Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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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
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Item Reciprocal Relations Between Perceived Stress and Literacy Achievement in School-Age Children Over Time(2021) Babaturk, Leyla; O'Neal, Colleen R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Stress has a negative impact on academic achievement, but it is unclear whether achievement impacts stress. Most stress research utilizes a unidirectional design (e.g., stress affects achievement). Recent research has begun to examine cross-lagged models in which social-emotional variables and achievement affect one another; however, associations have typically been found at the between-person level of analysis. In contrast, within-person effects may provide information about the state- or trait-like nature of an individual’s, versus a group’s (between-person effects), growth over time. This short-term longitudinal study examined the direction of relations between the social-emotional variable of perceived stress and literacy among diverse elementary students. In addition, this study was the first to examine stress-literacy achievement relations at both the between-person and within-person levels. Participants included upper elementary students (N = 397; Mage = 9.61; 56% female; 57% Dual Language Learners; 12% Black, 6% Asian, 30% Latinx, 7% Multiracial; 43% White) from three schools. Measures were collected at three timepoints over four months, including student-reported perceived stress (two factors: stress-coping and stress-distress) and a literacy achievement performance task (Test of Silent Reading Efficiency and Comprehension, TOSREC). Latent variable path analyses revealed that stress-coping was a significant predictor of later literacy achievement. Reverse relations also held true with literacy achievement as a negative predictor of later Time 2 stress-distress, and a positive predictor of later Time 2 coping, when previous stress was not a control. In contrast, no significant stress-literacy achievement relations (i.e., direct, reverse, or cross-lagged) were found when a latent curve model was used at the residual level, which suggests that the relations between stress and literacy achievement were more trait-based than state-based for students across a short period of time. Results are discussed in the context of reciprocal and between-person versus within-person mechanisms of change between stress and literacy achievement.Item EMOTIONS AND COPING IN THE CONTEXT OF TEACHING: REFLECTIONS OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS(2021) Briody, Jill Margaret; Teglasi, Hedwig; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Teaching is an emotional roller coaster. Not enough pre-service teachers are prepared for the daily barrage of emotions they will experience when they enter the professional world or for the critical need they will have to effectively manage those emotions. Limited awareness of the role of emotions and management thereof may lead to reduced effectiveness in the classroom and higher rates of burnout. The current mixed methods study explored how pre-service teachers from an elementary education undergraduate program at a large Mid-Atlantic public University think about their emotions and the management of those emotions in the context of teaching. Emotions are a difficult construct to accurately capture and research often relies on self-report measures to do so. In addition to self-report measures, this study employed narratives, about significant teaching experiences to examine more deeply pre-service teachers’ emotions, the situations that elicit those emotions, and the management of those emotions through coping. Results indicated that pre-service teachers reflect on a range of emotions, with 95% mentioning negative emotions when writing about a classroom experience and 96% mentioning positive emotions. The most frequently used category of emotion words was “fear,” by almost 70% of participants. Furthermore, almost 60% of pre-service teachers agreed that they regularly experience waves of strong feelings about their teaching experience, when responding to items on the Impact of Event Scale-Adapted. Yet almost 60% of pre-service teachers described coping that was coded as unrealistic or non-coping in at least one of their narratives. While almost all pre-service teachers included emotions in writing about significant teaching experiences, very few reported emotions or coping as a concern when asked explicitly what they were worried about. Among the situations that elicited the most negative emotions and/or were reported as most worrisome were the shift in responsibility from mentor teacher to pre-service teacher, lesson planning, time management, individual student social-emotional well-being, and whole class behavior/classroom management. The current study illustrated the importance of using multiple methods to capture the complexities of multifaceted constructs like emotions and coping. Implications for pre-service teachers, educator preparation programs, and researchers are discussed.Item Identity Conflict Among Religious Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals: The Role of Coping Strategies on Psychological Distress(2021) Yeung, Jeffrey Garrick; Lent, Robert W; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Sexual minority people experience more negative physical and mental health compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people who also identify as religious and spiritual may experience additional negative health outcomes especially in the case that their religious and spiritual values, beliefs, and practices come into conflict with their sexual minority identity. Applying minority stress theory (Meyer, 2003) and the integrative psychological