Digital Commons Network^™

Helping Immigrant Children Cope With Stress And Anxiety, Fatima Luna

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Besides physical health, mental health is a critical component of every person’s well-being starting from childhood. In the United States, stress and anxiety are one of the most common mental disorders in children. Occasionally, parents and the environment put much pressure on a child resulting in anxiety; at times, parents’ anxiety is projected onto their kids. Teaching children how to cope with daily stressors and anxiety is crucial to their development. This project focused on teaching Hispanic children about managing stress and anxiety through mindfulness. While also learning about how to seek help and express negative emotions. To help children …

The Cultic Lifecycle: A Thematic Analysis Of Fulfillment And Fear In Cult Membership, Shaelen Grant

Student Theses

Prior research on susceptibility to cult recruitment has focused predominately on psychopathological risk factors, such as a prior personality disorder diagnosis and psychiatric and addictive disorders (Feldman & Johnson, 1995; Rousselet et al., 2017). While such studies contribute valuable information, they also inadvertently pathologize cult members. Furthermore, this focus has led to the overlooking of a more crucial question: what basic human desires does cult membership fulfill that cult leaders and recruiters exploit, to recruit and keep members in cults? To address this dearth, research team members interviewed 52 former cult members (N=52) from a variety of groups (e.g., Christian-based, …

The Relationship Between Physical Activity, Sleep Quality, And Stress: A Study Of Teachers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Fabio Fontana, Kelsey Bourbeau, Terence Moriarty, Michael Pereira Da Silva

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted chaotic changes in the daily lives of K-12 teachers, resulting in increased stress and other mental health problems. Limited evidence regarding the relationship between physical activity, sleep, and perceived stress among teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic exists. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the association between physical activity, sleep quality, and perceived psychological stress among teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey measuring physical activity, sleep quality, and perceived psychological stress was distributed across 47 US states between September and October of 2020. Data provided by 635 teachers (mean age: 42 ± …

Methods For Teaching Mindfulness Within The Workplace, Gerrel March

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Over the past few years, the world has been shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic and technological advancements that have contributed towards work-life imbalances. Now more than ever, organizations are focusing on improving mental health and well-being. This understanding holds value towards the hospitality industry as employee wellbeing has a direct link towards consumer experience. Considering the nature of the business, employees endure distress resulting from emotional labor, long work hours, etc, understanding how organizations can improve well-being is critical. This paper attempts to make significant contribution towards understanding both individual and organizational outcomes of mindfulness, best practices, and potential limitations …

Exploring The Intersection Of Stress, Resiliency, And Relationship With Teacher Among High School Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Scotia Hammond

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Experiencing stress at high levels during pivotal developmental years can have a detrimental impact on adolescents’ overall development and well-being (Rahdar & Galvan, 2014; Romeo, 2013). Extensive research has shown the positive effects a strong student-teacher relationship has on students’ resiliency to counteract the negative effects of stress (Akin & Radford, 2018; Johnson, 2008; Masten et al., 2008; Mulloy, 2011; Sanders et al., 2016; Stewart & Sun, 2004). Unfortunately, these studies rarely include students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Students with EBD are more likely to have higher levels of stress, lower levels of resilience and often struggle forming …

Barriers To Adopting Lifestyle Behaviors Under The Prism Of Lifestyle Medicine, Janyll Barber, Zacharias Papadakis, Matthew Manierre, Ali Boolani, Andreas Stamatis

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

According to the ACSM, lifestyle medicine (LM) is in the top 20 worldwide fitness trends for 2022. The LM pillars of a plant-based diet, physical activity, adequate sleep, stress management, social interactions, and avoidance of risky substances have been proposed as effective strategies for preventing and treating chronic conditions. However, implementing lifestyle behavioral changes to improve noncommunicable chronic disease outcomes has still been problematic. Individuals’ mental and physical status has been suggested as a key component in closing the gap between the intention to adopt a healthy lifestyle and actually adopting that behavior. PURPOSE: To examine the associations of …

Effect Of A University Physical Activity Challenge On Levels Of Anxiety, Depression, Stress, And Perceived Dependency Of Wearing A Physical Activity Tracker, Emily M. Jackson, Sarah M. Camhi, Stephanie L. Cooper

