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Cannabinoid Cb1r Receptor Mediates Metabolic Syndrome In Models Of Circadian And Glucocorticoid Dysregulation, Nicole Bowles

Student Theses and Dissertations

The most recent projections in the growing obesity rates across the nation show an increase to 60% by the year 2030. These growing rates of obesity are paralleled by an increased rates of depressive conditions, anxiety, and sleep loss, often with environmental factors at the root of the cause. Stress and the stress response is a dynamic system that reflects one's ability to cope with events, behaviorally or physiologically, as stressors occur over a lifetime. While many key players mediate the effects of stress exposure on disease outcomes including the sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic, inflammatory cytokines and metabolic hormones, this …

Body, Mind, And Belly: Comparing Body Image And Perceived Stress Between Belly Dancers And Dancers Of Other Styles, Rebecca Porzig

Theses & ETDs

The purpose of this study was to measure and compare body image and perceived stress between belly dancers and dancers of other styles. Participants were 177 dancers (9 male, 168 female; 113 belly dancers, 64 dancers of other styles) between the ages of 18 and 75 years. Participants responded to a survey measuring body image satisfaction/dissatisfaction and levels of perceived stress. Belly dancers were older and weighed more than other dancers, but had similar levels of body image satisfaction and perceived stress. It was suggested that, because other dance forms are already considered to be physically and psychologically beneficial (Rudolph …

Maternal Parenting Stress In Autism, Autism Associated With Fragile X, And Fragile X Alone: An Examination Of Associated Child And Maternal Factors In Three High-Risk Groups, Julie Mcelrath Kellett

Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the association between specific child and maternal factors and parenting stress in three high-risk groups of mothers - mothers of boys diagnosed with idiopathic autism (IA), mothers of boys diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) associated with fragile X syndrome (AFXS), and mothers of boys diagnosed with fragile X syndrome (FXS) alone. These three groups of mothers are thought to share some degree of genetic vulnerability to stress, as well as exposure to varying levels of challenging child behavioral characteristics. Theories of parenting stress incorporate multiple components, including parent, child, and parent-child interaction factors. The current …

Predictors Of Burnout And Vigor Among Clinical And Counseling Psychology Doctoral Students, Brett Swords

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Work-related burnout, although connected to many negative outcomes (Kahill, 1988), has not been thoroughly studied in the graduate student population. The goal of the present study was to examine burnout and vigor among clinical and counseling psychology doctoral students. Based on conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll & Freedy, 1993; Hobfoll & Shirom, 2001), five variables were selected as predictors of burnout and vigor: two types of general work-related stress (i.e., pressure and threat; Stanton et al., 2001), the supervisory working alliance, financial strain, and conflict with others in the workplace. Seven hypotheses were tested about the expected relation between burnout …

Exploring The Impact Of Meditation On Attentional Allocation To Emotion, Sychopathology, And Acute Stress, In A Community Sample With Mixed Anxiety And Depression, Nicholas Thomas Van Dam

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Attempts to define mindfulness in the clinical and psychological sciences have been marred by contradictions, inconsistencies, and controversies. In this wait-list (WL) controlled mindfulness meditation training (MMT) study, the efficacy and potential mechanisms of MMT was tested in a community sample with undiagnosed, but significant, symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. In a pre/post design, which also included 3 month follow-up, participants completed self-report measures, participated in a psychosocial stress task (before and after which they completed self-report mood questionnaires and had physiological and salivary neuroendocrine markers collected), and completed an emotional attentional blink paradigm. Compared to WL (n = …

The Association Of Physical Fitness With Psychological Health Outcomes In Soldiers During Army Basic Combat Training, Shannon K. Crowley

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the current need for investigation of factors involved with soldiers' resilience to stressors in the Basic Combat Training (BCT) environment, and evidence in civilian populations that physical training is associated with psychological benefits, little is known about the relationship between physical fitness and psychological adjustment during BCT. Study one of this dissertation involved an extensive literature review of factors related to the relationship between physical fitness and psychological adjustment of soldiers during BCT. Using qualitative focus group methods, study two assessed soldiers' perceptions about their sleep, and consequences of sleep disruption during BCT at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC. …

Stress And Substance Abuse In Homeless And Matched Housed Adolescents: A Longitudinal Model, Corissa Carlson

Wayne State University Theses

The relationship between stress and substance abuse within an at-risk adolescent population is an important topic to research. There are several models examining the relationship between stress and substance abuse; however, this study will look to longitudinal methods to examine if there is a temporal relationship between stress and substance abuse in a high risk population. Interviews were conducted at a baseline time point as well as follow-up time points at two, five, and seven years. Two hundred fifty-four participants were retained at the two year follow-up and their data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The two proposed models …

