Objective: Suicide risk is a significant public health concern for college students and may be exacerbated by hopelessness resulting from negative life events (NLE), yet may be ameliorated by self-compassion. We examined the mediating role of hopelessness in the relation between NLE and suicidal behavior, and the moderating influence of self-compassion on all model paths. Participants: Participants were 338 undergraduates (89% white; 67% female). Data were collected from December 2014 to December 2015. Methods: Participants completed the Life Events Checklist for College Students, Beck Hopelessness Inventory, Self-Compassion Scale, and Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire–Revised. Results: Negative life events were related to greater hopelessness and, in turn, to more suicidal behavior, yet self-compassion attenuated this effect. Conclusions: Self-compassion may buffer the NLE–hopelessness linkage, thereby reducing suicide risk among college students. Therapeutic promotion of self-compassion, and reduction of hopelessness, may be important suicide prevention strategies on college campuses.

Objective: Suicide risk is a significant public health concern for college students and may be exacerbated by hopelessness resulting from negative life events (NLE), yet may be ameliorated by self-compassion. We examined the mediating role of hopelessness in the relation between NLE and suicidal behavior, and the moderating influence of self-compassion on all model paths. Participants: Participants were 338 undergraduates (89% white; 67% female). Data were collected from December 2014 to December 2015. Methods: Participants completed the Life Events Checklist for College Students, Beck Hopelessness Inventory, Self-Compassion Scale, and Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire–Revised. Results: Negative life events were related to greater hopelessness and, in turn, to more suicidal behavior, yet self-compassion attenuated this effect. Conclusions: Self-compassion may buffer the NLE–hopelessness linkage, thereby reducing suicide risk among college students. Therapeutic promotion of self-compassion, and reduction of hopelessness, may be important suicide prevention strategies on college campuses.

A life event is as an occurrence that involves a subsequent change in the life pattern of an individual (Holmes & Rahe, 1967). The current study investigated whether exposure to life events over the past year influenced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis function in healthy children and adolescents, and explored whether sex, age, behavioural inhibition, trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, perceived parental bonding, and parental history of anxiety moderated this relationship. The sample included 147 healthy children and adolescents. Participants were administered Coddington’s Life Events Scale (CLES) and salivary cortisol was collected for the determination of the cortisol awakening response (CAR), diurnal cortisol, and cortisol reactivity to a laboratory stressor. Separate linear regression models were conducted for each cortisol profile. Results revealed that life events significantly predicted total CAR output, diurnal cortisol response, and cortisol reactivity to a laboratory stressor. Further, behavioural inhibition, trait anxiety, not having a parental history of anxiety, and paternal caring positively moderated some of the relationships between life events and cortisol profiles. Considering the physiological and psychological effects of early exposure to stress, this study is significant in understanding the impact of life events to improve the health of children and adolescents.

The current study examined the relationships between Major Depressive Disorder, negative life events, perceived parenting style, perceived family environment and Disruptive Behavior Disorders, specifically Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, in adolescent participants, (N = 381). Results indicated that those factors, with the exception of authoritarian parenting, correlated positively with symptoms consistent with Disruptive Behavior Disorders. In addition, the overall effect of those factors predicted symptoms consistent with Disruptive Behavior Disorders more strongly than each risk factor in isolation. In conclusion, results indicated that negative life events and symptoms consistent with Major Depressive Disorder mediated the effects of perceived parenting and perceived family environment on symptoms consistent with Disruptive Behavior Disorders.

We analyze data from the South African Stress and Health Study, a nationally representative in-person psychiatric epidemiologic survey of 4,351 adults conducted as part of the World Mental Health Survey Initiative between January 2002 and June 2004. All blacks (Africans, Coloreds, and Indians) initially report higher levels of non-specific distress and anger/hostility than whites. Access to socioeconomic resources helps explain differences in non-specific distress between Coloreds and whites and Indians and whites. However, only when social stressors are considered do we find few differences in psychological distress (i.e., non-specific distress and anger/hostility) between Africans and whites. In addition, self-esteem and mastery have independent effects on non-specific distress and anger/hostility, but differences between Coloreds and whites in feelings of anger/hostility are not completely explained by self-esteem and mastery. The findings contribute to the international body of work on social stress theory, challenge underlying assumptions of the minority status perspective, and raise a series of questions regarding mental health disparities among South Africans.