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Many studies have researched the benefits of physical activity (PA) and well-being, leading many universities to promote PA on campus. There is limited research on how university-based PA promotion impacts mental health, as well as the impact of wearing a physical activity tracker (PAT) and its potential to create dependency on wearing the device. PURPOSE: To understand the effects of a 4-week campus-wide PA challenge on levels of anxiety, depression, and stress in college students, and the potential dependency effects of wearing a PAT. METHODS: For the duration of the 4-week challenge, 44 undergraduate and 6 graduate students …

Childhood Adversities And The Impact On Development, Karey Womack Dulaney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Experiences in life are crucial in determining how one’s development will progress throughout their lifespan, with many of the factors occurring in early childhood. The factors include but are not limited to adversities experienced at an early age, toxic stress, and childhood trauma. Childhood adversities can impact a child’s cognitive development and biological systems. Children living in adverse situations are at a greater risk of not reaching their full developmental potential in life. Although previous research and literature discuss and demonstrate the cruciality of early childhood interventions to mitigate adverse childhood experiences, gaps in the research exist for individual interventions, …

A Ruff Day On The Road: How Relocation Affects Children Pre-K Through Third Grade And How A Picture Book Can Help, Bryant Miller

Honors Projects

Moving their home from across town, a couple of states away, or overseas is something most will experience at least once in their lifetime. For all, moving is a big change, but for children, it can have lasting effects. Presumably, social skills, academic development, and family dynamics are all impacted when children move. But how and to what length are these factors influenced? This led to the original research question, how does relocation affect children and how can this transition during relocation be eased? After the first portion of the research was done to answer these questions, the research then …

Relationship Between Individual Characteristics And Received Social Support Among People With Serious Mental Illness, Samantha Dicorte

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Past research on social support has mainly focused on perceived social support. Relatively less research has been done on received social support and how it can promote positive behavior outcomes. This study examines the importance of received social support, including background on social support, social support outcomes, and a theoretical foundation overview of the social stress model. In addition to a literature review, this study investigates the association between individual characteristics (i.e., diagnosis and substance abuse including alcohol, race/ethnicity, gender, age, and marital status) and different types of received social support (i.e., daily, mental health, and adherence support). Simple linear …

Convergent Validity Of The Short Recovery And Stress Scale In Collegiate Weightlifters, Alec R. Perkins, S. Kyle Travis, Satoshi Miziguchi, Michael Stone, Kevin Breuel, Michael Kellmann, Caleb Bazyler

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 15(6): 1457-1471, 2022. The purpose of this study was to determine whether changes in collegiate weightlifters’ external training load, biochemical markers, and jumping performance correlate to changes in items of the Short Recovery and Stress Scale (SRSS) throughout four microcycles. Twelve well-trained weightlifters (8 males, 4 females; age 24.30 ± 4.36 yr; height 170.28 ± 7.09 cm; body mass 81.73 ± 17.00 kg) with at least one year of competition experience participated in the study. Measurements included hydration, SRSS, biochemical analysis of blood (cortisol [C], creatine kinase [CK]), and unloaded and loaded squat jumps (SJ), …

Early-Childhood Temperament Moderates The Prospective Associations Of Coping With Adolescent Internalizing And Externalizing Symptoms, Michele R. Smith, Krystal H. Parrish, Lisa Shimomaeda, Maureen Zalewski, Maya L. Rosen, Alexandra Rodman, Steven Kasparek, Makeda Mayes, Andrew N. Meltzoff, Katie A. Mclaughlin, Liliana J. Lengua

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

While appraisal and coping are known to impact adolescent psychopathology, more vulnerable or resilient responses to stress may depend on individual temperament. This study examined early life temperament as a moderator of the prospective relations of pre-adolescent appraisal and coping with adolescent psychopathology. The sample included 226 (62% female, 14–15 years) adolescents with assessments starting at 3 years of age. Adolescents were predominately White (12% Black 9% Asian, 11% Latinx, 4% Multiracial, and 65% White). Observed early-childhood temperament (fear, frustration, executive control, and delay ability) were tested as moderators of pre-adolescent coping (active and avoidant) and appraisal (threat, positive) on …

Psychological Experiences During Previous High School Sport Participation Predict College Students’ Current Psychological Health, Jonathan D. Defreese, Amanda Visek, Nikki E. Barczak-Scarboro

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

Adolescent sport participation has been positively associated with psychological health outcomes. Yet, further research is needed to explore how psychosocial health benefits from sport may be maximized or minimized based on one’s psychological experiences during previous sport participation. The present study examined associations among retrospective psychological experiences of high school sport participation and markers of current college students’ psychosocial health. American college students (N = 300) self-reported retrospective high school sport experiences (i.e., burnout, engagement, and stress) and current psychosocial health outcomes (i.e., social support, depressive symptoms, life satisfaction) via an online interface. Moderated multiple regression analyses showed high …

