Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation will be to identify a conceptual model to describe the stress and coping process among a group of elite female tennis players during a high stakes performance situation. The Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (TA model) served as the theoretical basis for this dissertation. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the indirect effect of social support, dispositional coping, coping strategies, tennis ability and cognitive appraisal upon competitive state anxiety. Significance of the investigation: The WTA Tour, the governing body of professional tennis, has identified the priorities of promoting career longevity, development of a balanced athlete, the attainment of a profitable career for its athletes and protecting the TOUR's most valuable commodity, athlete health (AEC Report, 1995). The findings of this investigation serve to guide future interventions for managing stress and coping among elite athletes. This is one of the first investigations with this under-studied population and therefore, contributes to the available body of knowledge in stress and coping among elite athletes. Methods: Ninety-four female tennis players responded to the Competition Questionnaire during a high stakes athletic competition. Questions addressed dispositional coping strategies, current coping strategies as well as perceived competitive state anxiety and perceived sense of social support. Measurement models were used prior to construction of sub-models based upon TA model theory. Goodness of fit was assessed with significant path scores retained to construct a final conceptual model. Findings: The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 was supported as a measure of competitive state anxiety. A parsimonious measure of primary appraisal and secondary appraisal was found for this elite group of athletes. Results yielded support for the strong effect of primary appraisal upon increased competitive state anxiety. In addition, both social support and secondary appraisal demonstrated a significant effect with lower competitive state anxiety. Tennis ability as measured by current rank did not have a significant effect upon appraisal, coping strategies nor competitive state anxiety. Conclusions: Based upon these results, a variation of the TA model as constructed within this investigation was found to be relevant for this elite group. The constructed conceptual model can be used to guide current and future interventions by health care practitioners that interact closely with these athletes during high stress competitive events. Implications for future interventions with this population include the need for enhancement of challenging appraisals and the need for restructuring of threatening appraisals. Though caution must be used when generalizing results, findings add to the body of knowledge regarding this under-investigated population. Future investigations could focus upon replication of results, investigation regarding the function of social support and the comparison of specific coping strategies used by subsets of athletes within this population. / text

GROWING UP IN IRELAND: FACTORS IMPACTING SLEEP PATTERNS OF PRETERM INFANTS By Joanne Fallon MS, OT, PhD A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2015. Major Director: Shelly J. Lane, PhD, Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy Preterm infants represent the largest child patient group in the European Union (EU), accounting for 5.5-11.4% of all births (European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants, 2011b). Preterm birth is defined as birth prior to 37 weeks gestation. Infants born late preterm (34-36 weeks) are considered more similar to early preterm (> 34 weeks) than to full-term infants, despite previously regarded as near-term (Raju Higgins, Stark, & Leveno, 2006). For preterm infants, sleeping functions are critical as they demonstrate the ability to adjust to biological and social rhythms and support emotional regulation, learning, and memory. Many studies have focused on sleep patterns of full-term infants; however, few have investigated preterm infants and none have compared early and late preterm infants with a population from the Republic of Ireland. The purpose of this study was to identify infant and parent characteristics that promote optimal sleep in preterm infants and to establish whether the parent-infant relationship mediates this association. A secondary purpose was to test the transactional model of sleep. Parent report of infant sleep was taken from a recent population-based dataset from the Republic of Ireland. A comparison of the day and nighttime sleep patterns of early and late preterm infants found no difference between groups. There was also no difference in infant temperament, breast-feeding, parental stress, depression, or sociodemographics. A difference was found between groups in infant development, weight at 9 months, and age infant began solid foods. This finding was not surprising as infants born early preterm are at greater at greater risk of developmental delay and disability. Results of this study suggest that the paternal-infant relationship has a mediating impact on the relationship between infant temperament and nighttime waking in the early preterm group only, while the maternal-infant relationship has a mediating role in both groups. These findings add to the body of knowledge on the transactional model of sleep, and are the first to identify infant temperament and the paternal-infant relationship as important factors. Implications of these results are discussed in the context of the transactional model of sleep and recommendations for future research are presented.

The purpose of this study was to explore healthy and maladaptive coping strategies among MSW students. The data was collected using self‑reported questionnaires. A total of 47 students participated in this study. Using the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping as a theoretical framework, this study assessed stress levels using the Perceived Stress Scale. The Brief COPE instrument measured coping strategies. The study found relationships between stressors and maladaptive coping and perceived stress. The study recommends that future research on coping strategies among MSW students include greater attention to training MSW students how to deal with stress during their MSW educational programs.

