Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Emotional Intelligence, Resilience, And Stress Among Women In Treatment For Substance Disorders, Zummuna Zonzanna Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability of an individual to perceive, use, comprehend, and regulate emotions. While relationships between EI and risk of drug abuse have been explored, possible mechanisms through which higher EI may serve as a protective factor remain undefined; there was a need to understand how EI was related to stress among women with substance use disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine resilience as a mediator between EI and stress, a risk factor, among women in treatment for chemical dependency. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Salovey and Mayer’s EI model. …

Obesity-Related Health Behaviors And Stress Among Sexual Minority Women, Kristen Andrea Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adult obesity rates have continued to rise with 40% of the adult population in the United States currently being categorized as obese. Sexual minority women are more prone to obesity than heterosexual women. Obesity has been linked to several causes of premature and preventable death and has often been attributed to changeable health behaviors such as physical activity, diet, and sleep. Additionally, stress has been shown to impact health behaviors as well as rates of obesity. Sexual minority women are known to experience more stress due to their minority status, a concept described in minority stress theory which states that …

Stress And Wellness Among Municipal Law Enforcement Officers In Southeastern Virginia, Russell Morgan Granderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Municipal law enforcement officers contend with unique occupational stressors. They must overcome stress from their employing agency and the pressures that arise from performing their basic enforcement duties. This study was designed to examine how municipal law enforcement officers in southeastern Virginia perceived their agency's wellness policy and to determine what recommendations they had to improve the effectiveness of the current wellness policy. Lazarus and Folkman's theory of cognitive appraisal and coping served as the theoretical framework for the study. Qualitative inquiry was used to examine the perceptions of 15 purposively sampled law enforcement officer participants. The data were then …

Managing Energy As Experienced By Female Federal Senior Managers, Gwendolyn Jones Crimiel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior managers experience a drain on personal energy while trying to meet the demands of work. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore how female senior managers describe lived experiences of managing and renewing personal energy while at work. The theoretical framework included conservation of resources theory and effort recovery theory. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 14 female senior managers who experienced managing and renewing their personal energy at work. Data analysis involved coding to capture the essence of the experiences and to identify common themes. Findings indicated that insufficient energy affected participants’ mental and …

Perceptions Of Stress And Coping In The First Year Of Police Work, Scott David Eaton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The pressures associated with a career in law enforcement are considerable and often result in significant detriment to an officer's personality, behavior, and overall mental health, ultimately impacting job performance and work engagement. Although there is extensive research on the influence of stress encountered in police work, an understanding of those stressors and ways of coping in the first year of police work has yet to be fully explored. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of 5 police officers who have been subject to stress in their first year and to identify the coping skills, …

Work-Life Balance Of Rotational Workers In The Nigerian Energy Sector, Israel Olalekan Jolaolu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Rotational workers in the Nigerian oil and gas industry otherwise referred to as the energy sector, are confronted with challenges and stresses of work-life balance (WLB). Using boundary theory, 15 oil and gas workers with more than 5 years of rotational work experience were recruited to examine the strategies they employed to deal with the stresses and work-life balance required for the social well-being of the workers, which translates to improved job performance in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria. The research question was designed to explore the lived experiences of rotational workers with more than 5 years in …

Afriican American Students' Experiences Of Stress From Discrimination In Online Doctoral Education, Senovia Wyche

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

There is a lack of current research about the experiences of stress related to discrimination encountered by African American students in online doctoral programs. Such discrimination can negatively impact the academics, educational experiences, and overall health of this student population. In this generic qualitative study, how African American students in online doctoral programs interpreted, perceived, and responded to their experiences of stress regarding discrimination was explored. Using the conceptual framework of Lazarus and Folkman’s cognitive appraisal theory, the research questions addressed stress related to discrimination encountered in online educational institutions, discriminatory factors perceived as inhibitors towards earning a doctoral …