In this applied microeconomics dissertation, we study the effect of religiosity and life events on risk preferences and how happiness affect altruism. We begin with the first chapter by examining the relationship between high-risk health behavior and religiosity. Religious beliefs can impact an individual's behavior, including their future health. The 2021 CDC analyses shows that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are still common, with an estimated 1 in 5 people in the US having an STI, and 13% of persons in the US with age 12 years old and above consuming any illicit drugs. We estimate the effect of religiosity on high-risk health behavior using panel data from the General Social Survey and construct a high-risk health behavior index using the CDC high-risk behaviors. The religiosity index was developed by combining religiosity dimensions such as religious service attendance, prayer frequency, and religious affiliation. Ordered probit was performed to test the relationship between high-risk behavior and religiosity. The result indicates that religiosity is negatively associated with high-risk health behavior and is statistically significant. We confirmed that religious people are less likely to be involved in risky behaviors, especially for Catholics. We also find that individuals who switch religion are more likely to engage in high-risk health behaviors. In the second chapter, we examined the relationship between health and happiness and how happiness impacts altruism. The previous economics literature has shown that altruism can create a warm glow or cause happiness; we tested instead whether happy people are more altruistic. Using data from the General Social Survey (GSS) covering the period of 2002, 2004, 2012, and 2014, we employed a two-stage least square approach and performed OLS and ordered probit regression. We use health as an instrumental variable for happiness. Overall, the results indicate that happiness is associated with volunteer work and giving to charity and provide a basis for policy development to focus on promoting factors that contribute to happiness and wellbeing in order to foster pro-social behavior such as volunteering and donation to charity. Lastly, on the third chapter, we investigate how life events affect risk aversion using the German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP) Data. Our fixed effects estimation suggests that experiencing childbirth and losing parents decrease individuals' risk-taking propensity, while getting separated from a spouse or partner increases the willingness to take risks. We also find that changing jobs increases the willingness to take risks, and individuals who become self-employed tend to take more risks. Furthermore, we examine the average treatment effect on the treated (ATET) and find that for family-related events that are relatively beyond control, such as experiencing childbirth or the death of a child, parent, or spouse or partner, people tend to become more risk-averse. On the other hand, people tend to become less risk-averse for circumstances that are relatively within control, such getting married, separated, and divorced.

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Drawing from the meta-construct model of cognition (Ingram, 1984; Ingram & Kendall, 1986), the goal of the present study was to examine whether the structural (i.e., self-complexity; SC, Linville, 1985) and propositional components of schemas (dysfunctional attitudes; DAS, Weissman & Beck, 1978), independently and in interaction with each other and stressors, lead to changes in depressive symptoms. The prediction was that if negative self-attributes across different self-aspects in a specific domain, interpersonal or achievement, are highly distinct (i.e., high negative SC) or if positive self-attributes across different aspects of self are redundant (i.e., low positive SC), then the DAS would be more likely to lead to higher levels of depression when domain-congruent stressors occur. To test the main effect, two-way interaction, and three-way interaction hypotheses, the present study used a two month longitudinal design involving three assessment periods, separated by one month. At the baseline, a total of 189 students participated in the study. Of these students, 163 and 121 students participated in the first and second follow-ups, respectively. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine two-way and three-way interactions. Results showed strong support for the predictive power of negative SC with respect to depressive symptomatology. The DAS, on the contrary, was a concurrent factor related to depressive symptoms. Further, the present study did not provide supportive evidence for the diathesis-stress model of depression. Although contradicting expectations, the pattern of relationships between interpersonal negative SC, DAS, distal stressors suggested promising venues for future research. / Ph. D.

