; Larijani, Aghajanie, Baheiraei, & Neiestanank, 2010; Morgan, 1974). The purpose of the current research was to determine if behavioral skills training (BST) was effective in teaching assertiveness skills to college students and if the skills would generalize to novel situations. BST is a method for teaching skills that uses …

An Examination Of The Role Of Social Support, Coping Strategies, And Individual Characteristics In Students’ Adaptation To College, Arleen Bejerano

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adaptation, or adjustment, is a psycho-social process that occurs when an individual accepts and integrates into his or her life a transition from one situation to another situation (Schlossberg, 1981). Many individuals struggle with transitions because transitions involve changes in the environment, roles, routines, and/or ways of looking at the world. The present investigation examines the transition from high school to college, and explores the interpersonal and individual ways that students manage the changes accompanying this transition. Using Transition Theory as a framework, students’ social support networks, coping strategies, self-esteem, and depression are posited to influence students’ adaptation to college …

Spiritual Bypass: A Preliminary Investigation, Harriet L. Glosoff, Craig S. Cashwell, Chereé Hammond

Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works

The phenomenon of spiritual bypass has received limited attention in the transpersonal psychology and counseling literature and has not been subjected to empirical inquiry. This study examines the phenomenon of spiritual bypass by considering how spirituality, mindfulness, alexithymia (emotional restrictiveness), and narcissism work together to influence depression and anxiety among college students. Results suggested that mindfulness and alexithymia accounted for variance in depression beyond what is accounted for by spirituality and that all 3 factors (mindfulness, alexithymia, and narcissism) accounted for variance in anxiety beyond what is accounted for by spirituality. Implications for counselors are provided.

Informational And Teaching Effects On Changes In Prejudice Of College Students, Nolan E. Ashman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An attempt was made in the present research to investigate the effects of informational source, instructional differences, environment in the college, and awareness of ethnic and religious attitudes as the result of the administration of the test instrument.

Subjects used in the study were drawn from courses in general psychology and basic orientation courses in engineering. All subjects were presented with a revision of the Bogardus Social Distance Scale following the fall quarter of instruction (1960-61 academic year). All but a control group taken from one psychology section received the same scale at the beginning of the instructional period.

Since …