Social Work Commons^™

The Utilization Of Music And Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response In Reducing Stress, Robert Scott

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Stress is often identified as a “silent killer” and the negative impact on one’s mental and physical well-being is greatly impacted without intervention. This study sought to determine which form of coping, autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) or music, is an effective strategy for reducing stress. The study was conceptualized using the positivist paradigm of research. An electronic survey was dispersed to participants via the website SurveyMonkey. Descriptive data was collected using demographic information gathered during the first portion of the survey. Participants’ self-identified stress levels were gathered before and after they viewed their randomly assigned coping strategy (ASMR or …

Stress And Help-Seeking In Farmworkers In The Coachella Valley, Alexis Garcia, Daniela Mejia

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

California farmworkers are a vulnerable population who face unique stressors that may increase their risk for mental health problems. The study’s purpose is: (1) to quantitatively investigate the relationship between stress and help-seeking attitudes among Coachella Valley farmworkers and (2) to qualitatively explore the factors affecting the utilization of mental health services. Data came from 28 participants recruited through the snowball sampling method. Quantitative data from the Migrant Farmworker Stress Inventory (MFWSI) and the Mental Health Seeking Attitudes Scale (MHSAS) suggests no relationship between help-seeking attitudes and stress levels. Qualitative data analysis revealed themes that reflected cultural views. Results show …

The Aftermath Of The Pandemic’S Effect On College Student Depression, Lorena Sedano

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The present study examines how stress from the aftermath of the pandemic has affected college student depression. Using qualitative methods, ten college students voluntarily participated in recorded interviews. During these interviews students shared how the return to normality affected their experiences with depression, and the experiences of other students on campus. The study examined coping mechanisms to their adaptations, student’s individual stories, the effects that were viewed on campus, and their experiences during this transition. Students also completed the PHQ-2 and brief questions from the perceived stress scale. During the completion of the PHQ-2, 60% of students reported to have …

Effects Of Corporal Punishment On Parents, David Martinez, Linda Saleh Borghol

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

There has been limited research regarding the effects of corporal punishment on parents. This qualitative study examined the effects of corporal punishment on parents and the reasoning behind their particular discipline practices. The study provides an overview of the thoughts and emotions parents feel before and after utilizing corporal punishment. The data were collected through interviews of parents who utilized corporal punishment as their main form of discipline. We interviewed parents through Zoom meetings in order to gather data that would help this study. Researchers interviewed eight parents who expressed the effects they experienced from utilizing corporal punishment. Analysis of …

Social Worker Student’S Anxiety, And Alcohol Consumption During The Covid-19 Pandemic, David Adler

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely impactful on a vast majority of the population, either from losing a possible loved one, or the pandemonium that arose in its wake. The purpose of this study is to better understand how much of an impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on social worker students’ mental health, specifically, how it has affected their levels of stress, anxiety, and levels of alcohol consumption. This study is significant because the pandemic has had a substantial impact on the mental health of so many individuals, and it is important to research just how large these effects …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On School-Aged Children’S Mental Health: Mixed-Method Study Of Families In Southern California, Christina Williams

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

On March 13, 2020, the director of Services to Students with Disabilities came out of the office and stated the employees and students were not returning to school effective immediately due to the world’s shutdown over COVID-19. COVID-19 swiftly created panic causing toilet paper and water to be rationed, but who really took the time to think about how this would affect school-aged children and their families. How does shutting down in-person learning and household dynamics change when a disease taking the lives of almost a million people sweeps across the United States of America. Were parents ready to teach …

The Impact Of Religion And Spirituality On County Child Welfare Workers, Celeste Ramos, Sonia Magdaleno Ayamel

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study aims to identify and analyze how county child welfare workers can utilize their own religious and spiritual beliefs to alleviate some of the work-related stress. In addition, the study will examine how participating in religious or spiritual support groups will benefit county child welfare workers. The findings may encourage social workers to rely on their respective religious and spiritual beliefs while dealing with difficult situations.