Law Enforcement Stress, Gender, And Work Performance, Angelia L. Harger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Police officers experience continuous periods of work-related stressors throughout their

careers, affecting job performance, sleep, and family life. However, there is limited qualitative research in the area of police officer gender and stress, in law enforcement. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study, guided by resilience theory, was to examine how gender and stress influence work performance, sleep, and family life in police officers. Six male and 4 female patrol officers were individually interviewed to gather information related to (a) their experiences regarding stress, (b) signs and symptoms of stress, (c) how gender affects stress, and (d) their coping …

Stress And Job Satisfaction As Predictors Of Teacher Turnover Intentions, Alrick Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High teacher turnover is problematic because of the costs associated with recruiting and training new hires. However, some of the factors originating outside of the working environment that may influence teacher turnover intentions are not fully understood. The purpose of this quantitative correlational design study was to examine the extent to which job satisfaction, commuting stress, and financial stress are predictors of teacher turnover intentions. The study involved a purposive sampling of 227 teachers within a school district in the South Eastern part of the United States. Hobfoll’s conservation of resources theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. Validated …

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 …

Secondary Traumatic Stress In The Mortuary Industry: Prevalence And Mitigation, Robert Borselli

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For those working in the mortuary industry, exposure to traumatically deceased remains may predispose them to developing subjective Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS). The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship among the independent variables of hardiness and perceived social support, and the dependent variable of subjective STS in mortuary workers. The theoretical foundations on which this research was based are the theories of stress and illness, secondary traumatic stress, hardiness, and social support. The primary research question governing this research was whether social support and hardiness had any correlation to the levels of subjective STS in this …

The Cultural Construct Of Stress In Luganda-Speaking Women In Uganda, Courtney Skiera

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Luganda, the primary language spoken in Uganda has no word for stress, but this does not necessarily preclude the Luganda-speaking population from experiencing stress. There is currently no research that reveals the stress phenomenon from a Ugandan’s perspective. The purpose of this study was to examine how Luganda-speaking Ugandans conceptualize stress. Two theoretical foundations formed the basis of this study: the cognitive appraisal of stress theory and the coordinated management of meaning. Using a qualitative interpretive design, this study examined the conceptualization of stress by Luganda-speaking women in terms of understanding, experiencing, and communicating the stress phenomenon. Participants were 7 …

Effects Of Group Play In Sand On Obese Women’S Self-Perceptions, Marianezoi Antares

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity poses an escalating threat to public health in many countries. A better understanding of the psychological construct of obesity and alternative approaches for treating it are needed. The purpose of this study was to examine secondary data to measure the effects of a program using group play in sand on self-perceptions of obese Danish women. The framework was based on elements from the Bandura’s social learning theory and conception of self-efficacy integrated with the concept of body image perception. Participants (N = 34) were obese women in Copenhagen, Denmark, who used group play in sand as their therapy program. …

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. …

Constructs Of Coping For Adult Victims Of Bullying, Gillian Harris-Dale

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying is a pervasive event that affects individuals in a variety of ways. For example, bullied individuals display an array of psychological and related psychosocial problems associated with victimization. There is a push for a transformation in the bullying paradigm to include the psychological and psychosocial symptomologies of both the perpetrator and victim. This study addressed the lack of qualitative research on coping mechanisms for adult victims of bullying. Due to the pervasive nature of the phenomena, the following was explored: (a) descriptions of bullying as expressed by adult victims, (b) adult victims' coping processes and methods, and (c) adult …

Effectiveness Of Yoga Therapy On Pain And Related Depression, Anxiety, Perceived Stress, And Quality Of Life, Karen Romani

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals are becoming more dependent on medication for conditions such as chronic-pain, anxiety, and depression. It is reported that patients are often overprescribed medication while health outcomes do not improve. The medicalization of society is distracting attention from the possibility of other therapies such as complementary or alternative medicine (CAMs) that can improve health outcomes if they were as supported as pharmacological research and better received by the medical community. Yoga and meditation, the components of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and yoga therapy, have been shown as effective CAMs for cases of anxiety and depression related to chronic illness …

Learning Models, Personality Traits, And Job Satisfaction In Forensic Psychology Practitioners, Dione Washington

