The Temporal Nature Of The Acute Stress Response And Its Impact On Explicit Learning, Steven B. Hutchinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acute stress is commonly experienced by many throughout their lives. Given the demanding lifestyle of many career paths, it's important to gauge the influence of these stressors upon cognitive performance. The present dissertation focus' upon explicit learning in attempts to explore one avenue of the stress-cognition relationship. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used as a lab stressor for Experiments 1 and 2, in which participants are asked to give a speech and complete a difficult math task in front of 2 evaluators trained to monitor non-verbal behavior. Experiment 1 investigates the dynamic stress response during the minutes following …

The Use Of Peer Mentoring To Decrease Stress In Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Elise G. Head

Doctoral Projects

Nurse anesthesia programs throughout the nation are extremely competitive with strict admissions criteria and demanding curriculum. Students enrolled in these programs, termed Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists (SRNAs), experience high average daily stress levels throughout their enrollment in a nurse anesthesia program (NAP). This quantitative study examined whether there is a decrease in SRNA average daily perceived stress when peer mentoring is employed. Inclusion criterion was all SRNAs enrolled in a single 3 year, post-baccalaureate Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) NAP at a comprehensive Carnegie research university with Southern Regional Education Board-Level 1 designation. Fifty-six SRNAs were surveyed using a modified …

Utilization Of A Focus Group To Evaluate The Perceived Stress Levels And Coping Mechanisms Of Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Cillora Hicks

Doctoral Projects

Each year, thousands of Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists (SRNAs) matriculate into a nurse anesthesia educational program, confronted with unforeseen challenges and stressors. Although a certain amount of stress is essential to stimulate learning, excessive stress can have dire consequences in delaying a students’ academic and clinical progression. The purpose of this Capstone Project was to explore and describe the perceptions of 12 SRNAs relevant to their stress levels and coping behaviors in the management of academic and personal stress. The clinical research questions guiding the study examined the stress levels and coping behaviors of the SRNAs as measured by the …

Training A New Trick Using No-Reward Markers: Effects On Dogs’ Performance And Stress Behaviors, Naomi Rotenberg

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored using no-reward markers (NRMs). Dogs were taught a novel trick. In the IG group dogs’ errors were ignored; in the NRM group they elicited a tone. Performance and stress were evaluated. IG dogs reached higher levels of performance, with no difference in the frequency of stress behaviors.

Family Struggles And Substance Use Among First Generation College Students, Barbara Vehabovic

HIM 1990-2015

The current study seeks to examine the relationship between family struggles, as measured by social class and parental marital status, and substance use among first-generation college students. 902 students from the University of Central Florida participated in an online questionnaire that assessed their social class, parents’ marital status, drug and alcohol use, as well as demographic variables. Results indicated a significant positive correlation between substance use and social class as well as generational status. Males were also more likely to use drugs and alcohol than females. A regression analysis indicated social class, gender, junior and senior academic years were all …

The Effects Of Mindfulness Meditation And Mind-Wandering On Coping-Related Hopefulness In Undergraduate College Students, Shelby N. Green

Honors Theses

High levels of stress in college students are extremely prevalent. This is evident in time-consuming academic responsibilities overlapping with family life, work duties, and personal life. Stress can have negative impacts on academic performance and physical health in college students , and it has been correlated with various negative outcomes including anxiety and depression (Segrin,1999), increases in headaches (Labbe, Murphy & O’Brien, 1997), increased rates of athletic injury (Brewer & Petrie, 1996), suicidal ideation and hopelessness (Dixon, Rumford, Heppner, & Lipps, 1992), sleep disturbances (Verlander, Benedict, & Hanson, 1999), poor health behaviors (Sadava & Pak, 1993; Naquin & Gilbert, 1996), …

The Effects Of Mindfulness On Verbal Distress Disclosure, Sara Fleming

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a mindfulness induction on participants’ verbal distress disclosure (as measured by the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count and State Disclosure Questionnaire). Participants were 86 undergraduate students enrolled in an Introduction to Psychology course and were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a mindfulness condition or a control condition. Participants in the mindfulness condition engaged in a 15-minute mindfulness induction prior to disclosing about a stressful experience, while participants in the control condition listened to a neutrally valenced audio excerpt from a podcast about emotions before speaking about a …

The Mediating Effects Of Positive Psychological States On The Relationships Between Hindrance Stressors And Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Multi-Level Approach, Kandice Goguen

All Theses

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are informal and voluntary behaviors that positively contribute to organizational functioning (Organ 1997; Katz & Kahn, 1978). To better understand and encourage such behaviors, the present study investigated the influence of hindrance stressors and positive psychological states in the workplace. Responses from a sample of university employees were analyzed to examine the individual and unit-level effects of role ambiguity, organizational constraints, and lack of job control on individual-level supervisor-rated OCBs through individual and unit-level positive psychological states. Results showed that each hindrance stressor negatively influenced OCB participation directly and through decreased positive psychological states at the …

