Individuals expect openness in their romantic relationships, and this standard, known as the standard for openness, is the focus of this project. Currently, little empirical evidence describes what individuals do to deal with any dissatisfaction, anger, and disappointment they feel toward their partners and relationships when standards, such as that for openness, go unfulfilled (Boldero et al., 2009). Based on Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) theory of stress and coping, this project's purpose was to address limitations in existing research by exploring the stress elicited when the standard for openness goes unmet, identifying the coping strategies individuals engage in when faced with this stress, and assessing the consequences of coping efforts for individuals and their relationships over time. Individuals in newly dating relationships (N = 203) responded to weekly questionnaires over the course of six weeks. Findings from cross-sectional analyses of Week 1 data revealed that exiting and using humor partially mediated the relationship between the stress associated with unfulfilled openness standards and relational satisfaction, and escaping fully mediated the relationship between stress and relationship satisfaction. Further, exiting, modeling, escaping, and reframing partially mediated the relationship between the stress associated with unfulfilled openness standards and mental well-being. Longitudinal analyses using data from all six weeks failed to support predictions that relational satisfaction and mental well-being were related to discrepancies in the fulfillment of openness standards and stress the following week. / text

Female student-athletes are a growing population on most college campuses. While incorporated into a historically male model, their experiences and outcomes are unique. This report guides potential female student-athletes in the process of deciding to participate by providing information about the female student-athlete experience. Issues to be explored include decision-making, academics, health, and stress. Sports can be a rewarding experience despite the challenge of balancing academics with athletic commitments. / text

This study explores the use of humor among bloggers coping with cancer. Framed by health communication literature on stress and coping and literature on humor styles, I analyzed the use of humor by individuals coping with various types of cancer. Using content analysis, I investigated 600 blog posts from 85 cancer bloggers for humor use. I adapted the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ), a scale assessing four different uses of humor, into a codebook to use for content analysis within the blog posts. The different styles of humor included affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating. Individually, I tested the relationships between the style of humor a blogger used and the blogger’s gender, age, type of cancer, and point in the cancer trajectory. I also tested the relationships between the frequency of humor use within each blog post and the blogger’s gender, age, type of cancer, and point in the cancer trajectory. Every humorous remark was categorized into at least one of the four humor style categories. Overall, I found no significant relationships among the variables tested. However, each of the humor styles was used multiple times throughout the sample. This study provides future researchers with a new way to operationalize humor use based on the HSQ and with relevant examples from cancer blogs. The findings also suggest that humor is a common communicative device among those coping with cancer, and further research into how humor is used among more specific samples of cancer patients may provide more significant results. / text

The purpose of this study was to understand how individuals from African American families process the HIV/AIDS-related bereavement of a loved one. A sample of African American adults age 18 and older who experienced the loss of a loved one to HIV/AIDS-related death were interviewed for this study. Qualitative methodology was employed for data collection and thematic analysis was used to identify central themes. Due to the exploratory nature of the study, emergent themes regarding AIDS related bereavement were expected. It was postulated that African American individuals shared experiences related to HIV/AIDS-related loss. Individuals were also expected to report unique bereavement experiences. In particular, prolonged grief and internalized coping strategies were expected to impact bereavement experiences of individuals in families acutely affected by HIV/AIDS-related stigmatization. Secrecy about a loved one’s HIV/AIDS-related death was expected to impact the ability of bereaved persons to process and effectively cope with loss; results yielded evidence of protracted states of shame or blame regarding loss. The findings of this study are useful for identifying methods for targeting bereavement resources toward individuals who are underrepresented in HIV/AIDS-related intervention programs. / text

Students with learning disabilities (LDs) represent 9% of students attending college, and college administrators must comply with a large number of federal requirements outlining the provision of educational services for students with LDs, including offering support groups. Nurse-facilitated support groups, held within the university setting, could provide effective social support, increasing likelihood of college success among students with LDs. The purpose of this project was to develop a plan for implementing nurse-facilitated support groups for students with LDs within the student health services (SHS) department at a university designed to improve their coping skills on personal, social, and academic levels. Guided by the Logic Model, a plan for implementing nurse-facilitated support groups within the SHS department was developed and presented to university stakeholders. Components of the plan included a support group structure, curriculum, evaluation tools, steps for piloting the program, and a proposed timeline for implementing the program. The stakeholders acknowledged the potential benefits of initiating a program of nurse-facilitated support groups for students with LDs to assist in attaining their academic goals. However, additional analysis of the program and refining and other disabilities to assist in attaining their academic goals; however, additional analysis of the program and refining the proposed student self-evaluation tool were needed before implementing the program. Nurses in a SHS department staff are effective support group facilitators for students with LDs. This study holds the potential for positive social change by enhancing personal, social, and academic coping skills with nurse-facilitated support groups who may help students with LDs reduce their risk of experiencing burnout and enhance the likelihood of academic success.

