Health Psychology Commons^™

Examining The Impact Of Financial Stress On Affect And Eating Behaviors, Ellen Hunt Steele

Theses and Dissertations

Economic pressure and concomitant financial stress have been associated with mental and physical health problems, conflict, and poorer education and employment outcomes. Moreover, financial stress can be seen in specific hardships (e.g., food insecurity) and lead to maladaptive attempts to regulate emotions stemming from financial stressors. Women may be more vulnerable to consequences of food insecurity and attempts to regulate emotions with eating than men. Thus, the current study examined the impact of a randomized financial stress induction on affect and snack food choice while accounting for the influence of food insecurity and gender. Participants included 269 validly responding individuals. …

Factors Associated With Eating Disorders In Men: A Systematic Review, Zoe Alsup

Psychology Capstone Projects

This systematic review sought to identify factors that are associated with men who experience anorexia or bulimia nervosa or symptoms of these disorders. Articles were included in this review if they were peer reviewed, published in or translated to English, published from 2010 to 2021, had full text accessible, included male participants, and included male participants diagnosed with anorexia and/or bulimia nervosa or who displayed symptoms of anorexia and/or bulimia nervosa. Articles were excluded if they did not meet the inclusion criteria, were a case study, interview, or literature review, or focused on a topic outside of the outcomes of …

Investigating Fruit And Vegetable Variety In A National Food Co-Op: A Brighter Bites Evaluation, Katherine G. Hearne

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

American children eat fewer fruits and vegetables (F&V) and less variety of F&V than recommended for health. Food cooperatives and other programs have become a popular way to increase F&V intake, but little is known about the variety of F&V distributed by these programs or its relationship with program attendance or child F&V intake. Brighter Bites is a national, school-based food co-op distributing rescued, donated, fresh F&V to families in low-income schools. We evaluated, for the first time, the variety of F&V Brighter Bites distributed to families in the 2018-2019 school year and the relationships between that variety and both …

Cyberchondria And Covid-19 Health Threats Related To Attentional Bias And Safety Behaviors, Jacqueline J. Charles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cyberchondria is described as excessively searching online for health information that ultimately increases worry and anxiety about one’s health (Starcevic et al., 2019). Research has demonstrated an increased attentional bias in anxious individuals for threat-related stimuli. Attentional bias for health information exacerbated by the frequent exposure to health threats during the COVID-19 pandemic may contribute to additional health-seeking behavior. The current study aimed to explore the potential relationship between COVID-19 health threats and cyberchondria level on attentional bias toward illness-related stimuli (symptom words) and the intent to perform safety behaviors while controlling for Trait Anxiety and Health Anxiety. Participants ( …

Racial Differences In Tobacco Use And Risk Factors Among Young Adults: Roles Of Expectancies And Emotion Regulation, Laurel Brockenberry

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

African Americans experience higher mortality from lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases than Caucasian Americans (Kochanek et al., 2016) despite engaging in cigarette and e-cigarette use significantly less or at comparable rates to other racial groups (CDC, 2015; Schoeborn, 2013). During adolescence, smoking prevalence is lower among African Americans than Caucasian Americans, but there is a “cross-over effect” whereby smoking rates become similar later in adulthood (Belgrave et al, 2010). The mechanisms driving this effect are poorly understood. Thus, examining motivating factors for tobacco use, such as outcome expectancies and emotion regulation, may be especially illuminating for young adult African …

Look, But Don’T Touch: Impact Of Covid-19 On The Nicu Caregiver, Rebecca C. Otwell-Dove

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Admission of an infant into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is an experience that has been associated with a variety of both positive and negative health outcomes for parent and child. While both the setting name and the admitted population alludes to a sole focus on the affected infant, what often remains underrecognized is the impact on the ones who care for the newborn long before and longer after their NICU stay. Given the recency and unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, very little research has examined the impact of COVID-19-specific stress on the experience of parents of infants …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Quality Of Life: A Mediating Role Of Physical Activity And Executive Function, Loni Parrish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ACEs have been associated with heightened risk for a range of chronic health problems, substance use, and cognition in adulthood (Center for Disease Control (CDC), 2019; Hinojosa et al., 2017). One potential protective factor is physical activity (McEwen, 2016; Wu et al., 2013). Physical activity is associated with sustaining overall health, improving mental health by reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety (Murri et al., 2019; Sharma et al., 2006; Tasci et al., 2019), and maintaining a healthy body weight and BMI (WHO, 2021). Therefore, this study examined whether barriers to physical activity, physical activity levels, and executive outcomes serve as …

Let's Get Physical: Exploring The Socioemotional Motivators Of Group Exercise For Older Adults, Tessneem S. Hasan, Alyssa R. Minton, Jason Snyder, Joseph A. Mikels

