Psychology Commons^™

Managing Stress In A Constantly-Changing Workforce, Lorri Burch-Hubbard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When staffing reductions occur in the workplace, staff left behind may face increased stress, may not be given the support they need to manage the feelings caused by the reduction. This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of stress caused by staffing reductions has on medical technologists (MT), medical technicians (MLT) and respiratory therapists (RT), and to identify any common methods of stress management used by those staff who remain in the organization.

Literature research showed the negative impact stress can have on individuals when it is not addressed, such as decreased work performance, health issues, and even the …

Teen Stress And The High School Experience: Fostering The Adaptive Abilities To Survive And Advance, William P. Dewitt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose if this study is to examine the stress experience of teenagers during their high school years. The study uses existing research to identify causes of stress and stress- management techniques and then gathers students’ perceptions through surveys and a group interview to provide student voice on the issue of stress.

Recent nation-wide efforts have been made in schools to provide more supports for the social and emotional well-being of students, but despite these efforts, stress levels of high school students remain elevated. Understanding the ways in which students identify stress and the adaptive abilities they use to manage …

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 …

Crisis Communications: Facing Covid-19 Together Could Lead To Positive Psychological Growth, Lowri Dowthwaite

Social Space

Although news reports of hoarding, and panic-buying might make it hard to believe, research shows that natural disasters, like the COVID-19 pandemic, can actually bring out the best in people. Although times of significant threat or crisis can cause post-traumatic stress, research shows that so-called “adversarial growth” is just as common as a response. This is our capacity to not only overcome a crisis, but to actually grow stronger, wiser and more resilient.

Emotional, Social, And Behavioral Factors Affecting Wellbeing And Academic Performance In University Students With Chronic Diseases: Proposed Longitudinal Study, Kevin R. Criswell, Wren Whitman, Madelynn Smith, Polly Denison, Kyle Anderson

2020 Symposium Posters

Background: Chronic diseases (CDs) affect about half (45%) of individuals in the U.S., and this population is expected to grow. Despite the high prevalence and psychosocial burden of CDs, less is known about the effects of CDs on university students’ academic performance and psychosocial wellbeing. Research on how CDs might affect pursuit of valued activities (e.g., higher education), psychosocial wellbeing, and internalized stigma is lacking in university students with CDs.

Aims: The first aim is to characterize the effects of chronic diseases on academic performance and psychosocial wellbeing in university students. The second aim is to examine the …

More Than Just Words On A Screen: A Biopsychosocial Approach To Understanding Effects Of Race-Related Media, Melinda Kittleman

Dissertations

Racial disparities in physical and mental health are ongoing and well-documented problems in the United States. Black Americans, compared to White Americans, have higher risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer, depression, and substance abuse. Research suggests prejudice and discrimination play a role in racial health disparities. Everyday discrimination is considered a chronic, psychosocial stressor that impacts the health of Black Americans. A biopsychosocial approach states there are various factors that contribute to the pathway from discrimination to disease and proposes complex relationships that explain effects of racial discrimination on health. The current study examined social factors (race-related media), biological factors …

Empty Cribs: Infertility Challenges For Orthodox Jewish Couples, Itay Kohane

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation discusses an issue that is of importance to many people throughout their lifetime—infertility. One in every eight couples (12%) is incapable of carrying a pregnancy to term after one year of natural attempts. This paper further examines the prevalence of infertility among couples, bringing into focus more common variables such as gender and age. But, going beyond these, the present study will demonstrate that other variables including stressors such as social factors, interpersonal dynamics, and personal judgment affect couples in a manner which indirectly reduces their chances of conceiving a child. This research will touch on a number …

Online Mindfulness Training Increases Well-Being, Trait Emotional Intelligence, And Workplace Competency Ratings: A Randomized Waitlist-Controlled Trial, Ruby Nadler, Julie J. Carswell, John Paul Minda

Psychology Publications

A randomized waitlist-controlled trial was conducted to assess the effectiveness of an online 8-week mindfulness-based training program in a sample of adults employed fulltime at a Fortune 100 company in the United States. Baseline measures were collected in both intervention and control groups. Following training, the intervention group (N = 37) showed statistically significant increases in resilience and positive mood, and significant decreases in stress and negative mood. There were no reported improvements in the wait-list control group (N = 65). Trait mindfulness and emotional intelligence (EI) were also assessed. Following the intervention mindfulness intervention participants reported increases in trait …

Villains Or Vermin? The Differential Effects Of Discrimination And Dehumanization On Immigrant Cardiovascular Responses, Mona El-Hout

