Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Role Of Faculty In Fostering Psychosocial Wellbeing Among University Students, Kelley Wick

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The transition to college represents a major life event, and successfully navigating this shift has implications for students’ psychosocial wellbeing. While there is ample support for the idea that social relationships can facilitate student wellbeing during the transition to college, there is limited understanding of the unique role faculty may play in supporting students. The aim of this study was to determine the relation of faculty support to student wellbeing and self-efficacy, independent of peer support and student level of stress. Additionally, the primary questions were to examine whether self-efficacy mediated the relation of faculty support to student wellbeing, and …

“Is My Package Big Enough?”: Emerging Asian-American Men And Masculinity, Corinne Tam

SURF Posters and Papers

As many young adults now encounter “emerging adulthood,” a critical period of identity formation (Arnett 2000), the models of masculinity that men use to guide their transition into manhood during this life stage have yet to be investigated. Connell (2000) illustrates a “flexible, calculative, egocentric” masculinity as hegemonic today; however, as intersectional theory indicates, the means to achieving dominant cultural models are complicated by the relation between our diversity of identities and accessibility to resources (Crenshaw 1990). Stereotypes of Asian men being especially feminine reveal the unique position they hold to hegemonic masculinity. This research project asks, How do emerging …

The Relationship Between Sexual Orientation Outness, Heterosexism, Emotion Dysregulation, And Alcohol Use Among Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Emerging Adults, Lillianne Villarreal, Ruby Charak, Rachel M. Schmitz, Claire Hsieh, Julian D. Ford

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction

Research demonstrates that both proximal personal characteristics (e.g., outness, emotion dysregulation) and distal stressors (e.g., heterosexism) may be associated with harmful alcohol use among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals. No study has systematically examined the factors linking LGB identity outness to harmful alcohol use. The current cross-sectional study bridges this gap by testing a sequential mediation model wherein heterosexist experiences (HE) and emotion dysregulation (ER) were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between outness and alcohol use.

Method

Participants were 264 LGB emerging adults in the age range of 18-29 years (M/SD = 25.46/2.74; 16.7% lesbian, 23.1% gay, …

What Does Social Agency Have To Do With It? Positive Pathways To Adulthood For Groups Of Opportunity Youth And College Students In Rhode Island, Perri S. Leviss

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Opportunity youth are emerging adults 16–24 years old, neither in a career nor attending college. In 2018, there were 13,600 opportunity youth in Rhode Island, many are low-income, young people of color historically excluded from educational and career pathways. The study introduces an alternate lens grounded in the capability approach to human development and provides new terminology for thinking about the positive trajectory to adulthood for marginalized young people. The research offers an asset-based construct to view social agency [and the dimensions of hope, empowerment, voice, choice, and comm(unity)] as a foundational capability. The mixed methods study measures strength of …

Sins Of Our Fathers : Assessing Parental Incarceration As A "Turning Point" In The Lives Of Young Adults, Melissa Elizabeth Noel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Coupled with other disadvantages, parental incarceration negatively impacts outcomes for children. Researchers have examined the consequences of parental incarceration mainly for children and adolescents, but it remains unclear about the long-term consequences as these children emerge into adulthood. Parental incarceration can affect social relationships and life attainments, increase labeling and stigmatization, and influence perceptions about society for young adults. Thus, this research study sought to examine parental incarceration as a “turning point” in which life outcomes of young adults are weakened or strengthened through this experience. Semi-structured interviews with 19 young adults were conducted and analyzed to examine: (1) whether …

Between Two Worlds: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Experiences And Understandings Related To Race For Black Transracially Adopted Emerging Adults, Kyrai Antares

Dissertations

The current study provides a rich description of experiences and understandings related to race for transracially adopted Black emerging adults who were raised in Michigan or Ohio by White parents. Current adoption policy requires that race not be considered as a factor in foster and adoptive placements, and there is no required multicultural, race-focused training for White adoptive parents of children of color. This study begins a new line of research looking closely at the stories of transracial adoptees of a specific age group, racial identity, and geographical location of upbringing. The intention is to gain a better understanding of …

Longitudinal Predictors Of Helicopter Parenting In Emerging Adulthood, Laura M. Padilla-Walker, Larry J. Nelson, Ryan D. Mclean

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this exploratory longitudinal study was to examine stability and change of helicopter parenting throughout the first few years of emerging adulthood and to examine child and parent–child relational factors that might predict helicopter parenting. Participants included 453 emerging adults from a northwestern city in the United States (51% female, 33% single-parent families) who participated in a 10-year longitudinal study, with the current study examining ages 19–21. Results revealed that (a) for both mothers and fathers, helicopter parenting decreased over time, (b) some child and relational factors predicted initial levels of helicopter parenting, but (c) the findings were …

Sources Of Anxiety In Emerging Adult Relationships: A Qualitative Analysis, Kayla Gay

Honors Projects

Anxiety is a fairly common experience for individuals, but when this anxiety is extreme or prolonged, it can have detrimental effects both emotionally and physically. Previous research has shown that romantic relationships can have both positive and negative impacts on the mental health and levels of anxiety for individuals and that a number of stressors can create anxiety between romantic partners. The aim of this study was to examine the causes and sources of anxiety experienced by emerging adults specifically within their romantic relationships. A sample of six respondents from the Toledo Adolescent Relationship Study (TARS) who had the highest …