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Forensic psychology is a distinct specialization requiring practitioners to approach problems differently than in other psychological specialties. While the use of problem-based learning in the medical field is well-researched, there is a lack of literature regarding its use in forensic psychology. This quantitative survey-based study was designed to investigate the relationship between learning models and personality traits and job satisfaction in forensic psychologists. In the current study, an adaption of Vygotsky’s constructivist zone of proximal development theory and Holland’s theory of career choice were applied to forensic psychology instruction to assess the degree to which personality and learning models interrelate …

Stress Of College Students And Memory With The Implementation Of Brief Mindfulness, Rebecca Lopez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

College students are faced with stressors which can negatively impact memory function, thereby, negatively affecting academic performance. This study used a field experiment design to investigate the effects of brief mindfulness on levels of distress and memory functioning between first-year community college students engaging in a brief mindfulness intervention (n = 29) and a control group (n = 28) by using ANCOVA, MANOVA, correlations, and descriptive statistics. Research questions examined whether a brief mindfulness intervention lowered levels of distress in a treatment group. Second, the study examined whether the intervention of brief mindfulness in a treatment group improved memory function. …

Stress And Burnout: Empathy, Engagement, And Retention In Healthcare Support Staff, Burnette Vidal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research on stress and burnout and their influence on empathy, engagement, and retention, in healthcare support staff is scarce in the literature. The theoretical framework for this study was the conservation of resources (COR) theory which claims that when people are stressed, emotionally exhausted, and experiencing burnout, they protect and preserve their physical and mental resources from becoming depleted by reducing their effort and withdrawing from work. The key research question was: Does burnout mediate the relationship between stress and empathy, engagement, and turnover intentions in healthcare support staff working in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)? This quantitative, non-experimental, …

Strerss On Educators At A Discipline Alternative Education Program, Anthony G. Murray

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Interaction with their students during classroom instruction is often a source of stress among many teachers. The academic setting of Disciplinary Alternative Educational Programs (DAEP) poses a risk factor for teachers to experience stress, given that student disruptive behavior has been associated with higher stress levels among teachers. The problem underlying this study was that most studies on DAEP have focused on the experiences of students, with limited information available about the experiences of teachers in this type of academic setting. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the role of job-related stress and coping on the …

A Correlational Examination Among Law Enforcement Officers' Operational Stress And Media Consumption, Patrick Schmucker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Twenty-first century technology advancements have made the consumption of law enforcement related information on different types of media platforms more accessible. There is a relationship among media consumption on various platforms (traditional, social, and entertainment) and the altering of societal and personal perceptions and behaviors. However, there is little to no research on whether media consumption alters a law enforcement officer's operational stress (OS). The purpose of this quantitative study was to fill this knowledge gap by exploring a sample of active duty law enforcement officers in South Carolina. Social learning and rational choice theories comprised the theoretical framework for …

Coping Methods Of Caregivers Dealing With Patients Suffering From Geriatric Dementia, Blessing Baridakara Deemua

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Dementia is a neurological disorder primarily diagnosed in the geriatric population. A problem for paid caregivers of patients diagnosed with stage-4 dementia is that they may experience caregiving stress while rendering care. However, there was no research that described the lived experiences of paid caregivers. Caregiving stress can be accompanied by behaviors or comorbid conditions and specific symptoms of stress can have a differential wellness impact. This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of paid caregivers of patients with dementia through Vroom's expectancy theory. Data were gathered through interpretative interviews from a sample of 10 to 15 purposefully selected nursing …

Effects Of Canines On Humans' Physiological And Perceived Stress, Beth Marie Bowin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The bond between pet and owner has been shown to decrease stress-related physical, mental, and emotional disorders by lowering blood pressure and heart rate. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a nonpet canine would have the same effect in reducing physical symptoms of stress as a known dog. Human-animal bond theory, Human pressor test. Data were analyzed using repeated measures, analyses of variance, and t tests. Results indicated that interaction with a strange dog lowered heart rate and blood pressure significantly faster in the experimental group than in the control group. The positive social change implications of …

