Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Cuban Immigrants’ Experience With Acculturation And How They Cope In The United States, Lourdes Araujo

Dissertations

Objective: This research examines how Cuban immigrants experience cope and adapt to the United States. Cuban immigration is associated with specific stressors related to the immigration experience and the necessary process of acculturation and assimilation. These major stressors can result in mental health concerns among Cuban immigrants; however, no studies have examined how acculturation may influence Cuban immigrants’ coping skills and resultant mental health concerns. This unique study is the first to examine the coping skills Cuban immigrants use during acculturation and the effects of these skills on Cuban immigrants’ mental health. Methods: Seventeen participants completed a semistructured interview and …

Stress, Social Problem Solving, And Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Cross-Lagged Panel Design Investigation Of Interactive Influences, Natalie M. Roy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the interplay of three key variables: stress, maladaptive social problem-solving (SPS), and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptom severity. According to SPS theory, SPS is the self-directed cognitive and behavioral process by which individuals attempt to manage real-life problems or stressful situations. There are two main types of SPS: adaptive or maladaptive (D’Zurilla & Chang, 1995). Individuals who have adaptive SPS tendencies tend to view problems in an optimistic light; they perceive problems as solvable challenges and opportunities for personal growth. On the other hand, individuals who have maladaptive SPS tendencies often see problems as threatening and …

Exploring The Experience Of Psychological Distress For Young Adults With Cancer: Implications For A New Diagnosis Of Medical Traumatic Stress, Audrey Ryan

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how a serious medical diagnosis, such as cancer, can act as an acute or prolonged trauma. This was explored through the lived experiences of psychological distress of young cancer survivors. Participants were 12 men and women who had been diagnosed with cancer within the past seven years when they were between the ages of 18 and 39. From these interviews several themes emerged that describe the phenomenon of what I have termed medical traumatic stress.

Trauma from a medical event does not currently meet criteria for PTSD in the DSM-5 …

Black American Students With And Without Disabilities: Stress And Coping Strategies, Gabriel Asare Sarpong

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined if perceived level of stress for Black /African American students was exacerbated by their disability status. This study also examined the relationship between Africultural coping, minority stressors (racial minority stress, disability related stress) and perceive stress level. 123 students who identified themselves as Black/African American enrolled in two Midwestern universities participated in the online survey of this study (n = 39 with disabilities; n= 84 with no disabilities). Results showed that Black students with disabilities reported higher level of perceived stress compared to those with no disabilities. Racial minority stressors, and societal barrier component of disability related …

Threat-Induced Alterations In Cognition And Associations With Disinhibited Behavior, Julia B. Mcdonald

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When a threat is detected, brain networks associated with threat processing are activated while other processes are deprioritized. While this resource allocation is adaptive, it makes it especially difficult to effortfully direct thoughts, emotions, and behaviors (use cognitive control) during situations of high stress. Further, this threat response is most efficient in response to short-term or predictable stressors (“threats”) but loses its efficiency for ambiguous or unpredictable threats. Despite research that suggests that threat induces psychological states associated with breakdown in cognitive control processes, no study has directly examined how predictability of threat impacts neurocognitive indicators of cognitive control processes. …

Does Overweight/Obesity Moderate The Association Between Adhd And Internalizing Difficulties In Young Adults?, Breanna Badripersaud

Dissertations and Theses

This study’s objective was to investigate if ADHD symptoms and BMI are associated with internalizing impairments of depression, anxiety, stress and lower self-esteem in college students. It was predicted that higher ADHD symptoms would be associated with elevated depression, anxiety, stress, and low self-esteem, especially if BMI fell in the overweight/obese range. Undergraduate students [N= 580; Mean (SD) age= 20.7 (3.10)] from an urban campus completed an online survey comprising self-report measures of demographics, height/weight, attention and hyperactivity/impulsivity (Barkley Deficits Executive Functioning Scale ADHD- Executive Function Index), depression, anxiety, stress (all using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale) and self- …