mediation model (Hatzenbuehler, 2009), the present study takes an intersectionality approach (Crenshaw,1989) that examines the relationship between LGB and religious identity conflict and psychological distress and whether religious coping and discrimination-based (i.e., internalization and detachment) coping strategies meditate this link. Participants consisted of 469 religious LGB Christian adults in the United States who took an online survey. Results from a parallel multiple mediator analysis (Hayes, 2018) revealed that religious LGB identity conflict was indirectly related to more psychological distress via internalization coping, detachment coping, and negative religious coping. Unexpectedly, positive religious coping was not significantly related to the study variables, nor did it mediate the identity conflict and psychological distress link. Findings provide evidence for integration and application of intersectionality, minority stress, and psychological mediation theories to examine intersectional identity conflict between one’s LGB and religious identity, identity-specific coping meditators, and psychological distress. A discussion of the study results, limitations, and implications for future research and practice follows.Item “STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM, NOW WE’RE…WHERE?”” A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF STRESS AND COPING AMONG HIGHLY EDUCATED BLACK WOMEN(2021) Ellick, Kecia Lurie; Lewin, Amy B; Roy, Kevin M; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Rationale: Black women suffer disproportionate rates of stress-related diseases including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, maternal mortality, and depression. Education is promoted as a protective factor against these outcomes. An increasing number of Black women are leveraging advanced degrees to secure leadership positions in education, law, science, and technology. Yet, highly educated, middle-class Black women experience the same deleterious health outcomes, at the same rates, as Black women living in poverty. This suggests that neither education nor its correlates protect Black women from harmful outcomes. It further suggests that, for Black women, the cost of social mobility afforded by advanced education may result in diminishing returns by reproducing and reinforcing social inequalities that inform and exacerbate negative experiences.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of highly educated Black women during their prime work, partnering, and reproductive years. This study examined the strategies that highly educated Black women employed to cope with stressors perceived while navigating, negotiating, and performing multiple roles, social identities, and responsibilities in their personal and professional lives. Methods: Data was collected from a sample of Black, middle-class women living in Georgia, ages 28 - 49, with doctorate degrees (n = 24, Mage = 40.2) via in-person, semi-structured interviews. Following a constructivist grounded theory approach, a triadic scheme of open, axial, and selective coding will be performed to uncover emergent themes from women’s narratives. Findings: Evaluation of the data revealed three central themes that serve as the main findings of this study and answer the study questions about how highly educated Black women experience and cope with stress: 1) redefining of the strong Black woman, 2) prioritization of self-care practices and, 3) unapologetic authenticity. Discussion: This study explored the heterogeneity of Black women and contributes to the body literature focused on the interactive effects of race, gender, and class. It provides empirical data on the ways in which Black women experience, perceive, and respond to stress and highlights the ways in which Black women take proactive approaches to protect their health and well-being.Item Exploring Predictors of Military Spouses’ Comfort Seeking Military-Provided Counseling Services(2017) Brown, Christye Yvonne; Beck, Kenneth; Zanjani, Faika; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Over 1.2 million (approximately half) of the service members deployed in support of the Global War on Terror were married at the time of their last deployment (Department of Defense, 2013). Data from the study of military and veteran families suggests that both stress and the process of coping with or overcoming exposure to adversity or stress resonate across the family system (Meredith L. S., et al., 2011), and that the impact of war and its consequences are experienced by partners and families in addition to service members (Lester, Blair, Saltzman, & Klosinski, 2013). The purpose of this study was to determine predictors of spouses' comfort in seeking military-provided counseling services when service members are deployed, by examining spousal coping behaviors, mental health status, and social support and demographics (rank and gender), as reported from the 2012 Active Duty Spouses Survey (ADSS). Analyzing survey data from 10,574 participants, we determined that 82.5% of the participants had spouses who were deployed for more than 30 consecutive days, and 64.3% of the participants felt comfortable using military-provided services for counseling. Statistically significant predictors of comfort-seeking, military-provided counseling services included positive coping behaviors, mental health status, social support, and the rank of the spouse’s partner. Spouses of officers were less likely to feel comfortable using military-provided services for counseling compared to spouses of enlisted service members. The level of psychological stress experienced by the spouses correlated with all predictors of comfort seeking, military-provided services for counseling. The results were consistent with previous studies on the predictors and outcomes of psychological stress among military spouses, and supported