Brain Mechanisms Underlying The Impact Of Attachment-Related Stress On Social Cognition, Tobias Nolte, Danielle Z. Bolling, Caitlin M. Hudac, Peter Fonagy, Linda Mayes, Kevin A. Pelphrey

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Mentalizing, in particular the successful attribution of complex mental states to others, is crucial for navigating social interactions. This ability is highly influenced by external factors within one’s daily life, such as stress. We investigated the impact of stress on the brain basis of mentalization in adults. Using a novel modification of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET-R) we compared the differential effects of two personalized stress induction procedures: a general stress induction (GSI) and an attachment-related stress induction (ASI). Participants performed the RMET-R at baseline and after each of the two inductions. Baseline results replicated and …

De- Stress To Nursing Success, Jessica Jenkins, Emily Whittle

Honors Capstones

Nursing as a whole is a very stressful occupation to go into. From the pre-requisite classes one needs to take to even have a chance of getting into a nursing program; to the many clinical and classes that are required within nursing school, it is just a stressful school atmosphere as a whole. Then one needs to begin preparing for a national board exam that will basically dictate the rest of their life. Plus adding on family commitments, work life, and attempts for a bit of fun, it can all be very trying and consuming to an individual. It is …

The Interaction Between The Physical Environment And Metaphysical States: The Role Of Social Anxiety And Stress In Informing Spatial Perception, Emily Koelmel

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Handling Equipment Sound Pressure Levels As Stressors In Beef Cattle, Christina M. Lyvers

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Sound pressure level (SPL) is known to cause stress in cattle but is often overlooked as a potential source of fear for cattle when designing handling equipment. Current literature does not offer guidelines for the design of equipment with regard to SPL. It is, however, recommended that handling equipment should be designed to minimize the SPL during handling. The purpose of this experiment was to measure stress levels in a group of cattle which were subjected to a series of varying sounds in order to determine a design threshold limit for handling equipment. Treatments included two frequencies, 1 kHz and …

Relationship Between Cognitive Functions And Hormones, Daniel C. Miao

Master's Theses

Stress has been implicated by recent research to significantly contribute towards many cognitive and physiological deficiencies. One of the most popular topics of study is the effect of stress on inhibition, the all-or-none decision about an action or inaction. However, only recently have scientists begun investigating neuroendocrine molecules that link stress and inhibitory processing. Participants included San José State University undergraduates (27 male, 63 female, 1 unstated) who were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test, an established stress task, and who were assessed before and after stress exposure for cortisol levels. Participants were also given a pre- and post-test …

What Keeps Us Well? Professional Quality Of Life And Career Sustaining Behaviors Of Music Therapy Professionals, Shane C. Swezey

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Self-care can be seen as not only critical for individual professionals, but also for the growth of the helping professions and the quality of care which clients receive. The purpose of this study was to investigate use of career-sustaining behaviors and the levels of professional quality of life in music therapy professionals. This study investigated research questions regarding use of career sustaining behaviors and levels of professional quality of life, the relationship between these variables, the differences in the use of career sustaining behavior by demographics, and the use of music as a self-care strategy.

An online survey was sent …

Social Support, Parent-Child Communication And Reactions To Pediatric Cancer Medical Procedures, Amy Marie Peterson

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between social support, parent-child communication during pediatric cancer treatment-related medical procedures, and parent and child reactions to these procedures.

Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death in children (ACS, 2012) and children and their parents both report that cancer-related medical procedures are worse than the disease itself (Hedstrom et al., 2003). Social support may serve as a buffer against parent and child negative responses to treatment.

One hundred and fifteen families were included in the analysis from two pediatric oncology treatment centers. Self-report questionnaire data and observational coding of …

Impact Of Binaural Beat Technology On Vigilance Task Performance, Psychological Stress And Mental Workload, Elizabeth Ann Shoda

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Currently, there is only one published study examining the impact of binaural beats on the performance of a laboratory vigilance task, however this study had mixed results and left many questions unanswered. I further examined this phenomenon by using a successive vigilance task, between-subjects design, and a control condition to determine whether beta frequency binaural beats could affect vigilance performance over time and across conditions. I hypothesized that participants listening to beta binaural beats would have more hits and fewer misses on the vigilance task than participants in the control condition. In addition, I hypothesized that participants listening to beta …

Hard On Your Heart: A Qualitative Description Of Adolescent Prenatal Stress, Candace Clayton Knight