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Immigration has been pushed to the forefront of a national political debate, and immigrants are commonly portrayed as villains and vermin looking to invade and infest Western nations. These negative portrayals of immigrants may have negative implications for immigrant health outcomes. Among other negative health outcomes, studies have found that immigrant cardiovascular disease rates increase with time spent in the U.S. This phenomenon of decreasing immigrant health with extended U.S. residency has been labeled “the immigrant health paradox”, and discrimination has often been posited as a possible explanatory factor. In addition to discrimination, immigrants are often the targets of dehumanization, …

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. …

Sharing Stress With A Robot: What Would A Robot Say?, Honson Y. Ling, Elin A. Björling

Human-Machine Communication

With the prevalence of mental health problems today, designing human-robot interaction for mental health intervention is not only possible, but critical. The current experiment examined how three types of robot disclosure (emotional, technical, and by-proxy) affect robot perception and human disclosure behavior during a stress-sharing activity. Emotional robot disclosure resulted in the lowest robot perceived safety. Post-hoc analysis revealed that increased perceived stress predicted reduced human disclosure, user satisfaction, robot likability, and future robot use. Negative attitudes toward robots also predicted reduced intention for future robot use. This work informs on the possible design of robot disclosure, as well as …

The Effectiveness Of A Mindfulness-Based Intervention: A Neuropsychological Perspective Using An Electroencephalography, Elizabeth Mary Grace

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in mindfulness-related techniques. The willingness to experience emotions fully, just as they are, is a catalyst for psychological change to occur. Mindfulness has been used to alleviate stress and promote healthy living (Lagopoulos et al., 2009). The clinical utility of mindfulness has grown exponentially; however, the neuropsychological process of mindfulness is still being understood. The present study sought to examine the influence of a brief mindfulness intervention on brain activation in college students. A sample (n = 17) of undergraduate participants were randomly assigned into a prepost mindfulness intervention or control …

Musical Dogs: A Review Of The Influence Of Auditory Enrichment On Canine Health And Behavior, Abigail Lindig, Paul Mcgreevy, Angela Crean

Stress Collection

Music therapy yields many positive health outcomes in humans, but the effects of music on the health and welfare of nonhuman animals vary greatly with the type of music played, the ethology of the species, and the personality and learning history of individual animals. One context in which music therapy may be used to enhance animal welfare is to alleviate stress in domestic environments. Here, we review studies of the effects of music exposure on dogs as a case study for the implementation of music therapy in veterinary medicine. Nine reports of experimental testing for the therapeutic effects of music …

Latinx First-Generation Students’ Academic Experience: The Role Of Institutional Supports During A Pandemic, Lizeth Banuelos

2020 McNair Scholar Collection

The Latinx population has now become the largest minority group in the United States (Martínez & Rhodes, 2020). However, Latinx first-generations students still fall behind non-Latinx students in educational achievement. This study seeks to examine the Latinx first-generation academic experience amidst a pandemic, with an emphasis on looking at their perceived stress related to academics, their academic self-efficacy, and their knowledge/feelings toward the institutional supports. The roles of institutional and familial supports are examined as well as the factors contributing to the educational achievement gap including language, cultural barriers, socioeconomic status, lack of funding, lack of diverse faculty, lack of …

Comparative Examination Of The Empatica E4 To Record Heart Rate Variability Metrics, Andres Rosero

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The increased accessibility of cyber technology has resulted in advancements in international communications and information sharing never seen in human history. With this new age of digital software comes the proliferation of illegal online activity and cyber terrorism. Repercussions of cyber-attacks have ranged from identity theft to leaks of classified state secrets. To combat this threat, the Department of Defense (DoD) established the Cyber Mission Force (CMF) to head operations in the interests of protecting against cyber-attacks. One of the CMF’s initial projects involves the creation of a Performance Assessment Suite (PAS), a training program designed to improve the training …

The Mystery Of Mandalas: Effects Of Coloring On Stress Reduction And Mood, Olivia Mcdougall

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Art therapy is commonly used across many different situations, as artmaking and creative expression provide many different psychological benefits. Specifically, research has found that coloring mandalas—abstract, circular designs—can reduce stress more than coloring other prints or drawing on blank paper (Curry & Kasser, 2005). However, the reason behind mandala’s stress reducing properties has yet to be entirely discovered. The present study attempted to uncover part of the mystery behind mandalas by measuring mood and stress in response to watching coloring videos. Through an online survey platform, participants were subjected to a stress inducing task and then asked to watch a …

Restortive Effects Of Meditation Apps, Kyle Hart

Honors Undergraduate Theses

We have investigated two different smartphone meditation apps to determine if they have any effects on stress and check if they are a viable tool that users can engage with to cope with stress during a work break. The dependent variables being measured include affective and cognitive restoration. The control group performed a coloring activity using a mandala figure. The experimental conditions engaged in app guided meditation through either 10% Happier or Calm. Both are health apps that are intended to help users practice a variety of mindfulness meditation exercises and help build healthy habits. This research focused on a …