The Role Of Stress In Hypersexual Behavior, Randy Gilliland

Theses and Dissertations

The proposed diagnostic criteria for Hypersexual Disorder included "[r]epetitively engaging in sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors in response to stressful life events" (Kafka, 2010, p.279) as a symptom, although no data demonstrates a causal relationship between stress and hypersexual behavior. We sought to confirm previous findings while furthering the field's understanding of this relationship by being the first study to assess stress and hypersexual behavior across multiple time points. Specifically, we sought to test three hypotheses within a sample of men seeking treatment for hypersexual behavior: 1) hypersexual individuals report higher stress levels than published norm samples; 2) stress predicts …

An Examination Of Psychological Climate Linking Mechanisms Across The Strategic Priorities Of Health And Stress, Alec Munc

All Dissertations

Given that employee health and well-being represent a significant source of financial costs for organizations, this dissertation seeks to address some of the pathways through which organizational efforts to improve physical and mental health may operate. This study drew from a model of safety climate (Neal & Griffin, 2000) to propose that psychological climate exerts in influence on employee health and well-being through the joint moderators of knowledge/motivation and behaviors. The model also extended beyond the typical climate linking mechanisms to include moderators both individual (behavioral activation & behavioral inhibition systems) and contextual (workplace physical exposure). Using a two-wave prospective …

Meaning As A Buffer Against Adolescent Psychopathology, Ellen Shaina Dulaney

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the function of meaning in life in adolescence to ascertain whether specific psychological resources may protect youths against threats to subjective well-being. Meaning in life and the search for the meaning in stressful occurrences were independently examined for their influence on stress impact and depression symptomatology. 201 American middle-school and high-school students between 12 and 19 years of age were recruited for this study. Participants reported on questionnaires targeting frequency of negative life events; depressive symptoms; sense of meaning; and tendency to reframe stressors in terms of their meaning, termed “stressor meaning seeking”. It was expected that …

An Animal Model Of Flashbulb Memory: Insights Into The Time-Dependent Mechanisms Of Memory Enhancement, Laura Ashley Bullard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The vivid memory of an emotional event, as well as memory for incidental details associated with the arousing event, has been referred to collectively as a “flashbulb memory”. An important aspect of flashbulb memory in people is that an emotional event enhances memory of contextual details, such as the weather, or clothes one was wearing at the time of the event. Therefore, an emotional event not only produces a detailed memory of the event, itself, but also enhances memory for contextual details that would otherwise not be remembered. The first goal of this work is to describe the development of …

The Abcs Of Stress Responding: Examining The Time Course Of Affective, Biological, And Cognitive Responses To Induced Stress As Prospective Predictors Of Depressive Symptoms, Marissa Erin Rudolph

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Vulnerability-stress models of depression posit risk for depression is characterized by the presence of underlying affective, biological, and cognitive vulnerabilities that become activated during life stress exposure. Extant research has shown heightened reactivity to stress across these vulnerability domains predicts depression; however, little is known whether the persistence of and failure to down-regulate these maladaptive stress responses conveys greater risk of depression than initial reactivity alone. The current study examined associations between the time course of responses to a laboratory stress induction and depressive symptoms. I hypothesized that prolonged maladaptive responses to the stressor across affective (state negative affect; NA), …

A Neurobiological Pathway That Mediates Stress-Induced Drug Use, Oliver Vranjkovic

Dissertations (1934 -)

Cocaine addiction represents a tremendous health and financial burden on our society and the high rate of relapse to cocaine use in abstinent addicts represents a major barrier to effective therapy. Thus, understanding the factors that contribute to relapse and the underlying neurobiological processes is important for guiding the development of treatment for addiction. Stressful life events often trigger drug use in recovering addicts. The contribution of stress to drug use is problematic due to the unpredictable and often uncontrollable nature of stress. A growing literature indicates that norepinephrine and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) in the brain play key roles …

Shop 'Til You Drop: A Coping Mechanism For Stressed University Students?, Aileen M. Pidgeon, Leanne Bottomley, Amy Bannatyne

Aileen M. Pidgeon

Compulsive buying is a concerning problem affecting university students who are particularly vulnerable to experiencing anxiety and stress due to academic workloads, financial difficulties, and social isolation. The current study explores the relationship between compulsive buying behaviour, gender differences, anxiety, stress, and coping styles among university students. As expected, findings revealed female university students reported significantly higher levels of compulsive buying behaviour compared to male students, and students engaging in compulsive buying behaviours were significantly younger than non-compulsive buying students. Compared to university students who reported regular purchasing behaviours, university students who engaged in compulsive buying also reported significantly higher …

One-Session Mindfulness Meditation: The Effects Of Stress Anticipation, Christina Dorothy Colgary