The aims of this study were to examine the relations among social capital, human capital, economic capital, and children’s socioemotional well-being during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence and to test an ecological-transactional model of children’s social capital. This work was informed by sociological and economic theory on social capital, human capital, and economic capital (e.g., Becker, 1993; Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1988; Foster, 2002) and two principal frameworks in developmental psychology: ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) and the transactional model of child development (Sameroff, 2009). Social capital was conceptualized as both a family-level and a community-level phenomenon, distinguishing between family social capital and community social capital. A major hypothesis was that family social capital and community social capital, alongside family-level human capital and economic capital, are associated with low levels of socioemotional problems. Family-level variables were considered to be nested within the more distal ecological context of community social capital, and the indirect relation of community social capital to socioemotional well-being through family social capital was also considered. Another postulation was that children’s socioemotional well-being and the social capital that inheres in family relationships (i.e., family social capital) are mutually influential, changing over time in a transactional manner. In this vein, children were regarded as agents of social capital, both “creating” and utilizing it to their developmental benefit (or detriment as the case may be). These family-level transactional processes were nested within the context of community social capital. Results indicated that community social capital had little association with family social capital and children’s socioemotional well-being as indexed by internalizing and externalizing problems. However, caregivers’ human capital and economic capital were significant predictors of family social capital. In turn, family social capital was strongly related to socioemotional problems. Notably, harsh parenting behavior, a measure indicative of the health of the caregiver-child relation and thus the potential for social capital to be realized in their interactions, was the strongest predictor of socioemotional well-being. / text

Inledning och Bakgrund: Vid arbete tillsammans med personer som drabbats av stroke är det vanligt att arbetsterapeuter använder sig av både funktionsbedömningar och av aktivitetsbaserade bedömningar. Flera studier belyser vikten av att sätta mål tillsammans med patienten, men det finns faktorer som hindrar eller möjliggör att målformulering utförs.  Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva hur arbetsterapeuter på strokeenheter i Sverige arbetar med utredning och målformulering tillsammans med personer som drabbats av stroke. Metod: Designen är en beskrivande, kvalitativ intervjustudie med induktiv ansats. Avsiktligt urval användes för att rekrytera deltagare. Datainsamling utfördes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer av nio arbetsterapeuter. Dataanalys utfördes genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet kunde sammanfattas i den övergripande huvudkategorin Aktivitetsförmåga bedöms med olika tillvägagångssätt. Den bestod av fyra kategorier: Lära känna patienten, Funktions- eller aktivitetsbedömning?, Hinner inte sätta mål, MEN... samt Kliniskt resonemang.  Slutsats: Genom angreppsättet True top-down får arbetsterapeuten verktyg att skapa sig en bättre helhetsbild av den strokedrabbade personens aktivitetsförmåga. Motor and Process Skills Rating Form kan erbjuda ett stöd i att beskriva och dokumentera vad som observerats i en aktivitetsbedömning. För att målformulering ska utföras i större utsträckning på strokeenheter, behöver rutiner utarbetas. / Introduction: When working with individuals suffering from stroke, it is common that occupational therapists use both function-based and occupation-based assessments. Several studies highlight the importance of goal-setting together with the patient, but there are factors that either prevent or enable goal-setting to be carried out. Aim: The aim was to describe how occupational therapists at stroke units in Sweden work with evaluation and goal setting together with persons who has suffered a stroke. Method: The study was performed using a descriptive, qualitative interview design with an inductive approach.  Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews with nine occupational therapists. The collected data was analysed in line with qualitative content method.   Results: The results was summarized in the overarching main category Occupational capacity is assessed using different approaches. The main category contained four categories: Getting to know the patient, Function- or activity assessment?, Not having the time for goal-setting, BUT... and Clinical reasoning.   Conclusions: Through the True top-down approach, the occupational therapist gets tools to create a better overall picture of the occupational capacity of the stroke patient. The Motor and Process Skills Rating Form can offer support in describing and documenting an observation. An elaborate process and routines need to be carried out to enable goal-setting in a greater extent at stroke units in Sweden.

This study explored how personal strivings constructs of Goal Conflict and Complementarity and primary appraisal dimensions of Motivational Relevance and Congruence (separately and in combination), related across time to immediate and long-term effects of a stressful transaction. The study was located within the transactional model of stress and integrated aspects of motivational theory, focusing on the theoretical position that within the stressful transaction the relationship between motivational factors and the individual response to an event is mediated by cognitive processes, including appraisal. Advances in transactional theory highlight the role of motivational factors (such as personal strivings) as linked to primary appraisal in the form of Motivational Relevance and Congruence. The utility of personal strivings in exploring the role of motivational factors in the stress process were highlighted. Despite an increasing theoretical focus on motivation and appraisal, research in the area is limited. Data was collected for the study through the administration of questionnaires to university students (N=152) prior to (time 1) and into (time 2) an examination period. The questionnaires used a range of self-report measures. Correlations, partial correlations and ANOVAs were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that Goal Complementarity and Conflict directly influenced primary appraisal processes but not affective and wellbeing outcomes. It was proposed that primary appraisal processes were the conduit through which the impact of Goal Complementarity and Conflict were expressed within the stressful transaction. The results also suggested the impact of anticipatory Motivational Relevance which seemed to imply a highly “loaded” event with negative affective and long-term consequences into the event. Subjects entering the event wit h an “optimistic” demeanour indicated by high anticipatory Congruence and positive affect had increased Congruence into the event with consequent amplified positive emotions and dampened negative effects. Subjects with high anticipatory Relevance and low Congruence across the event had relatively higher scores on negative outcomes. High anticipatory Relevance and Congruence was associated with negative immediate and long-term outcomes into the event. High Relevance Congruence was generally associated with a strong emotional response, which also elicited strong positive emotion as the event unfolded. Subjects with low Relevance did not seem to hold as strong an investment in the event and reported reduced emotions and symptomology. These findings were discussed in relation to the stress, appraisal and motivation literature and their limitations and implications were explored.

