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The Mental Health Consequences Of Losing A Parent: Does Culture Moderate The Impact Of Parental Death?, Daisuke Ito

Sociology Dissertations

The death of a parent represents a potential traumatic life event that has been linked to depression in both Japan and the United States. Yet experiences surrounding death and ways of grieving are framed differently across cultures. At the individual level, the majority of the bereaved people in both Japan and the United States attempt to maintain bonds with the deceased family members. Being complementary to the individual-level desire, Japanese death-related beliefs and practices seem to provide a tool to maintain bonds. In contrast, American death-related beliefs and practices may be at odds with the individual desires by encouraging the …

Intervening Factors In The Impact Of Child Maltreatment On Marital Satisfaction In Older Age, Vivian E. Piazza

Psychology Dissertations

The present study investigated the effects of childhood abuse that occurred before the age of 18 on levels of marital satisfaction in older age. The study examined marital satisfaction in a group of Caucasian older married individuals with a mean age of 65.4 years who retrospectively endorsed a history of childhood physical, verbal and/or sexual abuse. Although previous studies examined the relationship of child maltreatment on young and middle-age adult relationship satisfaction, the study addressed a gap in the literature in that it examined the impact of child maltreatment on marital satisfaction in older age. Marital satisfaction in older age …

Exploring Social Support In Migrant And Seasonal Farmworkers In South Georgia, Rebecca Rodriguez

Psychology Theses

Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers (MSFWs) in the United States live and work within ever changing contexts, which require researchers to take into account multiple environmental and psychosocial stressors influencing mental health. The current study examined factors of social support and social isolation for MSFWs in South Georgia. Social isolation and support characteristics were identified and examined in association with depression among 120 Latino, male, MSFWs in South Georgia. Several protective and risk factors for depression were identified. Depression symptoms varied based on MSFWs household composition, perceived social isolation stressors, the frequency in which they called home and having socially …

Access To Mental Healthcare And Help-Seeking Behaviors Among African American Women With Depressive Symptoms In A Community-Based Primary Healthcare Center, Allyson S. Belton

Public Health Theses

Mental illness is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease. As public health practitioners, we must generate more than sufficient knowledge about mental health and illness in order to identify risk factors, increase awareness, improve treatment, eliminate the overall disparity associated with mental illness, and improve access to care to all affected, including those disproportionally affected by mental illness. Over time, there has been an overall lack of sufficient research studies on depression among African American women. As research in this area grows, it is critical to examine the underlying causative factors that are correlated with this disease …

Associations Of Vigorous Physical Activity With Depression: An Examination Of Nhanes Data 2007-2008, Ugonma U. Emeruem

Public Health Theses

ABSTRACT

Background: Major depressive disorder or depression is a mental illness which affects people of a range of different ages. In terms of years lost due to disability, it is a leader. Physical activity is currently being used as a therapeutic treatment of depression that decreases levels of depression in individuals suffering from it. Physical activity can also be used as a form of prevention against depression. This study examines the association between vigorous physical activity and depression.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that utilized the secondary data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2008. Statistical …

Relations Among Self-Concealment, Mindfulness, And Internalizing Problems, Joshua Edmunds, Akihiko Masuda, Erin C. Tully

Psychology Faculty Publications

Self-concealment and mindfulness can be viewed as two fairly stable emotion/behavior regulation tendencies, which are often linked to a range of internalizing problems. The current study examined whether low levels of mindfulness and higher levels of self-concealment predict higher levels of depression, anxiety, and somatization for both men and women. An ethnically diverse sample of college undergraduate females (n = 738) and males (n = 249) completed a web-based survey that included the self-report measures of interest. Path analysis models were evaluated separately for male participants and female participants. The findings from these models revealed that low levels …