Impact Of Job-Related Stressors On Levels Of Compassion Fatigue, Curnishia Woodbury

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Compassion fatigue is an area of concern for direct practice social workers who engage with trauma material. This phenomenon has been deemed the cost of caring. The purpose of this study was to identify a relationship between job-related stressors such as caseload size, weekly supervision and job satisfaction and compassion fatigue. A total of 10 child protection social workers from various Southern California counties constituted the study sample. The Pearson Coefficient Correlation test was used to analyze the relationship between the identified variables. The findings revealed that there was a moderate correlation between caseload size and compassion fatigue as well …

Coping Skills Amongst Social Workers, Sandra Quezada

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research study used a questionnaire to identify coping behaviors and feelings of social workers dealing with work related stress. The purpose of this research was to identify the most used coping behaviors of social workers. Data was collected from thirty-six participants who had access to southern California social worker blogs. Findings were that over half (63.9) of participants used emotion focused behaviors such as “growing as a person” and “discuss feelings with someone” as a coping behavior. The findings contribute to coping research, but this research also identifies social workers as not using enough coping behaviors. Recommendations for social …

Decreasing The Stress Associated With Completing An Online Master Of Social Work Program, Grant Horner

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Research reveals that there are high attrition rates and additional stresses common among online programs. Using the positivist paradigm, this study identified the relationship between stress and certain factors associated with an online Master of Social Work program at a University in Southern California. Four hypotheses were tested to determine if a significant relationship existed between stress levels and the factors of social connection, employment, family status, and year in the program. The study did not find significant relationships between stress levels and the four factors. However, the study revealed relationships exist between social connection and stress levels, employment and …

Perceived Maternal Stress, Coping Strategies, And Suggested Interventions In Caring For Children With Both Medical Complexities And Developmental Delays, Lisa Poff

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This qualitative study highlights caretaker stress and coping in mothers of children with complex medical needs in addition to developmental delays. Areas of stress were complex, affecting emotional health, careers, and even vacations. Burnout theory was utilized to address the increased stress levels in these mothers. However, this theory was supplemented with Stress and Coping theory after qualitative data analysis as there were other factors that allowed these mothers to persevere—in particular, a type of coping identified as “meaning-based coping,” where situations are positively re-appraised and ordinary events are imbued with positive meaning. The mothers expressed their desire for more …

Exploration Of Pet Ownership Related To Stress In Social Work Students, Aly Vancil

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The problem statement is: Does pet ownership contribute to social work student’s mental health as indicated by stress levels? The significance of this study is that further studies must be conducted in order to determine if there are long term benefits between human and animal interactions. In the research, there are many limitations that we explore because each study was done on a specific campus, or on a selective study body, or on an animal owner or non-animal owner. The research design used for the study was a quantitative survey design on Qualtrics that was sent to all the students …

The Practice Of Self-Care Strategies Among Master Of Social Work Students, Gracie Romero

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study examined the different types of self-care strategies that Master of Social Work students practice. This study used the National Alliance on Mental Illness Self-Care Inventory, a survey which asks participants about commonly used methods of self-care. Engaging in self-care can bring better understanding and insights on how to prevent the signs of stress while also increasing an individual’s ability to regulate their emotional needs. All MSW students at the California university were invited to participate in the study. The surveys were administered via Qualtrics online survey software to the 68 part-time and o-time MSW students who agreed to …

Stress, Self-Compassion, And Coping Mechanisms Among Graduate Social Work Students, Elizabeth Contreras

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Graduate students are often exposed to many stressors during their rigorous academic programs which may impact their overall well-being. Researchers have long believed that self-compassion can be used as an emotion-regulated strategy to cope with stress. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to examine the relationship between self-compassion levels and coping mechanisms for stress among graduate social work students. Data were collected from 97 graduate social work students in a Hispanic-serving university in Southern California (N =97). Using non-parametric techniques, the Kruskal-Wallis Test and the Mann-Whitney Test, this study analyzed the correlation between self-compassion and coping mechanisms for stress, …