the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping. The results have practical significance because they will help planners tailor programs to optimize the uptake of counseling services for military spouses who are in need. We recommend that future research incorporate measures of the service members’ extended deployments in combat zones to determine if extended combat-related deployment predicts spouses’ comfort seeking military-provided services for counseling. Qualitative research may also be useful to provide more insight into why some military spouses feel comfortable using military-provided services for counseling while others do not.Item A Feminist Perspective on Coping with Interpersonal Stress in Chronic Disease(2016) Reeves, Elizabeth; Hoffman, Mary Ann; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present study used a feminist framework to better understand how women with chronic disease cope with interpersonal, disease-related stressors. Specifically, it examined how gender-related stress, including traits (e.g., unmitigated communion) and relationship schemas (e.g., self-silencing) impact adjustment among women with Celiac Disease, and whether gendered coping processes, such as emotional approach coping, play a mediating or moderating role. Data was collected from 344 women with Celiac Disease through an online survey. Results demonstrate the importance of gender-related stress for psychological adjustment to CD among women. Findings suggest that although emotional approach coping may be a beneficial strategy when managing disease-related interpersonal stress, other forms of coping requiring interpersonal agency may be more important. Future research should investigate relationships between gender-related stress and problem-focused coping while considering the influence of disease-related factors such as time since diagnosis, symptom severity and symptom frequency.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 COPING WITH MULTIPLE STRESSORS: A CLOSER LOOK AT PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AMONG RACIAL MINORITIES(2015) Yang, Minji; Miller, Matthew J; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined a comprehensive stress and coping model in a sample of 414 racial minority participants in the U.S. Specifically, this study looked at main effects: a) racism-related stress, b) financial stress, c) problem-solving coping, d) avoidance coping and interaction effects: e) racism-related stress and financial stress, f) racism-related stress and problem-solving, g) racism-related stress and avoidance coping, h) financial stress and problem-solving coping, and i) financial stress and avoidance coping in relation to psychological distress in a comprehensive model. A latent variable path analysis of the comprehensive model and post-hoc latent variable path analyses were conducted after diving the larger model into three smaller models. The results showed that racism-related stress, financial stress, and avoidance coping were significant predictors of psychological distress. Moreover, problem-solving coping worked as a significant moderator and stress-buffer between racism-related stress and psychological distress. An extensive literature review of conceptual and methodological elements of the study constructs are presented. Limitations of this study as well as future directions in research and clinical practice are also included.Item Work-Family Experiences Among Employed Mothers(2011) Ganginis Del Pino, Heather Victoria; O'Brien, Karen M.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to extend knowledge regarding the predictors and outcomes associated with work-family conflict and work-family enrichment with a sample of employed mothers. Specifically, grounded in the work of Greenhaus and Powell (2006), this study examined the extent to which employed mothers' personality (neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), styles of coping, and employer sensitivity were predictive of work-family conflict (work-to-family and family-to-work), and work-family enrichment (work-to-family and family-to-work), and how these constructs related to psychological functioning (i.e., well-being and depression), satisfaction with life/love (i.e., life and relationship satisfaction), and work satisfaction. Participants included 305 employed mothers. We tested the hypothesis that the indirect effects model would be a better fit to the data than the direct and indirect effects model, which was not supported. The direct and indirect effects model, after modifications (correlated uniqueness terms), was a better fit to the data. Directions for future research and the limitations of this study are discussed.Item The Prevalence and Role of Avoidance Coping Methods for Latinos in the United States(2009) Stevenson, Tiffani Debra; Leslie, Leigh A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Current research concerning Latinos in the United States has indicated that they are at a higher risk for mental illness (e.g., PTSD) than other racial/ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to understand the possible function a culturally normative coping style plays in the occurrence of depression for Latinos when compared to other racial/ethnic groups. The prevalence of avoidance coping methods and the relationship of depression and avoidance coping was examined for a sample (N=429) of Latino (n=129) White (n=150) and Black (n=150) clients. Results indicated that the frequency with which Latinos engaged in avoidance coping was no different than other groups. However, Black participants were significantly more likely to use avoidance coping that White participants. Furthermore, the use of defensive avoidance coping was linked to high depression; however there was no race/ethnicity by avoidance coping interaction. The empirical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.