Psychology Commons^™

Culturally Relevant Coping Strategies Within Bicultural Latine College Students In The Face Of Anti-Immigrant Sentiment And Policy, Cindy M. Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

Despite their protective potential against anti-immigrant sentiment and policy, the connections between bicultural identity development and culturally relevant coping among temporarily documented Latinx college students remain unstudied. Therefore, this study (a) describes culturally relevant coping strategies used by bicultural Latinx college students, (b) examines the role cultural identity plays in bicultural Latinx college students’ coping strategies, and (c) illuminates the role institutional level systems play in liminally-documented college students’ coping with anti-immigrant sentiment and policy. Participants in this study included 16 Latine college students (M_age = 21.19, SD = 3.21) with DACA (n = 14) or TPS (n = …

Examining The Impact Of Parental Racial Socialization And Critical Consciousness On Black Adolescents’ Coping With Racism-Related Stress, Chandler Alexandra Golden

Theses and Dissertations

In addition to universal stressors, Black adolescents also experience racism-related stressors. The physical and emotional consequences of racism-related stressors can be harmful to Black youth. To mitigate racism-related stress, Black youth may engage in various forms of coping. Critical consciousness and racial socialization are culturally relevant factors that have been protective against the negative impact of racism-related stress, with coping as one mechanism that undergirds this protection. Moreover, research has also begun to theorize critical action as a type of racialized coping. Past research has largely examined the impact of critical consciousness and racial socialization on coping separately and yielded …

Relations Between Sexual And Gender Minority Stress, Personal Hardiness, And Psychological Stress In Emerging Adulthood: Examining Indirect Effects Via Human-Animal Interaction, Camie A. Tomlinson, Jennifer L. Murphy, Angela Matijczak, Shelby E. Mcdonald

Graduate Research Posters

Introduction: Although there is emerging evidence that companion animals are important sources of comfort and support for many LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other sexual and gender minority identities) individuals, little is known about the interplay between sexual and gender minority (SGM) stress, human-animal interaction (HAI), and psychological adjustment in this population. To address this gap in the literature, the current study examined the role of HAI in relations between SGM stress (i.e., microaggressions, victimization) and psychological adjustment (i.e., self-efficacy, psychological stress) during emerging adulthood.

Methods: Our sample included LGBTQ+ young adults between the ages of 18 and 21 …

From Invisible To Visible: Exploring Invisibility Syndrome And Coping Among African American Men, Jesha Jones, Stacey Lawson

Graduate Research Posters

INTRODUCTION: African American men may experience feelings of invisibility when maneuvering throughout the public education system. Encounters with alienation, discrimination, and prejudice play a major role in influencing one’s decision to remain in school or dropout. Examining the extent to which the invisibility syndrome manifests in African American men during their K-12 experiences can expand knowledge in understanding their feelings of worthlessness and insignificance in the classroom. METHOD: This research investigated the degree to which invisibility syndrome manifested in retrospective accounts in the K-12 experiences of African American collegiate men. Analysis aim to identify how coping mechanisms can …

Three Measures Of Coping In Video Games (Civ-Iii): The Development, Construct Validation, And Profile Analysis Of The Civ-Iii, Chelsea M. Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

Video games provide a competitive, goal-oriented environment. They involve individuals who often seek intentionally to frustrate their opponents’ goals. The gaming community is made up of players who vary in their interpersonal style, learning histories, and skill levels. In this rich and dynamic environment, stress is a common experience. Given the prevalence of gameplay in the population and the frequency of gameplay among gamers, it is important to examine coping responses to stressors, particularly maladaptive ones. The present research entails three studies. In Study 1, I use exploratory factor analyses to develop three scales purported to measure maladaptive coping strategies …

Heterosexism, Mental Health, And Suicide: Investigating The Moderating Role Of Coping In Sexual Minority Men, Michael A. Trujillo

Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional study examined if heterosexist experiences (harassment/rejection, workplace/school discrimination, other) were associated with suicidality (suicidal ideation, suicide attempts) and symptoms of anxiety/depression, and if symptoms of anxiety/depression were associated with suicidality in a national sample of sexual minority men (SMM; N = 89). The study also examined if depression mediated the relationship between heterosexist events and suicidal ideation and whether active and disengaged coping styles moderated this relationship. All associations were significant and positive, with harassment/rejection and symptoms of depression generally independently associated with outcome variables. Symptoms of depression were a significant mediator of the harassment/rejection-suicidal ideation relationship; however, …

Measuring The Coping Efforts Of Grieving Undergraduate Students: Developing The Gcope Through A Mixed-Method Design, Benjamin Dyson Lord

Theses and Dissertations

The current study used a three-phase mixed-methods design to produce a new self-report measure of the strategies that college students use to cope with the death of a loved-one. College students are commonly bereaved and may be in the process of undergoing important developmental tasks related to emerging adulthood. However, the application of grief-specific stress-and-coping theories (i.e., the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement) to this population has been hampered by measurement issues.