All ETDs from UAB

Introduction: Pregnancy during adolescence is potentially stressful due to the concurrent tasks of navigating the typically tumultuous adolescent stage of development and the life altering experience of pregnancy (Kaye, 2008). There is a growing body of research linking prenatal stress to poor birth and developmental outcomes such as premature birth and low birth weight infants (K. Keenan, Sheffield, & Boeldt, 2007; Mulder et al., 2002), which makes describing the relatively unexplored perceptions and experience of stress during adolescent pregnancy important. The life course framework, with its emphasis on social, environmental, and family risk factors, has implications for reducing disparities among …

Predictors Of Resilience Among Hispanic Adults: Stepwise Analyses From Late Adolescence To Adulthood, Katherine Marie Aguirre

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: The focus of this study was factors that affect resilience as a health outcome among Hispanic adults. Some Hispanics and other members of disadvantaged and vulnerable populations have developed remarkable ways of coping with adversity, such as positive reframing (Farley, Galves, Dickinson, & Perez, 2005). Purpose: This research aimed to examine various ways of coping in response to difficult life situations for Hispanic adults and identify those that are associated with resilient outcomes. Methods: The present sub-study focused on difficult life problem narratives from the semi-structured interviews conducted in Dr. Felipe González Castro's Corazón projects (Castro, Kellison, Boyd & …

Stress Appraisal, Coping Response, And Acculturation Level As Predictors Of Postpartum Depression Symptoms In Women Of Mexican Origin, Rena M. Digregorio

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Transition into motherhood may be a time of mixed emotion. Though most women embrace motherhood and are optimistic about the role, approximately 13% of all women who give birth suffer from postpartum depression (Beck, C.T., 2001; Beck, C.T., 1996; O'Hara & Swain, 1996). However, some studies report women of Mexican origin suffer postpartum depressive symptoms at much higher rates than other racial and ethnic groups (Diaz, Huynh-Nhu, Cooper, & Munoz, 2007). Understanding how and to what extent postpartum depressive symptoms affect mothers of Mexican origin remains incomplete. This 10 month prospective, repeated measures, proxy pretest study of pregnant and postpartum …

Defining A Role For Inducible Heat Shock Protein 70 (Hsp70i) In Mediating Autoimmune Vitiligo, Jeffrey Alan Mosenson

Dissertations

Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease characterized by destruction of melanocytes, leaving 0.5% of the population with progressive depigmentation. Current treatments offer limited efficacy. Observations that heat shock proteins (HSPs) can serve as adjuvants in antitumor vaccines first suggested to us a link between HSPs and stress-induced vitiligo. Such proteins are marvelously well conserved throughout evolution, which has placed them in the spotlight for helping to understand the intriguing relationship between infection and immunity. Intracellularly, inducible heat shock protein 70 (HSP70i) is upregulated by stress and helps protect cells from undergoing apoptosis. In times of stress, melanocytes will secrete antigen bound …

Suicide In Adults Aged 75 And Over In Cornwall: An Epidemiological And Case Study Analysis, Sarah Buckingham

School of Nursing and Midwifery Theses

Introduction/Background: Suicide in older people is a historically neglected research area. Local audits had suggested that Cornwall had a higher than average suicide rate, and people aged 75 years and over appeared to be at particularly high risk. Heterogeneity between studies and variations in presenting suicide statistics can make comparison of rates difficult. Aims: The study aimed to explore in depth the epidemiology of suicide in elderly people in Cornwall, to develop an understanding of the risk factors (including sources of stress), suicide methods, locations, and warnings, and consequently to identify potential preventive strategies. Methods: A mixed methods approach was …

The Interactive Effects Of Coping Strategies, Gender, And Stress In The Prediction Of Internalizing Symptoms In African American Youth: An Application Of The Specificity Model, Cynthia Pierre

Master's Theses

The current study utilized a specificity framework in the examination of interactions among coping strategies, stressor domains, and participant gender in the prediction of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Participants were 273 African American adolescents (6th - 8th; mean age = 12.9; 58% female). Participants completed measures of universal and culturally-relevant coping strategies in response to a stressor. Stressors were coded by raters across dichotomous domains: interpersonality (interpersonal vs. non-interpersonal), duration (acute vs. chronic), controllability (controllable vs. non-controllable), and sexuality (sexual vs. non-sexual). T-tests were conducted to examine differences in reported coping across stress domains. Inconsistent with predictions, mean differences of …

Respite Care, Marital Quality, And Stress In Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Amber Harper, Tina Taylor, James Harper, Susanne Olsen Roper, Mikle South

Faculty Publications

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at risk for having higher stress and lower marital quality than other parents. Survey data regarding respite care, marital quality, and daily hassles and uplifts were obtained from 101 mother-father dyads who were together raising at least one child with ASD (total # of children = 118). Number of hours of respite care was positively related to improved marital quality for both husbands and wives, such that a one-hour increase in weekly respite care was associated with a one-half standard deviation increase in marital quality. This relationship was significantly mediated by …