Despite the negative psychological, emotional, relational, and physiological impact of traumatic events that often persist into adulthood (Breslau, Davis, Andreski, Peterson, 1991; Briere, 2004), some individuals may also experience posttraumatic growth (PTG) as they struggle to resolve their traumatic experiences. PTG is a process that originates from a cognitive response to cope with traumatic events, and an outcome that yields positive personal changes (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1998). Several factors are linked to the increased likelihood of PTG such as symptom severity, coping resources, and personality characteristics (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). This study examined the contributory roles of life-style themes, coping resources, trauma symptoms, and their interaction on different forms of PTG in a sample of college graduate and undergraduates. Wanting Recognition, Tension Control, Social Support, and trauma symptoms were significantly related to PTG. Significant interaction effects were revealed between Wanting Recognition, Social Support and trauma symptoms. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Even though pain is common and often chronic in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), the management of pain is complicated and frequently woefully inadequate. Many factors influence the way PLWHA experience and communicate their pain. These factors can be categorized as both physiological and emotional. PLWHA often resort to self-care activities to control their pain because of the pervasive lack of adequate pain management by health care providers. The purposes of this study were to increase understanding of the pain management experiences in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) who report chronic pain and to elucidate the factors that influence this experience. Recruitment was conducted at 3 locations in Central Texas, USA; serving over 3,000 clients/year. A cross-sectional descriptive design and open-ended questions were used to explore PLWHA experiences in reporting chronic pain needs for at least 3 months and to describe pain management choices (self-care and/or seeking care activities) and communication with health care providers. Variables of interest were assessed with paper-pencil surveys (HIV-Self Efficacy Questionnaire, Coping Inventory for Pain in Persons Living with HIV/AIDS and Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire) and open-ended questions. Interviews ranged from 7-35 minutes each. One hundred PLWHA participated in the study, 53% African-American, 21% Hispanic and 25% Caucasian. They were primarily male (66%), 34% female, reported a mean age of 48 years and a mean of 13 years living with HIV. 83% of the participants rated their pain as consistently moderate to high levels; 82% rated they are likely to “tolerate the pain.” A majority of the participants (63%) reported they exercise or walk as a way of self-managing their pain. There was a significant association between use of pain management choices (self-care and/or seeking care activities) and confidence in performing life activities (r= 0.344, p<0.05). These findings indicate a need for health care providers to move beyond quantitative measures for this complex problem. Clinicians can use this information to understand the coping strategies used by PLWHA to manage pain. Future implications will be to develop appropriate pain management approaches (behavioral and pharmacological) for health care providers to improve control of chronic pain in PLWHA. Longitudinal studies are needed to explore the causative relationships between pain management choices (self-care and/or seeking care activities) and functional outcomes in PLWHA. / text

Elementary school students are confronted with a variety of everyday challenges ranging from comprehension obstacles to interpersonal conflict. Learning to cope effectively with moments of tension is an important part of a child's education because adaptation to stress is likely to influence academic and developmental success. However, empirical gaps exist with respect to stress and coping. There is a general lack of research concerned with stress and coping in educational settings, and what has been published focuses on adolescent and adult populations rather than children. Additionally, the majority of research addresses major life stress (e.g., traumatic events) rather than the everyday stress that students encounter at school. This dissertation is an effort to address these concerns. Comprised of three studies, the project examines the stress that students in middle childhood (grades 3-5) commonly experience at school, how students cope with stress at school, and what educators might do to help students develop adaptive coping strategies. Results illustrate the daily school stress in students, need for students to learn how to manage academic and peer problems, and role of the teacher in coping development. Concluding thoughts and a research agenda for future work are included.

Interaction analyses of challenge episodes were used to investigate the role of student coping behavior in their socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL) and emotion during small group activities. Two groups each of third grade and fifth grade students were audio-recorded as they completed three fraction activities during their math class. Initial analysis of group recordings using the Group Behavior Checklist observation system identified points in the group activity were students struggled to complete the task. Next, analyses of group member interactions were completed to (a) determine if challenges were academic or social in nature, (b) identify student challenge management and coping strategies, and (c) determine how these strategies related to group SSRL and academic achievement. Results revealed that the sources of challenge episodes for this sample were academic in nature. However, academic challenges were exacerbated by the social complexities of working with others. Group management and coping strategies that focused members' attention on either negative academic emotions or avoiding negative academic emotions were related to relatively low group academic achievement. Group management strategies that focused students' attention on the task and fostered SSRL behaviors such as joint attention, shared problem-solving, and positive emotion were related to relatively moderate to high group academic achievement. This study demonstrates the necessity of investigating both academic and affective factors when considering students' socially shared regulation of learning during small group activities where the expectation is that students will work collaboratively.

Bakgrund: Stroke är den vanligaste orsaken till funktionsnedsättning i Sverige och den diagnos som kräver flest vårddagar i hemmet. Antalet särskilda boende- och sjukhusplatser har minskat på grund av besparingsskäl, vilket har lett till att behov av vård i hemmet har ökat.  År 2000 vårdade cirka 83 000 personer sina anhöriga hemma. Anpassningen till den nya livssituationen är inte problemfri, varken för den drabbade eller för anhöriga som vårdare. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att belysa anhörigas upplevelser av att vårda strokedrabbade och deras upplevelser av stöd från sjukvården. Metod: Systematisk litteraturstudie av kvalitativa artiklar vilka analyserades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Anhöriga upplevde en förändrad livsvärld vid stroke. Stroke kom som en chock och de blev tvungna att anpassa sig genom att omstrukturera sina liv, förändra relationer, ta ökat ansvar, hitta strategier för att orka vårda och hämta kraft. Framtiden var oviss och beroende på hur sjukdomen utvecklades. Anhöriga upplevde bristande information och stöd från sjukvården. Slutsats: Anhöriga mår psykiskt dåligt och en effektivare hjälp från sjukvården var önskvärt. Anhöriga ville få information om en strokes fysiska/psykiska effekter, behandlingsalternativ och vilka rättigheter den sjuke och anhörige har. Stöd efterfrågas i form av avlastning och kontinuitet i vården.