Psychology Commons^™

Goats, Crayons And Bananas – Creative Ways To Fight Student Stress, Conny Liegl

Conny Liegl

More than 80% of US college students report feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, almost half of whom describe their academic experience as traumatic or very difficult to handle. Stress, sleep difficulties and anxiety are just some of the symptoms that manifest in college students. Undergraduates seem particularly susceptible to these stressors, but only one in five seeks medical consultation for their issues. (American College Health Association [ACHA], 2013)

To help students react to external and internal stressors, California Polytechnic State University’s Robert E. Kennedy Library initiated a program to support students during the most stressful times of the academic quarter. With …

Effects Of Stretch-Based Progressive Relaxation Training On The Secretion Of Salivary Immunoglobulin A In Orofacial Pain Patients, Jeffrey Sherman, Charles Carlson, James Mccubbin, John Wilson

James A. McCubbin

There is a growing body of evidence that psychologic stressors can affect physical health and proneness to disease through depletion of the body's immune system. Relatively little research, however, has investigated the potential immunoenhancing effect of stress-relieving strategies such as progressive muscle relaxation. This study explored the relationship between immune functioning and relaxation training with persons experiencing persistent facial pain. In a single experimental session, 21 subjects either received relaxation training or rested for an equivalent time period. Salivary immunoglobulin A, mood, pain, and tension levels were measured before and after relaxation and rest periods. Results indicated that a greater …

Self-Esteem Influences On Multiple Domains: Stress, Health, Mood, And Social Identity, Kymberlee O'Brien, Hannah Lapp, Stephanie Powers, Celia Moore

Kymberlee M. O'Brien

The present investigation assessed self-esteem effects on biological and subjective chronic stress measures, including cardiovascular parameters, health indicators, and mood. Moderators were examined, including vagal tone and social identity. High self-esteem was associated with higher baseline positivity, lower baseline negativity, and lower subjective stress across numerous domains including: city stress, chaos at home, and perceived stress (all p<.05). Vagal tone moderated the relationship between self-esteem and the chronic stress measure: hair cortisol (p<.05). The high self-esteem group showed lower cortisol, particularly when coupled with high vagal tone. Individuals with low vagal tone had the highest cortisol; for those …

Mediating Factors Of Perceived Discrimination: Physiological And Affective Markers., Kymberlee O'Brien, Edward Tronick, Celia Moore

Kymberlee M. O'Brien

Early life adversity influences later health and may be mediated by psychosocial, affective, and physiological stress and immune factors. We report evidence from MIDUS biomarker project (N = 845, age 34-84, M = 55.09, SD = 11.70) confirming the predicted relationship between early adversity and frequency of diagnosed chronic illnesses (M = 2.8, SD =1.2). Specific psychosocial and physiological variables were tested as mediators. Lifetime (M = .95, SD = 1.5) and daily (M = 12.8, SD = 1.2) discrimination, urinary cortisol (M = 1.1, SD = 1.2 ug/dL), IL-6 (M =2.8, SD = 2.8 pg/mL) (all ps<.001), and …