Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of The Project P.A.T.H.S. In The Junior Secondary School Years: Objective Outcome Evaluation Based On Eight Waves Of Longitudinal Data, Daniel T. L. Shek, Cecilia M. S. Ma

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

To assess the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S., a randomized group trial with eight waves of data collected was carried out. At the fifth year of data collection, 19 experimental schools (n = 2, 662 students) and 24 control schools (n = 3, 272 students) participated in the study. Analyses based on individual growth curve modeling showed that participants in the experimental schools displayed better positive youth development than did participants in the control schools in terms of different indicators derived from the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale, including moral competence and behavioral competence and …

Dispositional Mindfulness And Cardiovascular Functioning Under Stress: Predictions Of Social Evaluative Stress Reactivity And Recovery, Melissa P. Holt

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness – a receptive attentiveness to present experience – has been shown to promote more adaptive emotion regulation (Brown et al. 2008). Additionally, dispositional mindfulness has been shown to predict reduced cortisol response to social stressors (Brown et al, in press) and mindfulness training has been shown to promote more adaptive cardiac functioning at rest (Ditto et al., 2006; Tang et al., 2009; Telles et al., 2005; Zeidan et al., 2010) and in response to social stressors (Kemeny et al., 2012). To better understand the regulatory potential of a mindful disposition on cardiovascular functioning in healthy adult participants (N = …

Exploring Correlations Between Writing Apprehension, Academic Rational Beliefs, And Stress And Coping Behaviors In College Students, Pat Barniak Atkinson

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

This study explores the relationship between writing apprehension, rational academic beliefs and stress and coping behaviors in college students. Participants (N= 86) responded to a survey constructed from three pre-existing scales: the Writing Apprehension Test, the Academic Rational Beliefs Scale, and the Ways of Stress and Coping Scale. No correlations were indicated between writing apprehension and stress and coping behaviors. A low negative correlation was indicated between Writing Apprehension and beliefs pertaining to Evaluation of self-responsibility for academic work. A low positive correlation was indicated between Writing Apprehension and rational beliefs pertaining to Work Habits. Recommendations are offered toward enhancing …

The Relations Of Ethnicity And Stress With Smoking, Nicole Lynn Workman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Previous research has shown that African American teens are less likely to smoke than Caucasian teens, but prevalance of smoking among African American adults is nearly equal that of Caucasian adults. These findings suggest African Americans may increase their uptake of tobacco later in life. One variable that may contribute to the increase in smoking is stress. The current study sought to explore ethnic differences in the amount of stress as well as in the strength of the association of stress with smoking among African Amercian vs. Caucasian youth. This cross-sectional study examined 4,443 high school students recruited from the …

Assessing The Effects Of Stress Resilience Training On Visual Discrimination Skills: Implications For Perceptual Resilience In U.S. Warfighters, Andrea Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Current military operational environments are highly improvised and constantly evolving, threatening the lives of U.S. warfighters. For instance, since 2001, 60% of all hostile casualties and 65% of hostile injuries in the Middle East theater have been attributed to improvised explosive devices (IEDs). IEDs are powerful physical weapons, and the stressful atmosphere they, and other operational challenges create, can also result in a range of psychological dysfunctions, including anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Not only are these issues concerning for mental health reasons, they are also problematic in terms of combat performance. Extreme arousal (i.e., stress) …

A Heuristic Inquiry Into The Stress That Home Educators Experience, Jennifer Rathmell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the stress that families incur when they choose home education as their primary educational method. Extensive studies exist regarding stress that traditional education teacher's experience. However, the research on stress experienced by parents who are the primary educators of their children is limited. This study endeavored to provide insight and add to the home-education body of research. Using a heuristic inquiry research design, nine home educators participated in four data collection methods: a homeschool questionnaire, The Occupational Stress Inventory - Revised (OSI-R), a focus group, and individual interviews. …

The Association Of Cognitive Function With Autonomic-Cardiovascular Reactivity To And Recovery From Stress, Sanjay Mehta

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The contribution of stress in the development of chronic and terminal disease has garnered significant interest in contemporary research. The current study aims to look at how performance in domains of cognitive function may affect autonomic-cardiovascular reactivity and recovery to psychologically stressful tasks as such reactions, over time, may contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease.