Nature Of Stressors On Female Law Enforcement Academy Recruits, Sandra Patricia Dillard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A problem in law enforcement academy training is that female recruits endure more stressors than male recruits endure. This can lead to fewer females opting for careers as law enforcement officers. The purpose of this study was to explore the unique stressors on female recruits when they are held to the same standards as males. The feminist theory was used as the theoretical framework for this study to depict how stress is perceived for the female. The first research question examined how outside stressors affected female trainees. The second research question examined how job-€related stressors affected female trainees. In-€depth, semistructured …

Recognizing And Anticipating Stress Related Complacent Behavior In Manufacturing Industries, Ricardo Alberto Pineda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Numerous safety studies suggest that stress complacency related accidents in manufacturing industries continue to cause injuries or fatalities because of the absence of emotional resources for leaders, who are unable to prevent accidents when these conditions exist. Leaders of the manufactory industries may not have the appropriate emotional measures which are significant to recognize employees' underlying complacent behavior. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to evaluate the relationship between leaders' emotional intelligence resources and their ability to manage to prevent injuries and fatalities in the workplace. The research questions address key traits of emotional intelligence regarding emotional perceptions …

Awareness, Stress, And Income As Contributors In Medicare Part B Late Enrollment, Bishnu Hari Dhaurali

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Medicare Part B is one of the federal health insurance programs available to senior citizens in the United States. Unlike Medicare Part A, Part B enrollment is not automatic, and those missing their initial enrollment period are assessed a 10% or more penalty in addition to their monthly premium rate for the rest of their lives. This problematic enrollment policy has impacted senior citizens who have missed Part B enrollment windows, creating for them an added financial burden when many are transitioning to fixed incomes. Guided by social construction theory and using a nonprobability, convenience sampling approach, the likelihood coefficient …

Coping Challenges And Methods Among Parents Of Children With Corpus Callosum Disorders, Peggy Henninger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Disorders of the corpus callosum (ADCC) present developmental challenges to children and adults. These disorders are characterized by symptoms of abnormal behaviors and/or thinking patterns. Because ADCC may exist in combination with other disabilities, individual IQs and the severity and problems vary from individual to individual. Using the double ABCx model of family adaptation to stress related to a family member with a disability, the purpose of this cross-sectional study was to provide the first evaluation of parental adaptation among parents of children with ADCC. The final sample, 265 mothers of children with ADCC, was recruited through online support groups …

Work-Family Conflict, Job Burnout, And Couple Burnout In High-Stress Occupations, Elizabeth Dacey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

One of the most common sources of stress is one's job and the struggle to balance the demands of one's job with those of one's family and/or romantic relationship. Prolonged exposure to stress can lead to burnout, and it can affect various aspects of one's life and one's emotional and cognitive well-being. Firefighters, police officers, and corrections officers are susceptible to burnout. If their well-being is compromised, it can impact their job performance, which can negatively impact society. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between work-family conflict (time-based, strain-based, behavior-based), job burnout (exhaustion, depersonalization, …

Wellness Paradigms In Predicting Stress And Burnout Among Beginning Expatriate Teachers, Kimala Proctor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research indicates that the current teacher shortage is in part due to stress and burnout. A topic that has not been examined is beginning expatriate English medium teachers (EMTs) with 5 years or less of teaching experience in the United Arab Emirates and the relationship between using individualized, self-initiated wellness paradigms and stress, job burnout, and intent to leave the teaching profession. The transactional model of stress and coping, Maslach's multidimensional theory of burnout, and the health promotion model were used to evaluate the moderating effects of the EMTs' burnout and stress levels on their wellness and intent to leave. …

Multivariate Relationships Of Binge Watching-Drinking-Eating With Depression, Anxiety, And Stress In College Students, Katina Letrice Clarke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Binge eating and drinking have been studied with respect to stress, anxiety, and depression, but little is known about the emerging phenomenon of binge watching television programming. Guided by escape theory and the uses and gratification theory, this cross-sectional, correlational study addressed multivariate relations of binge drinking, binge eating, and binge watching with depression, anxiety, and stress among 102 college students ages 18 to 24. Multivariate canonical correlation results revealed that participants with low anxiety scores tended to have low scores on binge eating and drinking but high scores on binge watching. Participants with low stress scores and high anxiety …