Self-Care Practices, Work Experience, Educational Setting, And Burnout Among School Counselors, Paul Sylvester-Nwosu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractSchool counselors should be well-adjusted in their personal and professional lives and possess a keen, accurate perception of their self-care practices. However, people drawn to careers in school counseling are often at risk of developing burnout due to high professional demands and limited resources supporting their self-care and well-being. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to investigate the relationship between the independent variables of self-care practices, years of work experience, and educational settings and the dependent variable of levels of burnout among practicing school counselors in K-12 suburban educational settings in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. …

Laughter Therapy And Coping Strategies For Dementia Patient Caregivers, Edith Ugwu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this research was to address a gap in the literature concerning the experiences of dementia caregivers who use laughter therapy as a coping strategy to manage their caregiving stress. Dementia caregiving involves high levels of stress, depression, and anxiety, which can cause both psychological and physical health problems for caregivers. It is, therefore, critical to identify effective coping strategies to mitigate caregiving stress. Laughter therapy is an inexpensive and readily available coping strategy that can help manage this stress. The current study used a phenomenological qualitative approach to address the research question. The transactional model of stress …

What Happens When Youth Talk About Their Problems? Co-Rumination As A Mechanism Of Stress Generation, Jaclyn T. Aldrich

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

During adolescence, rates of depression increase significantly, necessitating understanding of interpersonal and intrapersonal factors that contribute to the occurrence of depressive symptoms. Prominent theories of depression, such as stress generation theory, suggest that depressed individuals experience more interpersonal stress that is dependent on their own actions or behavior. The current study sought to examine the role of co-rumination in the generation of stress and development of depression over the course of a year. Participants were 150 adolescents (48.7% female, 77.5% Caucasian) ages 11 to 14 years old (M = 13.03, SD = 0.93). Three models assessed the directional relationship …

The Process Of Therapeutic Change In The Attention Training Technique, Benjamin J. Laman-Maharg

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Background: An unacceptably large proportion of individuals remain symptomatic after receiving first-line interventions. The attention training technique (ATT) is a potentially effective treatment augmentation and standalone treatment that may help improve the treatment of psychological disorders. The machanisms of therapuetic change of ATT remain understudied. This study is a randomized controlled trial of ATT compared to progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) that examined mindfulness and attentional control as potential mechisms of therapeutic change.

Method: A convenience sample of 64 participants (Mage = 20.13, SD = 3.65; 42.2% Male; 64.1% non-Hispanic White; 23.4% Black; 9.4% Hispanic/Latino; 3.1% Other) were randomly assigned to …

The Evocative Effects Of Child Temperament On Parenting Stress And Behaviors, Laura Welch

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Despite recognition that parents contribute to child development, much remains to be clarified about ways child characteristics shape parents’ behaviors. For example, temperamental characteristics such as negative affectivity elicit more parenting stress (Oddi, Murdock, Vadnais, Bridgett, & Gartstein, 2013) and less effective parenting behaviors (Laukkanen, Ojansuu, Tolvanen, Alatupa, & Aunola, 2014). On the other hand, children’s effortful control is known to reduce psychological risks associated with negative affectivity (Gartstein, Putnam, & Rothbart, 2012) yet no studies have investigated whether this may consequently reduce parenting stress. Furthermore, stressed parents are more likely to engage in harsh parenting strategies (Martorell & Bugental, …

Identifying Protective Factors To Early Suicide Markers: The Buffering Effects Of Savoring And Resilience, Matthew Miceli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicide continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States, which highlights the need for researchers to identify protective models through longitudinal designs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2019). Importantly, suicide prevention strategies are more efficacious when they target early indicators of suicide and consider risk and protective factors. Desire for death, the combination of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness proposed by the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior (Van Orden et al., 2008), is one such early marker of suicidal behavior. A protect factor is methodologically defined as one that demonstrates an inverse …