The current study analyzed data from 209 healthy middle-age adults. This included four neuropsychological tests utilized here to represent abilities in four different cognitive domains: response inhibition, mental flexibility, verbal memory, and nonverbal memory. The participants were also introduced to three psychologically stressful tasks …

The Effect Of Mainstream Media On Body Image And Stress Reactivity In Latina Females, Madison L. Noble

Pitzer Senior Theses

The role of mainstream media in women’s views of female beauty and body image has been well documented. However, few published studies have observed ethnic differences in physiological stress reactivity that may occur from pressures to comply with a particular image of beauty. This study examined whether the exposure to the mainstream ideal body image would negatively affect Latina women’s physiological and psychological functioning, and how their responses differed in comparison to their White counterparts. Participants included college-aged female students from Pitzer College who self-identified as Latina or Caucasian. Participants completed questionnaires assessing, body esteem (MSBRQ-AS; SATAQ; CDFRS), ethnic identity …

An Alternative To Hedonism: Eudaimonic Well-Being, Brigham Breton, Nathan Billings-Smith, Jason Lefrandt, Patrick R. Steffen

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Research has repeatedly shown that individuals who rate highly on eudaimonic personality measures have a more positive perception of their well-being (physical and psychological) than individuals who rate highly on hedonic personality measures. We hypothesized that individuals who rate highly only the eudaimonic questions in the survey will have lower blood pressure and heart rate in response to stress, and also will return to normal stress levels more quickly than hedonic individuals. These results valid a number of other research studies that have demonstrated that eudaimonic thought is consistently related to better health outcomes. Similarly, individuals who rated highly on …

Gender And Stress Related Effects On Cardiovascular Health Outcomes, Michael A. Cedeno, Jennifer Blevins-Mcnaughton

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Title[j1] : Gender and stress related effects on cardiovascular health outcomes

Authors: Michael Cedeño – Master’s, (Tarleton State University), Jennifer Blevins-McNaughton (Tarleton State University)

Background and Purpose: To date, only a few investigators have compared the effect that stress may have on health and metabolic outcomes in college age adults. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which gender may play a role in self-reported stress and cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes in college age students.

Methods: Thirty-eight (N = 38) adults ages 18 to 28 participated in …

Determination Of Effective Training Methods To Learn A Laparoscopic Camera Navigation Task Under Stressful Environments, Devnath Vasudevan

Theses and Dissertations

Stress in surgical environment is generally very high and can result in performance degradation increasing patient risk .Current Training systems for learning minimally invasive surgical skills do not consider the component of stress in their training model. In this study the focus was on developing alternative training models that would allow the learner to effectively perform minimally invasive skill under stress. Two alternate training methods: 1) Training under stress until high performance levels and 2) training until high performance and low cognitive load are achieved were considered for this study. The control group consisted of training under no stress and …

Revisiting The Association Of Lmx Quality With Percieved Role Stressors: Evidence For Inverted-U Relationships Among Immigrant Europeans, Guowei Jian

Communication Faculty Publications

Although earlier research on leader-member exchange (LMX) theory supported a negative linear relationship between LMX quality and role stressors, recent studies suggest that a more complex, nonlinear relationship may exist between LMX quality and variables traditionally associated with it. Based on communication research of LMX and social exchange theory, the aim of this article is to revisit the relationship between LMX quality and role stressors by reconceptualizing their associations and testing the hypotheses of an inverted U relationship. A survey study among immigrant employees revealed differential effects of LMX quality on role stressors. In particular, with role conflict and role …

Stress And The Contextual Proximity Of Residential Factors, Rodrigo Cantarero, James Potter

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Research is mounting showing the link between the built environment, well-being and health. We explored three factors: crowding, housing satisfaction, and neighborhood satisfaction to determine their correlation with housing stress, and in turn correlation with overall level of stress. A Simple Random Sample (SRS) of blocks was generated and a total of 180 residents were sampled. Correlation and regression models were used in the data analysis. Although a direct relationship between the residential environment and the overall level of stress was not found, we did find an indirect connection via stress from the struggle for a better house.

The Impact Of A Naturalistic Stressor On Spontaneous Alternation Behavior: A New Animal Model Of Ocd, Christina Finch

Behavioral Neuroscience Honors Papers

Over the past few decades, various animal models of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) have been developed. Similarly, various stressors have been used throughout animal research. The Spontaneous Alternation Behavioral (SAB) model is a well-established model of OCD while 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline (TMT) has recently become a popular naturalistic stressor. This study linked the two together, thus modeling the effect of stress on OCD behaviors. After living in an enriched or standard environment for 3 weeks, male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to either TMT or no odor, and then were examined in the SAB task. Unlike what was hypothesized, the enriched environment proved …

Psychosocial Variables And Time To Injury Onset: A Hurdle Regression Analysis Model, Jeremy Sibold, Sam Zizzi

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Context:

Psychological variables have been shown to be related to athletic injury and time missed from participation in sport. We are unaware of any empirical examination of the influence of psychological variables on time to onset of injury. Objective:

To examine the influence of orthopaedic and psychosocial variables on time to injury in college athletes. Patients or Other Participants:

