Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
Browse
3 results
Search Results
Item A Social Cognitive Approach to Coping with Acculturative Stress in International Students(2015) Ezeofor, Ijeoma; Lent, Robert W; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present study employed a cross-sectional design to test a model of coping with acculturative stress in an international student sample. Drawing from Lent’s (2004) social cognitive model of restorative well-being, several direct and mediated paths were hypothesized to predict (negatively) acculturative stress and (positively) life satisfaction. Behavioral acculturation and behavioral enculturation (Kim & Omizo, 2006) were also examined as predictors of coping with acculturative stress among international students. Using a self-report survey, participants’ ratings of acculturative stress, life satisfaction, social support, behavioral acculturation, behavioral enculturation, and coping self-efficacy were assessed. The results revealed that the variables of the model explained 16% of the variance in acculturative stress and 27% of the variance in life satisfaction. A final model, including the use of modification indices, provided good fit to the data. Findings also suggested that coping self-efficacy was a direct predictor of acculturative stress, and that behavioral acculturation and coping self-efficacy were direct predictors of students’ life satisfaction. Limitations, future research, and practical implications are discussed.Item Cultural and Social Cognitive Predictors of Academic Satisfaction in Southeast Asian American College Students(2016) Truong, Nancy N.; Miller, Matthew J; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the predictive utility of Lent’s (2004) social cognitive model of well-being in the context of academic satisfaction with a sample of Southeast Asian American college students using a cross-sectional design. Path analysis was used to examine the role of perceived parental trauma, perceived parental acculturative stress, intergenerational family conflict, and social cognitive predictors to academic satisfaction. Participants were 111 Southeast Asian American and 111 East Asian American college students who completed online measures. Contrary to expectations, none of the contextual cultural variables were significant predictors of academic satisfaction. Also contrary to expectations, academic support and self-efficacy were not directly linked to academic satisfaction and outcome expectation was not linked to goal progress. Other social cognitive predictors were related directly and indirectly to academic satisfaction, consistent with prior research. Limitations and implications for future research and practice are addressed.Item DOES THE ACCULTURATION OF INTERNATONAL STUDENT THERAPISTS PREDICT THE PROCESS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH U.S. CLIENTS? AN EXPLORATORY STUDY.(2015) Perez Rojas, Andres Eduardo; Gelso, Charles J.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A large body of research highlights the salience of acculturation to the psychosocial functioning of international students, and a great deal of research suggests that the person of the therapist is important for the process of psychotherapy. Yet very little research has examined whether and how acculturation factors influence the person of the international student therapist and, in turn, his or her psychotherapy work with U.S. clients. In the present study, self-report data was gathered from 123 international student therapists enrolled in programs accredited by the American Psychological Association and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs across the U.S. Two factors reflecting international student therapists’ acculturation experiences (acculturative stress and cultural distance) were examined as potential predictors of four variables germane to the participants’ therapy work (real relationship, working alliance, session quality, and session depth) with their most recent U.S. client. Contrary to what was hypothesized, acculturative stress and cultural distance were unrelated to the psychotherapy process variables. Post-hoc analyses revealed one significant interaction, which suggested that acculturative stress interacted with self-reported English fluency to predict session depth among international student therapists for whom English is a second language (ESL). Specifically, when ESL student therapists were more fluent in English, their acculturative stress was positively related to their session depth ratings, whereas acculturative stress and depth were unrelated at lower levels of English fluency. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed along with recommendations for future study.