Impact Of Status-Based Rejection Sensitivity On Depression And Anxiety Symptoms In Gay Men, J. Simowicz, Jedidiah Siev, P. M. Brochu

Psychology Faculty Works

Status-based rejection sensitivity refers to the anxious expectation and tendency to perceive rejection in ambiguous social scenarios based on one’s minority identification. This study evaluates the implications of sensitivity to rejection based on sexual orientation identity on negative mental health outcomes. Current minority stress models include rejection sensitivity as a factor that may contribute to adverse negative psychosocial outcomes in LGBT persons. This study evaluates the role of rejection sensitivity alongside demographically relevant predictors such as age, race, education, and level of sexuality disclosure in predicting the presence of significant depression and anxiety scores among a sample of gay men. …

Smartphones, Stress, And The Reduction Of Cognitive Resources, Jenay R. Stone

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Smartphones are a ubiquitous part of daily life for most Americans. They offer an abundance of information, connectivity, and entertainment. Previous research suggests that smartphones are also responsible for cognitive costs in educational, public, private and professional settings when in use or audibly creating stimuli in the environment. Smartphones are also linked to an automatic attenuation of cognitive resources even when not in use and merely salient (Ward, Duke, Gneezy and Bos; Journal of the Association for Consumer Research; 2, 141, 154, 2017). The purpose of the present study was to experimentally test the effect of cell phone salience …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Big, Black, And Strong : Does Identification With The Strong Black Woman Archetype Strengthen The Association Between Racism-Related Stress And Emotional Eating?, Shantel Lorraine Powell

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Despite extensive research on the adverse impact of racism-related stressors on the health and well-being of people of color (Broman, Mavaddat, & Hsu, 2000; Carter, 2007; Klonoff, Landrine, & Ullman, 1999; Noh & Kaspar, 2003; Pieterse, Carter, & Ray, 2013; Utsey & Payne, 2000), little is known about the influence of racism-related stressors on the eating behaviors of Black women. The present study extended the limited literature on this topic by examining the possible contribution of cultural attitudes associated with the Strong Black Women archetype on the relation between racism-related stressors and emotional eating behaviors.

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, …

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, …

Effort Reward Imbalance In The Nursing Profession - A Novel Way Of Gathering Data, Dorailys Fagundo

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The effort-reward imbalance model allows us to see disparity in effort and reward and how this can be a predictor for a variety of constructs. The present study seeks to gather data utilizing the ERI modal in the nursing profession. Previous research has utilized the ERI model but methods for gathering data were not quick and efficient. This study seeks to utilize a database called Glassdoor to rapidly and effectively gather data. The researchers are interested in seeing the likelihood of nurses to recommend their company to a friend based on perceived effort and rewards. The sample included a random …

The Effect Of Long-Term Stress On Hippocampus And The Involvement In The Pathophysiology Of Psychological Disorders, Suicide, And Alcohol Use Disorder, Hinza Batool Malik

Undergraduate Research Awards

The hyperactivity of the HPA axis due to long-term stress results in an abnormally high level of glucocorticoids. A limbic system structure, the hippocampus has the highest number of receptor sites for glucocorticoids. Thus, making it highly vulnerable to damage during elevated levels of glucocorticoids, through neurotoxicity and metabolic challenges. In addition, this paper largely focuses on the effects of stress on the hippocampus, e.g., changes in hippocampal volume, as a contributing factor in the psychophysiology of a myriad of mental health problems. Most disorders follow the diathesis-stress trajectory where the symptoms begin to precipitate once a major stressor is …

An Exploration Of Overparenting And College Student Ability To Manage The Stress Associated With College Life, Isabelle Creste

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There has been an increase in the level of anxiety, perceived stress, and mental health problems among college students. An examination of the contributions of parenting to these increases may help in improving college student mental health; however, research is limited in this area. This study examined the associations between overparenting, and other types of parenting including, authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting, and differentiation of self, cognitive emotion regulation, perceived stress, and state and trait anxiety. The participants were 163 undergraduate college students (74.8% identified as cisgender women, 25.2% identified as cisgender men). The participants completed questionnaires that described their …

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

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & 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 …

Effective Interventions In Reducing Caregiver Burnout In Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jenissa Rodriguez

Capstone Showcase

With the increasing number of children being diagnosed with autism there is also an increasing number of parents experiencing caregiver burnout because of this diagnosis. Experiencing burnout while caring for an individual who depends on you for quality care can have serious negative effects on the parent but also the individual who needs support. In the following literature effective interventions to reduce caregiver burnout in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder were analyzed. First, caregiver burnout in parents of children with autism was examined. Following, effective interventions such as different social support, education training, and mind-body interventions were analyzed …