One hundred seventy-seven (men  =  116, women  =  61; age  =  19.45 ± 1.39 years) National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II athletes. Main Outcome Measure(s):

Hurdle regression analysis (HRA) was used to determine the influence of predictor variables on days to …

Legal And Policy Standards For Addressing Workplace Racism: Employer Liability And Shared Responsibility For Race-Based Traumatic Stress, Robert T. Carter, Thomas D. Scheuermann

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Quality Of Life Of Parental Caregivers Of Children (1-36 Months) With A Tracheostomy, Rachel A Joseph

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children's health and well-being are invariably related to the health and well-being of their parents or caregivers. Many parents undertake home care of children with a tracheostomy who require highly complex and technology driven care that would have been formerly assumed by health care providers. Parents accept multiple responsibilities- that of an advocate, case manager, parent, nurse, and much more. A cross sectional descriptive study using survey method was conducted to gather data on stress, coping and quality of life in parents of children with a tracheostomy aged one month to 36 months. The survey was administered via a secure …

Caring For Self And Others: Increasing Health Care Students’ Healthy Behaviors, Mary Ann Stark, Tena Hoekstra, Debra Lindstrom Hazel, Barbara Barton

Social Work Faculty Publications

Objective: Living a healthy lifestyle in order to manage stress encountered in the health care system is important for health care professionals. The purpose of this study was to increase healthy behaviors of undergraduate students in professional health care majors by introducing a health promotion intervention in a required course. Participants: The sample consisted of 201 undergraduate health professional students from nursing (NUR) (n = 82, 40.8%), occupational therapy (OT) (n = 72, 35.8%), and speech- language pathology (SLP) (n = 47, 23.4%). Methods: A pretest-posttest comparison group design was used. The NUR and OT students received a health promotion …

Cognitive Reappraisal Ability As A Protective Factor: Resilience To Stress Across Time And Context, Allison S. Troy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emotion regulation is crucially involved in individuals' psychological health. For example, the frequent use of cognitive reappraisal, or changing the way one thinks about an emotional event, is positively associated with psychological health. Recent cross-sectional findings have shown that the ability to use cognitive reappraisal (cognitive reappraisal ability; CRA) is associated with lower depression in the context of high stress. However, two important questions about CRA remain unexamined: 1) Does CRA predict long-term adjustment to stress? 2) Do the protective effects of CRA depend upon the type of stress encountered? To examine these questions, a community sample of men and …

Empirical Test Of The General Strain Theory On Workplace Shootings, Joshwan Marcus Cobbs

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this research paper is to look at the occupational setting within America and determine the cause of workplace shootings, how workplace violence is defined, what workplace shootings are more susceptible to workplace violence, which conditions of the work setting predisposes workplace violence, how often does workplace violence occur, identifying warning signs that leads to murderous outbursts, and what are the causes of such heinous acts. A content analysis has been conducted to determine how adult employee's perception of mistreatment and unfairness by co-workers within a professional setting affects their attitudes and behavior. 50 case studies involving random …

Women At War: Understanding How Women Veterans Cope With Combat And Military Sexual Trauma, Kristin M. Mattocks, Sally G. Haskell, Erin E. Krebs, Amy C. Justice, Elizabeth M. Yano, Cynthia Brandt

United States Public Health Resources

The wars in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF) have engendered a growing population of US female veterans, with women now comprising 15% of active US duty military personnel. Women serving in the military come under direct fire and experience combatrelated injuries and trauma, and are also often subject to in-service sexual assaults and sexual harassment. However, little is known regarding howwomen veterans cope with these combat and military sexual trauma experiences once they return from deployment. To better understand their experiences, we conducted semi-structured interviews with nineteen OEF/OIF women veterans between JanuaryeNovember 2009. Women …

Explaining The Longitudinal Association Between Puberty And Depression: Sex Differences In The Mediating Effects Of Peer Stress, Colleen S. Conley, Karen D. Rudolph, Fred B. Bryant

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This research investigated whether exposure to peer stress serves as one pathway through which pubertal development contributes to depression over time, differentially for girls and boys. Youth (N = 149; 9.6–14.8 years) and their caregivers provided information at two waves, 1 year apart, on puberty (Wave 1), peer stress (occurring between Waves 1 and 2), and depression (Waves 1 and 2). Structural equation modeling analyses examined sex differences in the extent to which peer stress mediated the impact of pubertal status and timing on subsequent depression (i.e., tests of moderated mediation). Significant sex-moderated mediation was found for both pubertal status …

Predictors Of Vicarious Trauma And Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Correctional Officers, Bertee Thomas Jr