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The current study concerns three main questions that are related to mindfulness meditation: the benefits of a brief preventative one-session mindfulness meditation, the effects of mindfulness meditation compared to a concentrative meditation, and correlations between rumination and stress when facing anticipated and unanticipated stressors. Type of meditation and whether or not participants could anticipate an upcoming stressor were varied in four conditions. Participants completed one 20-minute session of either mindfulness meditation or guided imagery meditation and were informed of a speech preparation task either before or after completing the meditation. Both one-session of mindfulness meditation and guided imagery meditation were …

The Cold Driver: Driving Performance Under Thermal Stress, Drew Morris

All Theses

Exposure to cold environments can impact complex task performance and increase cognitive and physiological error in response to thermal stress. Critically, the task of driving a vehicle requires the use of calibrated mental and physical actions to be conducted safely without error. Few studies have examined the effects of cold stress on driving performance and none have explored the potential for advanced driver safety systems to detect error. Active vehicle safety systems which monitor dangerous driving behavior due to drowsiness have been researched and developed, though technology associated with thermal stressed driving error is unexplored. The current study examined the …

Anger Rumination, Stress, And Dangerous Driving Behaviors As Mediators Of The Relationship Between Multiple Dimensions Of Forgiveness And Adverse Driving Outcomes, David J. Bumgarner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Motor-Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and young adults. Research and public interventions have primarily examined the impact of external factors related to driving; however, less work has examined internal factors. Limited research has shown a negative association between trait forgiveness of others and both driving anger and driving aggression. The current study replicates previous findings and expands to include multiple dimensions of forgiveness and adverse driving outcomes as a dependent variable. It was predicted that multiple dimensions of forgiveness would be directly and indirectly related to adverse driving outcomes through the mediators of anger rumination, …

Interactions Between The Basolateral Amygdala And Ventral Striatum During Probabilistic Learning In Children And Associations With Individual Differences In Free Cortisol, Haley J. Fallowfield

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Stress can drastically alter the behavioural and functional correlates of feedback learning; however, the functional correlates of these effects are poorly understood, particularly in children. In the present study, typically developing children between the ages of 9- and 11-years-old completed a probabilistic learning task with both appetitive and aversive outcomes in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Anticipatory stress to the experimental environment was measured via salivary cortisol at baseline and prior to completion of the task. Although baseline and pre-MRI cortisol values were not reliably different at the group level, subsequent analyses revealed that the basolateral amygdala was less responsive …

Locus Of Control, Self-Efficacy, And The Mediating Effect Of Outcome Control: Predicting Course-Level And Global Outcomes In An Academic Context, Evelyn W. M. Au

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Background and Objectives. The current study utilizes Skinner's framework to examine the unique contributions of internal locus of control, self-efficacy, and perceived outcome control over course performance on students' academic experiences. Method. Undergraduate students (N = 225) took part in a longitudinal study and completed two surveys (Time 1: just before their mid-term exams; Time 2: just before their final exam in the same semester). Results. Both locus of control and self-efficacy at Time 1 predicted course-level perceived control over course performance at Time 2. Student-level perceived control over course performance at Time 2 mediated the relationship between self-efficacy at …

Effects Of Early-Adolescent, Mid-Adolescent, Or Adult Stress On Morphine Conditioned Place Preference, Chloe Shields

Senior Theses

In light of previous work demonstrating that stress can increase subjective drug reward in adult rats, the present study investigated the influence of stress on morphine conditioned place preference (CPP) in early-adolescent, mid-adolescent, and adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Subjects in each age group were assigned to either a no stress condition or a stress condition in which they were exposed to an unpredictable eight-day schedule of elevated platform and synthetic fox odor stressors. Place conditioning then evaluated subjective morphine reward in all animals. Using a biased procedure, subjects were assigned to receive morphine on the initially non-preferred side of the …

Traumatic Experiences And Cognition: How Do Static And Dynamic Variables Contribute To Current Functioning?, Cathryn Richmond

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Approximately 25% of children in the United States will witness or experience a traumatic event before age 4, and individuals with a history of trauma, particularly traumatic events in childhood, have a much higher likelihood of developing psychopathology in adulthood. Prior research indicates that the vast majority of individuals with a serious mental illness, particularly those in community mental health centers and psychiatric inpatient settings, have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. These individuals require special consideration in treatment planning, and a large range of neurodevelopmental and environmental factors must be taken into account when interpreting results …

Determining If There Is A Relationship Between Locus Of Control And Stress, Sara Roderick

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

Locus of Control and stress are potentially vital concepts that could, in theory, reveal to be major players in everyday life. Previous research has examined locus of control in relation to stress, although both locus of control and stress were variables defined in a variety of different contexts depending on the research. Some studies focused on locus of control and stress in regards to specific environments, while others looked at the concepts in broader terms, such as this study does. Indeed, the present study sought to explore the relationship between these two concepts in a more general sense, in order …