Resilience Resources And Coping Strategies Of Covid-19 Female Long Haulers: A Qualitative Study, Atefeh Aghaei, Abhishek Aggarwal, Ran Zhang, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Shan Qiao Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Background: Female long haulers deal with persistent post-acute COVID-19 symptoms that have serious health implications. This study aimed to identify resilience resources at multiple socio-ecological levels for female long haulers and describe how resilience resources affect their responses to long COVID. Methods: Purposive sampling was adopted to recruit participants through social media from April to June 2021 followed by 15 semi-structured interviews. An inductive analytical approach was adopted to categorize themes by open and axial coding that were verified by peer review. Results: Female long haulers relied on resources at various socio-ecological levels to foster their resilience in response to …

Why Do The Police Reject Counseling? An Examination Of Necessary Changes To Police Subculture., Noel Otu, Ntiense E. Otu

Journal of Health Ethics

Abstract

This paper reviews the concept of police subculture and examines its role in the management and acceptance of treatment for stress-related injury. In particular, we examine the impact of stigma that attaches to treatment within this subculture. The persistence of the dominant police subculture remains a significant obstacle to officers seeking treatment for stress-related illnesses. The subculture has historically resisted acknowledging the need for treatment in response to the occupational and/or organizational stress-related injury that results from frequent exposure to work-related trauma. Many police administrators are still embedded within and resist changes to the subculture, which results in an …

Expatriate Adolescents’ Resilience: Risk And Protective Factors In The Third Culture Context, Jorunn Jo Holmberg, Lilly Augustine, Sahil Datta, Toshie Imada

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Expatriate children and adolescents typically spend several of their formative years moving from country to country, frequently having to adapt to new cultures, making new friends, and fit into new school systems. It has been established in literature that such frequent changes may cause increased and prolonged risk of developing internalizing behavior problems such as depression and anxiety. However, little is still known regarding which protective factors serve as buffer towards the increased risk within the expatriate demographic. This study examined risk and protective factors among a group of expatriates, adolescents, and their parents, originating from 21 countries on five …

Leadership Behavior, Stress, And Presenteeism: A Cross-Cultural Comparison, Jan Philipp Czakert, Julia A. M. Reif, Rita Berger

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Presenteeism is the behavior of working with ill-health. Due to associated productivity losses and substantial transmission risks during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, presenteeism is gaining increased attention in occupational psychological research. To understand the complexity of this phenomenon, research on contextual influences is needed. Our study investigated positive leadership behavior (transformational leadership, TFL) and negative leadership behavior (passive-avoidant leadership, PAL) as social-contextual predictors, next to stress. We hypothesized that in countries with high masculine values, presenteeism is more likely to occur. Our study involved 979 employees from the different cultural contexts of Germany, Ireland, Latvia and Spain that answered an …

Factors Associated With Loss Of Motivation And Hesitation To Work Amongst Frontline Health Care Providers During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey From A Developing Country, Mehreen Malik, Syeda Tayyaba Rehan, Farheen Malik, Jawad Ahmed, Chaudhary Abdul Fatir, Hassan Ul Hussain, Asiyah Aman, Muhammad Junaid Tahir

Department of Anaesthesia

Background: The COVID-19 took over the world in 2020 and a lockdown has been imposed seeing its fast spread. Frontline health care workers (HCWs) were reported frequently with a lack of motivation, hesitancy and unwillingness to perform their duties during this pandemic. This cross-sectional survey aims to evaluate the factors associated with lack of motivation and increased hesitancy among the frontline HCWs to perform their duties during COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials and methods: A total of 239 HCWs were included in this web-based cross-sectional study, who have worked during the COVID-19 pandemic. The anonymous online questionnaire was sent to all faculty, …

The Relationship Between Coping Mechanisms And The Scarcity Mindset, Kristi Mitsui

Undergraduate Research (Journal)

Young adults in America are struggling with increasing instances of scarcity compared to previous generations. Scarcity, which ranges from external experiences of financial insecurity, a lack of time, or social isolation, can become an internalized mindset that inhibits cognitive functioning and effective coping. With the onset of COVID-19, preexisting stressors and challenges have been compounded upon, forcing many young adults to find new strategies to cope. To examine the urgent and emerging topic of scarcity and coping, varying coping strategies and its correlation with perceptions and experiences of scarcity were explored. College aged young adults were surveyed using the Brief …