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The correctional setting is often dangerous and unpredictable. Correctional officers have the unique and often dangerous charge of overseeing a very volatile population. The job of a correctional officer can be very stressful and often contributes to emotional, physiological, and psychological distress. Correctional officers may be exposed to violence either directly or indirectly. One of the psychological reactions most commonly associated with violence is the development of trauma. This type of traumatic response may be triggered by direct or indirect exposure to traumatic stimuli. The focus of this study was to identify variables associated with secondary traumatic responses among correctional …

Comparing Types Of Adaptive Automation Within A Multi-Tasking Environment, Grant S. Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the many years of research examining the various effects of automation on operator performance, stress, workload, etc., the focus has traditionally been on the level of automation, and the invocation methods used to alter it. The goal of the current study is to instead examine the utilization of various types of automation with the goal of better meeting the operator’s cognitive needs, thus improving their performance, workload, and stress. The task, control of a simulated unmanned robotic system, is designed to specifically stress the operator’s visual perception capabilities to a greater degree. Two types of automation are implemented to …

The Self-Described Experience Of Coping And Adaptation Associated With Workplace Stress Of Registered Nurses In The Acute Care Setting In Florida: An Ethnographic Study, Joyce Burr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about how nurses learn and use coping and adaptation skills in the workplace. Quantitative studies have identified the factors, nature, and outcomes of nursing stress. However, qualitative studies describing the human experience associated with workplace stress are lacking. The phenomenon of interest for this study using focused ethnographic method is the self-described experience of coping and adaptation associated with workplace stress of registered nurses working 12-hour shifts employed in acute care hospital facilities in east central and central Florida. Three aspects of the phenomena were examined: the self-described experiences of stress, the manner in which coping skills …

A Discussion Of The Mental Health Of Public School Teachers, Gary W. Ballou

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Education and Professional Studies

It has been suggested that public school teachers are exposed to highly stressful situations which are related to psychological and psychiatric problems. Unfortunately, there is no quantitative data suggesting which factors contribute to improving the mental health of American teachers, nor have there been any prior studies that have directly compared the factors associated with mental health disturbances between teachers and workers in other occupations in the United States. In light of this, I felt it crucial to find the factors associated with psychological/psychiatric problems in public school teachers in the United States using an appropriate reference professional group.

Supervisor Workplace Stress And Abusive Supervision: The Buffering Effect Of Exercise., James P. Burton, Jenny M. Hoobler, Melinda L. Scheuer

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

In a matched sample of 98 employed individuals and their direct supervisors, we examine how supervisor-rated stress is associated with employee-rated abusive supervision. In addition, we explore how supervisor exercise influences the relationship between supervisor stress and abusive supervision. Results of the study demonstrate that increased levels of supervisor-reported stress are related to the increased experience of employee-rated abusive supervision. We also find that higher levels of supervisor exercise reduces employee perceptions of abusive supervision in response to supervisor stress.

Occupational Stress And The Homosexual Police Officer, David John Barton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation analyzed occupational stress among homosexual officers. Previous researchers have investigated occupational stresses experienced by racial, ethnic and gender minority police officers; however, research has not examined the occupational stresses experienced by homosexual officers. This study utilized an internet survey to gather quantitative data that were statistically analyzed for similarities and differences in how homosexual officers perceive stressors common to all officers and stressors experienced only by minority subgroups, including discrimination. Because homosexual officers have the unique ability to disguise their minority status, this study also examined whether the officers' choices to reveal or conceal their sexual preference affected …

Assessing The Risk Of Crash For Trucks On Onset Yellow, Anuj Sharma Ph.D., Nathaniel P. Burnett

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Each day, millions of signal changes to the yellow phase occur at isolated high speed intersections, when erroneous driver decisions to stop or go may often lead to a crash. Dilemma zone protection systems are typically used to control these intersections in order to ensure the safe and efficient movement of vehicles. However, traditional dilemma zone protection systems show deterioration in performance during medium to heavy traffic volume conditions, jeopardizing both the safety and efficiency of intersections. The performance of these control systems for heavy vehicles is even more greatly affected, as traditional dilemma zone boundaries were developed for passenger …

Effect Of Freeway Level Of Service And Driver Education On Truck Driver Stress - Phase 1, Anuj Sharma Ph.D., Senem Velipasalar Ph.D., Sanjay Singh M.D., Dave Engel B.S., Sunil Gyawali Ph.D.

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

This research primarily deals with truck driver stress and its nature, stressors, and their mutual relationship. During the study, the different demands of driving that are related to roads, vehicle, traffic conditions, driver predisposition to stress and the surrounding environmental conditions were explored. The two distinct clusters of ―Low Stress level‖ and ―High Stress level‖ were identified in the stress distribution. The binary logistic regression method was used to relate these two conditions of stress with wide range of stressors. The result found that truck driver training was a statistically significant factor in predicting the low stress level. Other statistically …