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Food insecurity plagues college students and is associated with negative health and academic outcomes. The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence of food insecurity, its determinants, and food intake outcomes associated with students found to have low food security. A cross-sectional study design of Mississippi university students completed online surveys that included socio-demographic, Adult Food Security questions, coping strategies, and money expenditures. Descriptive, correlation, and chi-square analyses determined how student characteristics were associated with food security. A total of 246 (41.3%) students were food insecure. Significant variables associated with food insecurity were African American or other minority, low GPA, use of public transportation, do not own a car, reported fair or poor perceived health status, higher money expenditure scores, and lower coping strategy scores. Additional research and institutional strategies are needed to close the gap of food insecurity among this population.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been studied for the last two decades and are associated with a large number of mental health problems. However, existing research has yet to explore the underlying mechanisms that might affect the relationship between ACEs and mental health outcomes, particularly in terms of contextual influence. The present study examined the individual and conjoint effects of ACEs, coping, and campus climate on depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, exploring the moderating effects of coping and campus climate among a diverse sample of young adults. In addition to that, racial/ethnic identity and gender/sexual identity were tested as a potential moderator in the relationship among ACEs, coping strategies, campus climate and mental health outcomes, in which the relationship was hypothesized to be different depending on one’s identity. Data for this study were collected from 423 college students who completed a set of questionnaires. The survey assessed socio-demographic variables, ACEs, coping strategies, campus climate, depressive, and PTSD symptoms. By examining the effects of ACEs, campus climate, coping, and individual identity on mental health outcomes simultaneously, the study results suggest that coping and campus climate moderate the relationship between ACEs and PTSD, and it varies depending on individual identity. The findings highlight the importance of culturally sensitive and appropriate interventions and services for diverse college students who are at elevated risk for the development of mental health problems.

Trots att de väletablerade begreppen Mening i livet (MIL) och Känsla av sammanhang (KASAM) är snarlika saknas forskning kring sambanden sinsemellan. Studiens syfte var att explorativt undersöka dessa samband samt om de korrelerar olika till motivation och coping. I studien ingick 191 universitetsstudenter varav 116 kvinnor. Enkäten utgjordes av ett antal bakgrundsvariabler och 4 skalor. Analysen visade att hanterbarhet som enskild komponent hos KASAM korrelerade svagast med samtliga MIL-komponenter samt att MIL förklarade 45% av variationen i inre motivation jämfört med KASAM som förklarade 26%. Analysen visade även att MIL förklarade en större del av konstruktiva copingstrategier och KASAM en större del av destruktiva strategier där hanterbarhet var en central komponent. MIL ser ut att omfatta en bredare dimension av motivation och coping men saknar en del aspekter som komponenten hanterbarhet innefattar såsom resurser för att hantera livets utmaningar. Detta tyder på att skalorna till viss del har olika användningsområden.

Background: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder in which the main symptoms are abdominal pain or discomfort combined with diarrhoea and/or constipation. Personal petitionary prayer – asking God for help and support when facing problems in life – is among the most common forms of prayer and can be viewed as a coping strategy when managing health problems. Previous research on the effects of personal petitionary prayer has showed conflicting findings and there are indications that prayer can be associated with more problems when facing stressful somatic problems such as chronic pain in Swedish settings rather than the opposite and expected benefits from praying. The present master-thesis was informed by the coping theory by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) and a theoretical perspective of prayer as a religious coping strategy. Aims: The aim was to investigate associations between personal petitionary prayer as a coping strategy and IBS symptoms, quality of life and anxiety. A second aim was to investigate if use of prayer would change 10 weeks later and if IBS symptoms at baseline could predict prayer assessed 10 weeks later.   Methods: The data in this master-thesis were collected in association with a treatment trial on internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for IBS (Ljótsson et al., 2010). Data were derived from all 85 self-selected participants who had been included in the treatment trial. The three-item self-report measure of prayer which is  part of  the Coping Strategies Questionnaire for pain was used. I also included data on self-report measures of IBS symptoms and IBS-related quality of life and anxiety, and finally a measure of symptoms of depression. The sample included were mainly women (85%), with some form of higher education (64%) and finally fairly young (Mean age 34.6 years). Data on prayer have not been published before. 10 week follow-up data were available for 37 participants.  Results: Statistically significant cross-sectional correlations were found between the prayer scale score and IBS-related quality of life (r =-.44, p<.01) and with gastrointestinal symptom-specific anxiety (r=.42, p<.01), which indicates that more use of prayer is associated with  lower quality of life and more anxiety symptoms. Regression analyses entering prayer in competition with the other variables as predictors showed that prayer was more consistently associated with IBS-related quality of life which also predicted prayer. Use of prayer did not change over the 10-week period and prayer at 10 weeks could not be predicted. Interpretation: In line with some previous research personal petitionary prayer can be associated with more rather than less problems with health. It is important to note that personal prayer is one form of prayer and that long term effects may show different results. Finally, the role of religious affiliation and cultural aspects need to be considered in future research.

As the nation becomes more multicultural, more research has inquired into the identity development of diverse individuals through their racial identity. The presence of racism and microaggressions presents an interesting obstacle in underrepresented groups’ identity development. Microaggressions, which are ambiguous slights toward a member of a minority group, have become more prevalent in society and have caused a shift in how victims of these aggressions cope and integrate these experiences into their racial identity. Much research has focused on how these daily insults affect health in terms of lower life expectancy, however there is a lack of research regarding how individuals cope with these experiences and incorporate them into their racial identity. The purpose of this study is to determine how individuals cope and grow in their racial identity through the examination of racism narratives. Because narrative storytelling is a powerful factor in individuals’ identity development, this study analyzed 46 African American and Hispanic American racism narratives on 4 narrative constructs: elaboration, coping, effects of racism, and growth. These narrative constructs were coded and correlated with the following questionnaires: Bicultural Integration Scale, the Cross Ethnic /Racial Identity scale, and the Identity Distress Scale. Results found that individuals who showed more depth, growth, and positive coping in their narratives had more positive perceptions of their racial identity and more mature identity development. These findings indicate the importance of narrating traumatic racial experiences for African American and Hispanic American students as they cope with and grow from their racist experiences.

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