Early Life Exposure To Unpredictable Parental Sensory Signals Shapes Cognitive Development Across Three Species, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Kari Mccormack, Hina Arora, Desiree Sharpe, Annabel K. Short, Jocelyne Bachevalier, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Hal S. Stern, Mar Sanchez, Tallie Z. Baram

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Exposure to early life adversity has long term consequences on cognitive function. Most research has focused on understanding components of early life adversities that contribute to later risk, including poverty, trauma, maltreatment, and neglect. Whereas these factors, in the aggregate, explain a significant proportion of emotional and cognitive problems, there are serious gaps in our ability to identify potential mechanisms by which early life adversities might promote vulnerability or resilience. Here we discuss early life exposure to unpredictable signals from the caretaker as an understudied type of adversity that is amenable to prevention and intervention. We employ a translational approach …

Population Health Metrics During The Early Stages Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: Correlative Pilot Study, Marie A. Severson, David A. Cassada, Victor C. Huber, Daniel D. Snow, Lisa M. Mcfadden

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Background: COVID-19 has caused nearly 1 million deaths in the United States, not to mention job losses, business and school closures, stay-at-home orders, and mask mandates. Many people have suffered increased anxiety and depression since the pandemic began. Not only have mental health symptoms become more prevalent, but alcohol consumption has also increased during this time. Helplines offer important insight into both physical and mental wellness of a population by offering immediate, anonymous, cheap, and accessible resources for health and substance use disorders (SUD) that was unobstructed by many of the mandates of the pandemic. Further, the pandemic also …

Impact Of Stress And Decision Fatigue On Parenting Practices Related To Food And Physical Activity During Covid‐19, Harrison D. Angoff, Lauren A. Dial, Aniko V. Varga, Sneha Kamath, Dara Musher-Eizenman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in substantial disruptions to daily functioning and lifestyle behaviours, with negative health consequences for youth. Parents play a large role in their children's health behaviour; yet changes to parenting behaviours during the pandemic related to food and physical activity remain relatively unexplored. The present study is the first to our knowledge to examine specific changes in American parents' parenting behaviours related to food and physical activity during COVID-19, and potential correlates of such changes, including perceived stress and decision fatigue.

Methods

A total of 140 parents (88.57% female; 88.41% White; 87.59% married; with one …

Cue-Induced Cocaine Craving Enhances Psychosocial Stress And Vice Versa In Chronic Cocaine Users, Ann-Kathrin Kexel, Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon, Markus R Baumgartner, Etna J E Engeli, Monika Visentini, Clemens Kirschbaum, Erich Seifritz, Beate Ditzen, Leila M Soravia, Boris B Quednow

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Stress and craving, it has been found, contribute to the development and maintenance of and relapse in cocaine use disorder. Chronic cocaine users (CU), previous research has shown, display altered physiological responses to psychosocial stress and increased vegetative responding to substance-related cues. However, how psychosocial stress and cue-induced craving interact in relation to the CU's physiological responses remains largely unknown. We thus investigated the interaction between acute psychosocial stress and cocaine-cue-related reactivity in 47 CU and 38 controls. In a crossed and balanced design, the participants were randomly exposed to a video-based cocaine-cue paradigm and the Trier Social Stress Test …

Analysis Of Psychological Symptoms Resulting From The Covid-19 Pandemic, R. M. Abdelrahman, A. F. Alsharif, N. R. Alsalhi

Information Sciences Letters

The present study aimed to investigate the level of severity of some psychological symptoms resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic, among a sample of Ajman University students in the United Arab Emirates, and to verify the differences between students’ demographic variables. The study used the descriptive-analytical approach and a modified DASS-21 scale, by adding the two scales of phobia and mental distraction to the tool. The reliability of the tool was verified for use on the sample in the current study. The most prominent results indicated that the highest psychological symptoms resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic were phobia (1.53 ± 0.98) …

The Relationship Between Chronic Pain And Stress, Anxiety, And Depression In College Students

Journal of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this study was to measure chronic pain levels as they relate to stress, anxiety, and depression in college students. This is a non-experimental, correlational research design, using a survey methodology. Eighty-four participants, over the age of 18, were recruited (men = 33.3%, women = 66.6%) to participate in this study. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire which was a compilation of the Chronic Pain Grade Questionnaire (CPGQ) (Von Korff et al., 1992), the Perceived Stress Scale (Wickrama et al., 2013), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (Beck et al., 1988), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) (Beck …