Evidências científicas trazem importantes associações entre a vivência de eventos estressores por gestantes e prejuízos a saúde mental materna. Identifica ainda que tal exposição possa estar relacionada ao aumento de consumo de álcool e tabaco por mulheres. Visto os prejuízos para a saúde materna relacionada a esta vivência, este estudo teve por objetivo analisar a relação entre a ocorrência de eventos estressores, morbidade psiquiátrica e consumo de álcool e tabaco em mulheres no terceiro trimestre gestacional. Trata-se de um estudo epidemiológico clínico, observacional, transversal, sobre amostra de 449 gestantes de uma maternidade pública na cidade de Ribeirão Preto-SP. Os instrumentos de coleta foram: um questionário para obtenção de dados sócio-demográficos, relato de uso de tabaco, Questionário de Morbidade Psiquiátrica de Adultos (QMPA) e entrevista para eventos recentes de vida (IRLE). Para avaliação do consumo de álcool foi utilizado o instrumento T-ACE (Tolerance, Annoyed, Cut-down, Eye-Opener) e um questionário para avaliação segundo critérios de pesquisa da CID-10 para uso nocivo ou síndrome de dependência. Os eventos estressores receberam três tipos de análises: isolados, agrupados em categorias e através da somatória total. Os resultados demonstraram que todas as participantes reportaram ter vivenciado algum evento estressor durante o período avaliado (µ = 5; dp = 2,2; min = 1, máx = 14) com destaque para a categoria saúde (99,1%). Quanto aos eventos estressores específicos, a gravidez indesejada (60,5%; n = 272) e dificuldade financeira média (31,8%; n = 143) foram os mais freqüentes. O primeiro evento estressor recebeu elevado impacto de estresse, 97 gestantes referiram estresse alto ou acentuado, 128 estresse baixo ou moderado e apenas 47 nenhum estresse. A somatória total de eventos estressores (p< 0,001) e as categorias Educação, Finanças, Aspectos legais, Migração e Trabalho apresentaram correlação estatística significante em relação à morbidade psiquiátrica (p< 0,001). Os eventos dificuldade financeira média ou grande e brigas com familiares foram cerca de 3,5 vezes maior em gestantes com suspeição de transtorno psiquiátrico (p< 0,001; 95%IC:2,16-3,84). Em relação ao consumo de álcool, o número total de eventos e a categoria Finanças apresentaram correlação estatística significante com o consumo de risco e uso nocivo ou dependência. O uso de tabaco foi associado à categoria finanças (p< 0,05) e aos eventos gravidez indesejada (p< 0,001; 95%IC:1,4-4,9) e brigas com o marido (p< 0,05; 95%IC:0,8-3,1). Os dados apontam alta vivência materna de eventos estressores durante o período gestacional e associação entre eventos estressores (isolados ou em categorias), sintomas psiquiátricos, consumo de álcool e tabaco. A avaliação dos eventos estressores por profissionais de saúde torna-se, portanto útil para o tratamento, educação e promoção da saúde pública visto que pode ajudar as mulheres a reforçar os seus estilos de enfrentamento ao estresse e prevenir o consumo de substâncias lícitas e danos à saúde mental materna. / Scientific evidences provide important associations between the experience of stressful events by pregnant women and harm to mental health. It identifies that such exposure may be related to increased consumption of alcohol and tobacco by women. Considering the damage to maternal health related to this experience, this study aimed to analyze the relationship between the occurrence of stressful events, psychiatric morbidity and alcohol and smoking consumption in pregnant women. This is a clinical epidemiological study, observational, cross-sectional sample of 449 pregnant women at a public maternity hospital in Ribeirão Preto. The instruments used to collect the data were a questionnaire to obtain socio-demographic data, history of tobacco use, Psychiatric Morbidity Questionnaire for Adults (QMPA) and interview for recent life events (IRLE). To assess alcohol consumption it was used the instrument T-ACE (Tolerance, Annoyed, Cut down, Eye-Opener) and a second questionnaire to evaluate the search criteria of CID-10 criteria for harmful use or dependence syndrome. The stressful events were three types of analysis: individual, grouped into categories and through the total sum. The results showed that all participants reported having experienced some stressful event during the period study ( = 5, SD = 2.2, min = 1, max = 14) with emphasis on the category \"health\" (99.1%). Considering the specific stressful events, the \"unwanted pregnancy\" (60.5%, n = 272) and \"average financial difficulty\" (31.8%, n = 143) were the most frequent. The first stressor received high impact stress, 97 pregnant women reported high stress or severe, 128 moderate stress and only low or no stress 47. The total sum of stressful events (p < 0.001) and the categories of \"education\", \"finance\", \"legal aspects\", \"migration\" and \"work\" showed statistically significant correlation in relation to psychiatric morbidity of patients (p < 0.001) . The events \"mean and great financial difficulty\" and \"fights with family members\" were about 3.5 times higher in women with suspected psychiatric disorder (p < 0.001, 95% IC : 2,16-3, 84 ). In relation to alcohol consumption, the total number of events and the category \"Finances\" showed statistically significant correlation with the risk and consumption of alcohol abuse or dependence. Tobacco use was associated with the category \"Finances\" (p < 0.05) and events \"unwanted pregnancy\" (p <0.001, 95% IC :1,4-4, 9) and \"fights with her husband\" ( p < 0.05, 95% IC :0,8-3, 1). The data indicate high maternal experiences of stressful events during pregnancy and association between stressful events (singly or in categories), psychiatric symptoms, alcohol and tobacco. The evaluation of stressful events by health professionals it is therefore useful for treatment, education and promotion of public health, because it can help women strengthen their coping styles with stress and prevent the consumption of licit and damage to mental health.