Clinicians’ Reports Of The Impact Of The 2008 Financial Crisis On Mental Health Clients, Donna M. L. Heretick

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

This study investigated the impact of the 2008 economic crisis on mental health clients. One hundred and three mental health providers (101 being psychologists) from California, Colorado, and Arizona completed an online survey. Following Lazarus’ stress theory, social identity theory, and the finances-shame model, several moderator variables were evaluated for impact of financial crisis: gender, age group, previous mental health, lifestyle threat, and sources for support. As predicted, male and female clients were generally described as equally stressed, but stress responses differed. Financial role responsibilities and previous mental health were noted as predictors of stress. Men—as well as clients earning …

From College Student To Change Agent: A Triadic Model Of Self-Efficacy, Attribution, And Appraisal, Joshua M. Garrin

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Beyond their newfound emancipation and opportunities for self-discovery, college students in the young adult stage of development are expected to achieve balance between their autonomous new world and the impending pressures of postgraduation life. The college student must not only reconcile issues related to identity formation, goal pursuits, and career exploration, but is expected to begin the process of identifying and developing the skills required to address salient social themes. How students establish competency beliefs, negotiate controllability over future outcomes, and appraise challenges have deep implications in their capacity to discover their social change “voice.” The following discussion proposes a …

Examination Of The Impact Of Race-Related Stress And Culture-Specific Coping On Burnout And Compassion Fatigue In Black Nursing Assistants, Marika A. Maris

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Experiences Of Coping With Injury In Division I Athletes From Low-To-Middle Socioeconomic Status Backgrounds, Matthew Philip Bejar

Master's Theses

Injuries inevitably occur in any sport at any level. The integrated sport injury model is one of the most extensive frameworks to address the psychological responses to athletic injury. While this model posits that socioeconomic status (SES) influences how an athlete cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally responds to an injury, no research has substantiated this claim. Low SES individuals experience an exceptional amount of stress, which may complicate how they cope with a negative event. The coping strategies employed by an athlete can have major implications on rehabilitation adherence, recovery time, and psychosocial well-being. The purpose of this study was to …

Schizotypy: The Dynamic Relationship Between Trait And State Processes, Rebecca K. Macaulay

LSU Master's Theses

Importantly, elevations in emotional reactivity to stress are often found in individuals vulnerable for psychosis. This study investigated several meaningful factors that appear to either increase vulnerability to stress (degree of schizotypy traits, trait negative affect, low perceived control, and impaired selective attention), or increase resiliency to stress (trait positive affect). A modified Posner spatial-cueing task utilizing affective cues was employed to assess selective attention within a neutral and an uncontrollable stressor condition. Between group differences (high, medium and low in schizotypy traits) and interactions between affective traits, state affect, and perceived control were evaluated in order to shed light …

Louisiana Department Of Children And Family Services : A Case Study Of Child Welfare Workers' Burnout, Crystal Ward

LSU Master's Theses

Social work can be an extremely gratifying profession. However, social workers who are exposed to graphic realities related to vulnerable and traumatized individuals and families may experience challenging workload demands and increased levels of burnout. To best understand and support these key human service workers, it is important to investigate variables influencing levels of burnout. In this study, the author examined whether specific individual worker characteristics contribute to burnout among child welfare workers in Louisiana. Characteristics were compared to individual variables such as job tenure, agency department, supervisor/front line worker, and educational background. The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) was completed …

The Baby Blues: Mothers' Experiences After Adoption, Brigette Barno Schupay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

It is not uncommon for new mothers to experience depression. However, depression after the arrival of a child is not limited to biological mothers. The term Post-Adoption Depression Syndrome (PADS) was created to capture the unique type of depression that may occur after adopting a child. The nature and prevalence of depression after adoption is still largely unknown since there is little published research exploring the experiences of mothers in the first year after adopting a child. The characteristics of this disorder are reportedly comparable to postpartum depression in a biological mother. A review of postpartum literature reveals risk …

Ocbs And Strain: The Moderating Role Of Control, Kevin Loo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are typically assumed to be beneficial to employees and organizations. However, research has recently questioned this assumption. This study seeks to identify when OCBs are related to various strains and are detrimental to the employee or the organization. Specifically, using a stressor-strain model, it is hypothesized that in general, OCBs will be related to work effort; however, when employees feel pressured to perform OCBs, and thereby feel less control, OCBs will be more related to various strains. The hypotheses were partially supported: under all conditions, OCBs were related to effort, but under conditions of feeling forced, …