Among Master Of Social Work Students, What Has A Higher Impact On Levels Of Stress: Spirituality, Physical Activity, Or Self-Compassion, Tania Garcia Avalos, Jose Murillo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The main objective of this study was to determine which coping mechanisms have a higher impact on levels of stress in MSW graduate students. The distinctive aspect of this study was that the three primary points that were examined in MSW graduate students were spirituality, physical activity, and self-compassion. This study gathered quantitative data from students that were enrolled in the Master of Social Work program. There were a total of 102 participants in this study. A variety of bivariate analyses were conducted to assess the collected data. Significant outcomes from this study revealed that self-compassion was the best mitigator …

Custodial Grandmothers Raising Children With Disabilities And The Stressors They Face, Kanika Oni Kisero

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Stressors that custodial grandmothers face while raising children with disabilities can be more overwhelming compared to stressors experienced by grandmothers of non-disabled children. Strategies and various supports were looked into in order to determine how custodial grandmothers practice self-care so they may experience positive mental health outcomes. A purposive sample of custodial grandmothers was surveyed and the results obtained provided some support on how self-care is and is not practiced in order to manage stress. This study resulted in non-significant findings, which did not support the hypotheses. Additional analysis was used to gauge levels of stress, but could not …

Caregivers’ Emotional Experiences Regarding Their Adolescent’S Substance Abuse Problem, Cindy Reyes, Brenda Jane Duchene

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The primary aim of this investigation was to explore caregivers’ emotional experiences regarding their adolescent with substance abuse problems. These researchers systematically examined the literature on caregiver stress and found a large body of studies on caregivers of persons with mental illness, severe medical problems including cancer, HIV/AIDS, and developmental disabilities. Yet, an absence of research was found on caregivers including parents of adolescents with drug and/or alcohol problems. Based on the findings on investigations with other types of caregivers, these researchers expected caregivers of adolescent substance abusers to report high levels of emotional and psychological distress. Like caregivers of …

Reducing Stress And Increasing Hope Among Typhoon Yolanda Survivors, Maria Victoria Del Fierro, Mary Elizabeth Huxster

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Hundreds of thousands of people are affected by natural disasters every year. Many of these people face mental and emotional consequences from the traumatic experience. Research indicates that the aftereffects of such experiences can result in social, familial, and educational impairments in children. The current study tested the efficacy of a brief cognitive behavioral intervention on elementary school aged children intended to alleviate the mental and emotional consequences following a natural disaster. The study applied quantitative methods through pre and post intervention assessments measuring stress and hope. The participants assessed included 18 Filipino children between the ages of 10-12 years, …

Human Service Providers’ Perception Of The Quality Of Client Services Provided As Related To Their Level Of Self-Care, Joseph Ray Brinson, Luis Hernandez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study explored human service providers’ perception of the quality of client services provided as related to the providers’ level of self-care. We utilized a quantitative research approach to survey 54 human service providers from three Southern California agencies. An independent t-test was conducted to analyze the difference between participants’ perceptions of self-care by age, gender, and level of education. This study revealed a significant difference was found between gender and social care. Females are more likely to maintain an open, trusting relationship with someone who they can share their frustrations with, sustain balance in their life by pursing a …

Healthy And Maladaptive Coping Strategies Among Master Of Social Work Students, Jody D. Lopez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore healthy and maladaptive coping strategies among MSW students. The data was collected using self‑reported questionnaires. A total of 47 students participated in this study. Using the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping as a theoretical framework, this study assessed stress levels using the Perceived Stress Scale. The Brief COPE instrument measured coping strategies. The study found relationships between stressors and maladaptive coping and perceived stress. The study recommends that future research on coping strategies among MSW students include greater attention to training MSW students how to deal with stress during their MSW …

Perspectives Of Social Work Students On Nutrition And The Nutrition Effects On Mental Health, Diana Tran

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Nutrition is related to the mental well-being of clients. However, the nutritional views and practices of social workers in the mental health field have not been thoroughly explored. By using the post-positivist paradigm, 15 mental health social work students were interviewed for their perspectives regarding nutrition and nutrition’s effect on stress. Their main ideas were identified, connected, and organized to develop a theoretical statement. The resulting theory focused on the development of social work students' perspectives in applying nutrition into their mental health practice. The students were influenced by a variety of background factors, including their education, barriers to applying …