Cultural Identity Salience, Individuation, And Life Satisfaction In Emerging Adulthood, Matthew L. Nice

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study examined emerging adults’ (18-29 years old) cultural identity domains of race/ethnicity identity, gender identity, sexual identity, spiritual identity, and socioeconomic class identity with their features of individuation from parents and life satisfaction. Additional emphases were placed on understanding the differences between college-going and non-college-going emerging adults and the differences between early (18-23 years old) and later (24-29 years old) emerging adulthood. This study supported both significant and non-significant relationships among the cultural identity domains salience with the features of individuation and life satisfaction. Emerging adults who attend college were revealed to have higher life satisfaction than those …

Finding Their Way : The Journey From Foster Care To Emerging Adulthood, Venita Rawal

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

I conducted a qualitative study prompted from concerns of poor outcomes such as homelessness, lack of employment for youth who age out of foster care between the ages of 18 to 21 with limited to no material or emotional support. However, there are youth who age out of foster care and find themselves on a positive life-trajectory, but little is known about what helped them find their path in life and what helps them stay on this path.

I used a multiple case study design to learn from three participants who self-identified as being on a positive life-trajectory about what …

Parental Nurturance In Childhood And Adolescence Correlated To Anxiety In College Students, Julianne R. Urban

Senior Honors Theses

Parental nurturance is important for individuals in childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood. In general, high levels of parental nurturance helps individuals to be well-adjusted. However, anxiety disorders are prevalent among emerging adults, so the present study investigated a potential correlation between parental nurturance and college student anxiety. Participants consisted of undergraduate students who were at least 18 years old and enrolled in at least one psychology course. They were asked to complete the Parental Nurturance Scale and Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale. The results indicated a significant negative correlation between the two variables. Specifically, increases in parental nurturance were …

Self-Continuity Moderates The Association Between Sexual-Minority Status Based Discrimination And Depressive Symptoms, Holly E. Recchia, Jonathan Santo, Alexa Martin-Storey

Psychology Faculty Publications

Self-continuity, or how an individual understands their sense of self as persisting from past to present and present to future, is an important aspect of the self-concept that is linked to mental health outcomes. This self-concept construct may be particularly pertinent for sexual minority populations, as living in a heterosexist environment may prove detrimental for the development of self-continuity. The current study examined self-continuity among sexual minority and heterosexual community college and university students (N = 292). Compared to their heterosexual peers, sexual minority participants reported lower levels of self-continuity. Self-continuity moderated the associations between victimization due to gender nonconformity …

Sources Of Social Support And Gender In Perceived Stress And Individual Adjustment Among Latina/O College-Attending Emerging Adults, Chih Yuan Steven Lee, Sara Goldstein, Bryan J. Dik, Jose M. Rodas

Department of Family Science and Human Development Scholarship and Creative Works

Objectives: We explored the role of particular sources of social support (friends, romantic partners, family) as moderators and mediators in the associations between perceived stress and individual well-being (loneliness, depressive symptoms, and self-rated physical health). We also tested the possible moderating effect of gender to ascertain whether women and men are differentially impacted by social support's diverse sources. Method: Participants were 163 Latina/o emerging adults attending college (85% women; M age = 20.2 years, range: 18-25). Results: Holding perceived stress constant, friend support was negatively associated with loneliness, romantic partner support was negatively related to depressive symptoms, and family support …

Making Space For The Adolescent Unconscious: A Case-Based Reflection On Practice, Donna M. San Antonio Dr., Nathan Gorelick

Faculty Scholarship

Community-based psychotherapists and school counsellors work to assist adolescents through sharing resources, building awareness of cognition and behavior, and skill development in communicative competence. However, adolescents, eager to delve deeper into the unknown territory of their being, also present us with speech and acts coming from the unconscious, in the form of metaphors, forgetting, behavioral excesses, mishaps, and physical symptoms. As adolescents search for ways to manage childhood trauma, find meaning and purpose in their lives, and clarify an aspirational direction that makes sense to them, they rarely have opportunities to work at a deeper level. In this article, psychoanalytically …

The Intersection Of Social Stress, Mental Well-Being, And Sexual Health Among Black Women In Emerging Adulthood, Brandi Galloway

Theses and Dissertations

With an estimated 37,000 new HIV infections each year, HIV continues to be a major public health concern. HIV affects some populations more than others. Young Black women, in particular, are disproportionately affected by HIV. While being a woman does not typically increase a person’s HIV risk, being Black and being a woman does.

Data indicate that individual-level factors do not fully address the differences in HIV and STIs between Black emerging adult women and their White counterparts. Thus, it is critical to better understand contextual factors such as social stress and mental-wellbeing which might better account for these disparities. …

Predictors Of Self-Control During Emerging Adulthood: The Roles Of Implicit Beliefs And Early Risk, Katy L. Delong

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This study explored how early adverse experiences (i.e., low socioeconomic status, household chaos, attachment insecurity) and implicit beliefs about self-control (i.e., whether self-control is a limited or nonlimited resource) were associated with trait and momentary self-control in a sample of college students. As the first study to explore these factors together, individuals’ implicit beliefs were tested as a moderator and meditator of the association between early risk and self-control. Participants (N = 214) first completed a baseline survey with the main predictors and trait self-control, followed by one week of experience sampling to assess momentary self-control, or success resisting …