DePaul Discoveries

Approximately 75% of active adults in the U.S. do not meet the recommended levels of overall physical activity (CDC, 2021a). Given the beneficial impact of physical activity on health, an 8-week long, evidence-based group exercise program—Fit & Strong! (F&S!)—was created to improve the health of older adults (Hughes et al., 2004, 2006, 2010). Despite the clear physical benefits of F&S!, it remains unknown what motivates F&S! participants to initially participate in the program and also throughout the program. Drawing from core notions of socioemotional selectivity theory (SST; Carstensen, 2006), research has found that older adults are highly motivated to exercise …

Perceived Stress And Salivary Biomarkers In Educators: Comparison Among Three Stress Reduction Activities, Doreen Wagner, Sharon M. Pearcey

Faculty Articles

Background: The teaching profession is a potentially stressful occupation with up to 30% of all novice teachers leaving the profession and annual teacher turnover is higher when compared with turnover of all other occupations. This study investigated the effects of a one-time stress reduction activity (meditation, yoga, or aerobic exercise) in university and K-12 educators who were part of one-day seminar on Stress Reduction.

Methods: Participants (N = 26) self-selected their stress reduction activity, completed a demographic questionnaire, educator stress self-assessment tool, and visual analogue scales indicating current stress levels. Salivary cortisol and amylase levels were measured before, immediately after, …

Exploring Components For A Family-Focused Intervention For Families With A Child Diagnosed With Cancer And Other Chronic Illnesses, Nicole Kubinec

Psychology ETDs

Chronic illnesses are often life-long and affect academic performance, social development, psychological well-being, and family functioning. The broad effects of childhood chronic illnesses are often assessed using measures of child health-related quality of life (HRQL). Parent factors (parental distress, perceptions of child vulnerability, overprotection) and family factors (maintaining rituals, open communication, positive coping) have been associated with changes in child HRQL. This study sought to discover how parent and family factors were associated with child HRQL, and how such factors were perceived by families for inclusion in future interventions. Results demonstrated that parental perceptions of child vulnerability were associated with …

College Athletes’ Views On Academics: A Qualitative Assessment Of Perceptions Of Academic Success, Amanda M. Brouwer, John Johanson, Thomas Carlson

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

The primary purpose of the current study was to give “voice” to college athletes regarding their views on academics. Given their perspectives, means of promoting their academic achievement were suggested. Research describing athletes’ experiences and the impact of socio-emotional stressors on academic success, especially for those not at a Division I school, is needed. Therefore, a qualitative study exploring the academic experiences of college athletes was conducted. Twelve focus groups of college athletes (N = 62) from six teams were held. Results revealed that college athletes are motivated to achieve by external factors and see grades as an external …

Perceived Social Support And Risk Of Cyberbullying In Adolescents: A Systematic Review, Sergio A. Castaño-Pulgarín, Katy Millán, Álvaro A. Acosta Echavarría, Ciro E. Redondo Mendoza, Milton C. Cardona Parra, Jose F. Castilla Tang

The Qualitative Report

This article analyzes the main findings of studies investigating the relationship between perceived social support and cyberbullying in adolescents. We reviewed research papers published between January 2015 and January 2020, included in the Web of Science, Scopus, PUBMED, and Science Direct databases. The protocol was previously registered on the PROSPERO International Systematic Reviews database (CRD42020176938). The article follows the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews (Moher et al., 2015). Out of 1929 surveyed articles, 23 met the inclusion criteria and quality standards of scientific evidence set by Downs and Black (1998). Results reveal the types and characteristics of studies and instruments …

“Finding The Positive” In Recovery: Psychometric Properties Of A Measure Of Human Flourishing In An Alcohol Use Disorder Recovery Sample, Hannah A. Carlon

Psychology ETDs

The fields of alcohol use disorder (AUD) recovery and positive psychology have both rapidly grown in recent years, are paralleled in their philosophy and goals, but have scarcely overlapped. An important first step to applying positive psychology to addiction treatment and recovery is quantifying the extent that treatment-as-usual encourages human flourishing (i.e., holistic well-being and adequate functioning). The PERMA Profiler is a measure based on the PERMA model of flourishing, captured across five positive psychology domains (i.e., Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments), and has been validated in a wide variety of samples. The …

Pediatric Seizures: Access And Utilization Of Specialty Care And Mental Health Care, Samantha Delos Santos

Theses and Graduate Projects

Epilepsy is the leading neurological disorder among children, and requires specialized health care (Zack & Kobau, 2015). However, many patients with seizures do not receive appropriate specialized care (Begley et al., 2009; Burneo et al., 2009). This study examined the impact of health insurance type on access to and use of specialty care and mental health care among pediatric patients, ages 3-17, whose parents reported that they had experienced at least one seizure in the last year. This study was a secondary analysis of data collected in the 2011 (n = 77) and 2016 (n = 87) National Health Survey …

