Although epidemiological data show that Asians are less often diagnosed with social phobia than are North Americans, North American studies show that Asians self-report higher levels of social anxiety than their European heritage counterparts. The present study examined this apparent discrepancy in an undergraduate sample of: a) students of Chinese heritage born in Hong Kong or Taiwan (N= 65), b) Canadian-born students of Chinese heritage (N= 51), and c) Canadianborn students of European heritage (N= 62). Participants completed a questionnaire battery as well as a face-to-face interview that assessed levels of social anxiety and impairment. Results showed that foreign-born Chinese participants reported significantly greater social anxiety and impairment than students of European heritage in both the questionnaire and interview format. The same general pattern was found among participants who had clinically severe levels of social anxiety. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Digitized by Kansas State University Libraries

Digitized by Kansas State University Libraries

This work investigated stress in an academic environment for undergraduate students from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. For Study One, a Student Life-Style and Attitude Survey was administered to 375 undergarduate students. Factor Analyses extracted a total of 27 factors which were utilized in subsequent analyses. Multiple Regression Analyses resulted in four, highly significant, five-step regression equations for perceived level of stress, student satisfaction, work satisfaction, and personal satisfaction (p < .001). Discriminant Function Analyses produced significant group classification functions for gender, non-working versus working students, grade level, and the academic majors of science and engineering, business, and liberal arts (p < .001). Hypothesized higher factor scores for students reporting higher levels of perceived stress, were supported only for significant, positive, univariate relationships with factors of academic work-overload, and tension (p < .001), but rejected in all other instances. All hypothesized lower factor scores associated with higher levels of stress were rejected. Predicted higher factor scores for women were statistically supported for a number of symptoms, academic concerns, time-utilization, and the coping strategy of social support seeking; however, there were no significant gender differences in overall perceptions of stress level. Predicted lower factor scores for women on self-esteem, and self-efficacy factors were rejected, as was the predicted non-significant relationship between gender and Type "A-like" behavior. Men in this study attained significantly higher factor scores for both Type "A-like" behavior, and sensate tension reduction than did women. Study Two used content analyses of interviews with 27 undergraduates to affirm, modify, and expand upon the relationships identified in Study One. Results emphasized the general relationship between perceptions of stress and experiences of depression, low self-esteem, and somatization. Increased physical activity was reported as a major form of "coping" as were a number of other "non-direct" strategies. The identification of several additional indicators of stress and coping raised serious questions about the biases, and limitations of scales currently used to measure those dimensions. Taken together, results from the two studies suggested that undergraduate stress may be best understood, and investigated through academic "life-cycle," and "sub-cultural" approaches examining similarities and differences in health, stress, and coping using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Fan Mei Tai. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-159). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

The purpose of this study was (a) to determine the effect of a four-step learner readiness profile: positive, active, clear, and energetic (PACE) on self-reported anxiety in first year nursing students before skill performance tests, and (b) to determine the effect of PACE on the performance of first year nursing students on skill tests. The subjects consisted of 27 first year nursing students enrolled at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon. Two multiple baseline designs across subjects were employed. Volunteers were randomly divided into three subject groups. Baseline data were collected on 5 skill tests for Group 1, 8 skill tests for Group 2, and 11 skill tests for Group 3. The treatment variable, PACE, was implemented once the baseline was established for self-reported anxiety and performance. Findings indicated that PACE was an effective treatment for reducing self-reported anxiety by first year nursing students before skill performance on tests. The students also demonstrated an increased percentage of successful skill performance tests after completion of PACE. It was concluded that PACE was an efficient and effective method for reducing self-reported anxiety and for increasing skill performance test success in first year nursing students enrolled at Chemeketa Community College, Salem, Oregon. It was recommended that PACE be implemented in the first year of the nursing program. / Graduation date: 1996

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