Arousal/Stress Effects Of “Overwatch” Esports Game Competition In Collegiate Gamers, William J. Kraemer, Lydia K. Caldwell, Emily M. Post, Matthew K. Beeler, Angela Emerson, Jeff S. Volek, Carl M. Maresh, Jennifer S. Fogt, Nick Fogt, Keijo Häkkinen, Robert U. Newton, Pedro Lopez, Barbara N. Sanchez, James A. Onate

Health and Sport Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Kraemer, WJ, Caldwell, LK, Post, EM, Beeler, MK, Emerson, A, Volek, JS, Maresh, CM, Fogt, JS, Fogt, N, Häkkinen, K, Newton, RU, Lopez, P, Sanchez, BN, and Onate, JA. Arousal/stress effects of “Overwatch” eSports game competition in collegiate gamers. J Strength Cond Res 36(10): 2671–2675, 2022—To date, no physical response data are available for one of the most popular eSport games, Overwatch. The purpose of this investigation was to describe the stress signaling associated with competitive Overwatch play and to understand how acute hormonal responses may affect performance. Thirty-two male college-aged gamers (age: 21.3 ± 2.7 years; estimated time …

The Impact Of Mindfulness Meditation Exercises On Managing Stress Among New Graduate Nurses, Sharonda Marshay Jamerson

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Studies reveal, approximately 33.5 % of new graduate nurses suffer from stress and burnout, forcing the nurse to leave the workforce within the first two years of transitioning into the role of a professional nurse (Heins, 2019). The Chief Nursing Officer of a large healthcare system in South Carolina confirms new graduate nurses are suffering from stress and burnout while transitioning into the role of the professional nurse (Personal communication, March 5, 2021). Purpose: The purpose of this project is to provide new graduate nurses' mindfulness meditation exercises to help manage stress as mindfulness meditation has been proven …

Prenatal Allostatic Load And Preterm Birth: A Systematic Review, Shahirose Sadrudin Premji, Gianella Santos Pana, Alexander Cuncannon, Paul E. Ronksley, Aliyah Dosani, K. Alix Hayden, Sharifa Bashir Lalani, Wangira Musana, Kiran Shaikh, Ilona S. Yim

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Objective: Allostatic load refers to cumulative neuroendocrine burden and has been postulated to mediate and moderate physiological and psychological stress-related responses. This may have important implications for the risk of preterm birth. This systematic review examines the evidence on the association between prenatal allostatic load and preterm birth.

Data sources: A comprehensive search of seven electronic databases was conducted from inception to August 23, 2022 to identify all English-language observational and mixed methods studies examining allostatic load and preterm birth with no year or geographic restrictions.

Study eligibility criteria: Studies were included if they measured allostatic load, evaluated as the …

The Assossiation Between Stress During The Covid-19 Pandemic And The Incidence Of Dyspepsia Syndrome In The First Year Medical Students, Wahida Rahmi, Yulistini Yulistini, Arina Widya Murni

Jurnal Penyakit Dalam Indonesia

Introduction. Dyspepsia syndrome is a collection of symptoms in the upper digestive tract associated with dysregulation of the hypothalamus-hypophysis axis that is triggered by stress. One of the problems faced in the world today is the COVID-19 pandemic which can be a new stressor, especially for students with many changes in the learning process. This study aimed to examine the relationship between stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and the incidence of dyspepsia syndrome.Methods. An analytic obsevasional with cross-sectional design was conducted in April-June 2021 at the Faculty of Medicine, Andalas University. The subjects of this study were the first batch …

Memory And Attention While Scuba Diving At Shallow And Deep Depths: An Open Water Study, Leanne Boucher, Joshua Feingold, Kelly Concannon, Stephanie Talavera, Jaime Tartar, W. Matthew Collins

Journal for Sports Neuroscience

SCUBA diving requires a high level of cognitive functioning, however, many divers anecdotally report poor memory and attentional skills while underwater. Few studies have documented cognitive deficits resulting from an open-water dive. Here, 23 divers completed both shallow (8 m) and deep (28 m) dives over two days in the open-water. The order of the dives was counterbalanced across participants. While at depth, they completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to assess anxiety levels, learned and were tested on a list of 36 words, and completed the trail making task (TMT) to assess executive functioning. They also gave saliva samples to …