Perceived Stress And Suicidal Behaviors In College Students: Conditional Indirect Effects Of Depressive Symptoms And Mental Health Stigma, Esther Reynolds

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in college students, making it a significant public health concern on college campuses. Perceived stress, depression, and mental health stigma are established risk factors for engaging in suicidal behaviors; however, their interrelationships are unknown. In a sample of 913 college students, we examined the role of depressive symptoms as a potential mediator of the relation between stress and suicidal behavior, and mental health stigma as a moderator of that effect. In bivariate analyses, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, mental health stigma and suicidal behaviors were all positively correlated. Additionally, depressive symptoms partially mediated …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Koru: A Mindfulness Program For College Students And Other Emerging Adults., Jeffrey M Greeson, Michael K Juberg, Margaret Maytan, Kiera James, Holly Rogers

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of Koru, a mindfulness training program for college students and other emerging adults.

PARTICIPANTS: Ninety students (66% female, 62% white, 71% graduate students) participated between Fall 2012 and Spring 2013.

METHODS: Randomized controlled trial. It was hypothesized that Koru, compared with a wait-list control group, would reduce perceived stress and sleep problems, and increase mindfulness, self-compassion, and gratitude.

RESULTS: As hypothesized, results showed significant Group (Koru, Wait-List)×Time (Pre, Post) interactions for improvements in perceived stress (F[1, 76.40]=4.50, p=.037, d=.45), sleep problems (F [1, 79.49]=4.71, p=.033, d=.52), mindfulness (F [1, 79.09]=26.80, p

CONCLUSIONS: Results support the …

Anxiety Sensitivity, Stress, And Problematic Drinking Behaviors Among College Students, Kathryn V. Bulandr

Honors Projects

The current study examined whether the combination of anxiety sensitivity (AS) and stress affected college students’ urge and motive to drink alcohol. Participants (n= 95, 44.2% male, 55.8% female, M_age= 18.82 years) included undergraduate students from Illinois Wesleyan University. Participants were asked to fill out a series of questionnaires, in addition to a short anagram task, which was used to induce stress in half of the sample. A multivariate factorial analysis was used to examine two main effects (AS and stress levels) and one interaction effect. Our hypothesis was partially supported, in that there was only …

The Effect Of Education On Compassion Fatigue As Experienced By Staff Nurses, Kathryn L. Zehr

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Historically, nursing has been perceived as a highly rewarding profession. Yet, due to the increasing complexity of today’s healthcare, nurses are faced with greater challenges in their work environments. Registered nurses who work in tertiary care settings are exposed to disturbing patient situations including trauma, death, abuse, or chronic disease. Joinson (1992) described this experience as compassion fatigue and symptoms include headaches, short attention span, or fatigue. A review of literature has identified that nurses should be educated about risk factors and coping strategies to combat compassion fatigue. Guided by the Model for Evidence-Based Practice Change and Jean Watson’s Theory …

Honors Students’ Characteristics, Perceived Locus Of Control And Attributions, Maria E. Leatherwood

Senior Honors Theses

Recent literature has sought to identify variables which can positively affect at-risk student populations when students start college. In conjunction with high school achievement, motivational variables such as locus of control and goal orientation are strong predictors of student success at a university. Students with a strong internal locus of control and reported goals towards mastering content tend to view themselves as responsible for their work and do well academically. Little research has examined the presence of these variables in high-achieving populations. Although it would seem that students would maintain their attributions for their own success throughout school, locus of …

Effect Of Psychological Capital On Elementary Teacher Stress And Workplace Affect, Scott Stephen Casad

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Calling upon principles of positive psychology, the quantitative study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the relationships between teacher psychological capital (PsyCap), role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, workplace stress, job satisfaction, job commitment, and intention to quit. Valid and reliable instruments from the literature were incorporated into a 64-item survey and distributed to 830 third through fifth grade teachers at seven northern Virginia school districts. In total, 225 complete responses were received. SEM testing rejected the exact-fit hypotheses and revealed insufficient overall fit between the study data and hypothesized models; thereby, providing no support for the proposed causal …

Moderating Effects Of Coping Self-Efficacy And Coping Diversity In The Stress Health Relationship In African American College Students, Carol Frances Bonner

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the roles of coping self-efficacy and coping diversity in moderating the harmful effects of stress in a sample of African American undergraduate college students. An additional purpose of the study was to explore alternative methods of measuring coping diversity. Data were obtained from 162 participants who attended a southeastern Historically Black College/University. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to detect main effects and interaction effects of perceived stress and the two moderator variables, coping self-efficacy and coping diversity, on physical and mental health. Correlational analyses were used to assess the reliability of an alternative measure of …