The current study aimed to address the flaws asserted above through the use of a mixed-methods scale development design. To this end, the researcher made use …

Work Hope And The Socioemotional Functioning Of Offenders, David Guion

Theses and Dissertations

For offenders returning to society at record levels, securing work looms as one of the most crucial factors in successful reentry. Work hope is a construct that seeks to measure the relative presence of goals of securing desired work, thoughts about how to achieve those goals, and agency to achieve those goals, even in the presence of obstacles. This study sought to examine relationships among work hope, the socioemotional variables of attachment, emotion regulation, physical, relational, and workplace victimization, and coping, and the career-related variables of perceptions of career-related barriers and complexity level of career goals. The sample comprised cohorts …

Dispositional Mindfulness In People Diagnosed With Cancer: The Relationship To Depressive Symptoms And Well-Being, Karen Kersting

Theses and Dissertations

Coping with a cancer diagnosis is known to be a stressful experience that can be related to declines in personal well-being and increases in distress. Dispositional mindfulness is known to be related to depressive symptoms and well-being. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mindfulness and experiences of depressive symptoms and well-being in people recently diagnosed with cancer. Seventy-four participants who were diagnosed with cancer in the last 12 months completed an initial self-report survey, and 43 of those completed another survey 3 months later. Cross-sectional regression analysis showed that higher levels of mindfulness were …

Childhood Maltreatment, Coping, And Coping Self-Efficacy Among Offenders, David Guion

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between childhood interpersonal trauma and coping self-efficacy, coping styles, and emotion regulation difficulties among male and female offenders in detention and diversion centers (N = 183). The coping-relapse model of recidivism posits that offenders’ coping ability plays a pivotal role in successful reentry (Zamble & Quinsey, 1997). Past research reveals that childhood maltreatment is associated with avoidant coping and emotion regulation difficulties, which could negatively impact reentry (e.g., Cloitre et al., 2009; Min, Farkas, Minnes, & Singer, 2007). The relationship between childhood maltreatment and coping self-efficacy has not been addressed. This study found that childhood …

Relations Between Violence Exposure, Threat Appraisal, And Coping Among Typologies Of Victimized Adolescents, Katherine Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

According to the transactional theory of stress and coping, threat appraisals influence coping and adjustment. Previous research has shown that threat appraisals mediate relations between violence exposure and adjustment, but few studies have examined links between threat appraisals and coping. The current study examined relations between violence exposure, threat appraisals, and coping among typologies of victimized adolescents. The sample included 159 predominately African American adolescents (M = 12.1). Path analyses were used to test whether threats of negative evaluation by self and others mediated relations between violence exposure and avoidance and positive reframing coping, respectively. Results did not indicate mediation …

Maternal Caregivers' Organization Of And Reasoning Behind Coping Suggestions To Deal With Community Violence Exposure, Melinda B. Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Children and adolescents exposed to community violence can experience a plethora of negative outcomes including both internalizing symptoms and externalizing problems. Coping strategies can either buffer the effects of violence exposure or exacerbate negative outcomes following exposure. Given the diversity of strategies youth use to cope with violence, one unanswered question is how youth come to learn coping strategies to deal with community violence, and the roles that proximal others such as caregivers play in that process. The current study had several aims including understanding (a) how caregivers organize and conceptualize the suggestions they give to their children to cope …

Posttraumatic Growth Among College Students At A Large Urban University: The Role Of Social Support And Unsupportive Social Interactions, Wendy E. Balliet

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to investigate the association between both social support and unsupportive interactions and psychological outcomes, in a sample of college students who recently had experienced a stressful event. The research design was cross-sectional, and data were collected from 142 college students. As hypothesized, a significant positive association was found between unsupportive interactions received by participants and depressive symptoms. Contrary to hypotheses, no significant associations were found between unsupportive interactions and positive emotion or posttraumatic growth. Additionally, no significant relationship was evident between received emotional support and the outcome variables. Exploratory analysis revealed that positive reappraisal …

Understanding How African-American Middle School Students Cope With Peer Victimization: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Suzanne C. Linkroum

Theses and Dissertations

A mixed-methods approach was used to determine how African-American middle school students cope with peer victimization and to identify factors that inhibit and promote the use of prosocial coping strategies. In a previous study, participants had been categorized into four social clusters: well-adjusted, rejected, passively-victimized, or aggressively-victimized based on a cluster analysis of self-reported psychosocial variables. Interviews with a sub sample of 80 students focusing on identifying both how students thought they would respond and how they thought they should respond to hypothetical situations involving peer victimization were analyzed. Interviews also elicited factors that would support or impede the use …