A Pilot Study Of A Cohort-Based Solution-Focused Wellness Group For Graduate Students Using Solution-Focused Coaching, James Beauchemin, Danya Krueger, Jennifer Newman, Paul Beitelspacher

Journal of Solution Focused Practices

Graduate students experience heightened levels of stress, compromising their well-being and predisposing them to mental health disorders. Graduate students are over six times more likely to experience depression and anxiety than the general population. Despite the presence of counseling services on college and university campuses, graduate students are less likely to access these services and more prone to utilize alternative institutional supports (i.e., faculty advisors or peer counselors). This pilot study assessed the effectiveness of a six-week solution focused wellness (SFW) group intervention with a graduate program cohort using a pre-post, mixed-methods design. A total of twenty-seven (N = 27) …

Dérivation De Règles De Prédiction Clinique Pour Dépister Les Patients Ayant Une Lombalgie Non Aiguë Manifestant Un Succès Thérapeutique Lors D’Un Programme D’Exercice De Stabilisation Lombaire, Christian Larivière, Marie-France Coutu, Sharon M. Henry, Richard Preuss, Nicolas Roy, Khalil Rabhi

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Les exercices physiques permettent de réduire la douleur et les incapacités chez les gens souffrant d’une lombalgie non aiguë (> 3-4 semaines), mais ces effets sont limités. Pour rehausser l’efficacité de ce type d’intervention, il faut déterminer quels patients répondent le mieux à chaque modalité d’exercice (arrimage patient/intervention) et pour quelles raisons (mécanismes sous-jacents). Dans la présente recherche, l’intérêt est porté à un programme d’exercices de stabilisation lombaire (PESL), une modalité active d’exercice gagnant en crédibilité et en popularité. Deux objectifs ont été poursuivis : (1) finaliser l’étape de dérivation de règles de prédiction clinique (RPC) de succès^[1] pour …

Investigating The Covid-19 Pandemic In Your Community, Tanzina Ahmed

Open Educational Resources

In this writing assignment, students will conduct research on statistics about COVID-19 in New York City and their embedded communities using free online databases from the New York City Department of Health (NYC DOH). For questions 1, 2, 3, and 4, students will conduct research on COVID-19 statistics within NYC and their specific neighborhood/community in New York City. In questions 5 and 6, students will analyze the data you have gathered while using your own knowledge of your community. A full set of instructions for accessing NYC DOH databases and a complete rubric for grading the assignment is included.

The Draw Of The Wild: How To Easily Integrate Nature Into Clinical Practice, Jason T. Duffy

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

For thousands of years many societies and people have intuitively recognized the wellness-enhancing power of the natural world as well as its ability to assist people in the construction of a sense of purpose and meaning. More recently, research emanating from the field of ecotherapy as well as other fields has begun to build empirical support for the efficacy of the natural world in promoting mental and physical health. This conceptual manuscript provides the rationale for integrating nature into clinical practice and describes flexible, concise, and easy ways for counselors to utilize ecotherapy in their work with clients, including, ironically, …

Is The Phq-9 A Unidimensional Measure Of Depression? A 58,272-Participant Study, Renzo Bianchi, Jay Verkuilen, Sharon Toker, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Markus Gerber, Elmar Brähler, Kurt Kroenke

Publications and Research

The PHQ-9 has become a measure of reference in depression research and clinical practice. However, the issue of the PHQ-9’s unidimensionality has not been fully elucidated, and the usability of the PHQ-9’s total score requires clarification. In this study, we examined the dimensionality, scalability, and monotonicity properties of the PHQ-9 as well as the scale’s total-score reliability. We did so based on exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) bifactor analysis and Mokken scale analysis (MSA). We relied on a total of 58,272 participants (63% female; Mage = 43, SDage = 13) from 29 samples involving seven different countries (e.g., Germany, the …

The Effects Of Dangerous World Beliefs On Covid-19 Preventive Behaviors In Singapore: The Moderating Role Of Public Health Communication, Su Lin Yeo, Desiree Y. Phua, Ying-Yi Hong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This research purposes to examine the role of strategic communication, specifically the effectiveness of government's crisis communication messages at the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, on disease preventive behaviors. It employed a mixed method research approach by first carrying out a content analysis of 7128 news headlines on COVID-19 to confirm our presupposition that the media may be communicating messages that the world order is being threatened. Informed by our findings that 90% of news reports were framed to suggest a dangerous world, we surveyed 453 respondents in the main study, and tested if people's beliefs in a dangerous …