Psychology Commons^™

Identifying Associations Between The Family Environment And Anxiety And Depression Among Children Ages 0-17 In The United States, Reagan A. Richardson, Nicole M. Holt

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

This study analyzes whether physical, emotional & neurological, family environment, or community-related factors display the strongest association with anxiety and depression among children ages 0-17 in the United States.

Using IBM SPSS v. 27, we conducted a univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis on data from the 2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) with a sample size of 21,599. Our independent variables included 30 questions from the NSCH which were compared to a mental health index score.

Our study shows that about 10.6% of children suffer from either anxiety, depression, or both, and the univariate model found that 19 …

Mindfulness: How It Affects Pregnancy, Labor And Delivery, Olivia R. Snipes

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

Pregnancy is a very physical and mental process during which many women face a wide variety of complications. The influx of hormones that happens during pregnancy has the ability to make pregnant women more susceptible to depression, anxiety and other stress related illnesses. High levels of stress can negatively affect the mother and unborn child and potentially the mother-child relationship. Many women prefer not to take the pharmaceutical route when coping with stress, anxiety and depression while pregnant. As a result, mindfulness practices have been utilized as an alternative method to reduce the negative effects of these complications and lower …

A Longitudinal Study Of Adolescent Identity Development And Harmful Alcohol Use Within A Racially/Ethnically Diverse Sample, Richie A. Kubilus, Alan Meca

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

The development of a clear sense of identity is a key developmental task in adolescence, and recent studies have found that identity synthesis and confusion are associated negatively and positively, respectively, to alcohol use. One alcohol expectancy - tension reduction - coincides with the hypothesis that identity development may prove to be a stressful developmental process, and may thereby serve as a motivator for adolescents to drink when a belief exists that stress can be reduced through alcohol use. In the present study, we examined the mediational effects between identity synthesis and confusion and later alcohol risk via alcohol expectancies …

Hierarchical Linear Modeling Of Drinking To Cope With Anxiety Among College Students, Bradley Wetzell, Matthew R. Pearson, James Henson

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

Previous research has assumed that drinking motives (reasons for drinking) remain fairly stable over time (traits). The current study examines how drinking motives of college students may vary over time (states). Weekly measures were completed by 125 undergraduates at Old Dominion University, which examined how average levels of anxiety interacted with anxiety coping motives to influence drinking. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling, it was found that anxiety coping motives were less predictive for participants with elevated average anxiety levels, as opposed to participants with normal to low anxiety levels. Implications and possible explanations are discussed.

Research Mentor: Dr. James Henson, Department …

Experiencing Emotional Abuse During Childhood And Witnessing Interparental Verbal Aggression As Related To Emotional Aggression In Undergraduate Dating Relationships, Robert J. Milletich, Michelle Kelley

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

The present study examined whether witnessing interparental verbal aggression and/or experiencing emotional abuse during childhood were associated with emotional abuse in current or recent dating relationships in college students (M = 19.51 years; SD = 2.02). Participants (N = 715) completed the Conflicts Tactics 2-CA Scale (Straus & Donnelly, 2001), the Exposure to Abusive and Supportive Environments Parenting Inventory (Nicholas & Bieber, 1997), and the Emotional Abuse Scale (Murphy & Hoover, 1999). Results showed that witnessing interparental verbal aggression predicted males‟ self-use of Restrictive Engulfment and their partners‟ use of Restrictive Engulfment. For females, witnessing interparental verbal aggression predicted self-use …