Thesis advisor: Penny Hauser-Cram / This study is a secondary data analysis of data from the Early Intervention Collaborative Study (EICS) (Hauser-Cram, Warfield, Shonkoff, & Krauss, 2001), a longitudinal investigation of families who have children with developmental disabilities (DD) (i.e. Down syndrome, motor impairment, and developmental delay). The study investigated a transactional relation between child problem behavior and parenting stress during the early (ages 3 to 5 years) and middle childhood (ages 5 to 10 years) years. Parental planful problem solving coping and positive reappraisal coping and the helpfulness of social support were examined as moderators of the relation between child problem behavior and parenting stress from the ages 3 to 5 years. Child problem behavior and parents' levels of stress, coping strategies, and ratings of social support were collected during home visits with the families when children were 3, 5, and 10 years. Using hierarchical regression techniques a transactional relation was found between child problem behavior and parenting stress from ages 3 to 5 years for both mother-child and father-child dyads. A transactional relation was again found between these constructs from ages 5 to 10 years for only mother-child dyads. Maternal positive reappraisal coping significantly moderated the relation between child problem behavior and maternal parenting stress. Maternal report of the helpfulness of social support significantly moderated the relation between child behavior and parenting stress at both the early and middle childhood levels. The findings support the design of familial interventions. Interventions that promote adaptive coping strategies may be particularly helpful for families of children with DD who exhibit high levels of problem behavior. Finally, improving the helpfulness of current support systems may positively impact parents' stress who have children with developmental disabilities. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.

Bullying is a pervasive event that affects individuals in a variety of ways. For example, bullied individuals display an array of psychological and related psychosocial problems associated with victimization. There is a push for a transformation in the bullying paradigm to include the psychological and psychosocial symptomologies of both the perpetrator and victim. This study addressed the lack of qualitative research on coping mechanisms for adult victims of bullying. Due to the pervasive nature of the phenomena, the following was explored: (a) descriptions of bullying as expressed by adult victims, (b) adult victims' coping processes and methods, and (c) adult victims' emotional responses to being bullied. A qualitative phenomenological research approach was applied to understand the lived experiences of this population. The theoretical framework was based on Folkman and Lazarus's transactional model of stress and coping. Eight individuals participated in the study and face-to-face interviews were conducted with each participant. Based on the results of interviews and thematic analysis, the majority of participants (34%) reported that job-related demands and coercion such as social exclusion, cyberthreats, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, job-related intimidation, and physical harm were the main forms of bullying experienced. The coping process adopted by 62% of the participants was to remain calm during the bullying incident. However, 62% used retaliatory confrontation as their main coping method. Mental stress was the main emotional response to bullying. The findings of this study can inform the adoption of positive social change policy actions that promote resiliency among bullied adults at the community level and within organizational settings.

The study addressed the problem that, although researchers have clearly identified areas of stress for clergy wives and suggested the use of counseling services, they have not identified effective counseling interventions. Clergy wives referred to non-clergy women married to Protestant clergymen. The study included (a) the development of Clergy Wife Wings (CWW), a 5-session psychoeducational group plan for 6 to 10 clergy wives, to alleviate ministry-related stress and (b) the formative evaluation of the plan in its first implementation. Conclusions drawn suggested that CWW showed good potential as an intervention in helping clergy wives to move towards alleviation of stress but needed revisions and additional implementation and evaluation. Recommendations provided a detailed list of specific revisions. CWW had an outcome goal for participants of decreasing ministry-related stress, particularly in three targeted stress domains: role expectations and time demands, clergy family boundary intrusiveness, and lack of social support. As presented in the literature review, the theoretical foundations in stress came from the multimodal-transactional model of stress and its treatment (Palmer, S. & Dryden, W., 1995) and from REBT. The literature review also contained, after a summary of the history of clergy wives, an overview of the plan, with references supporting the components. The plan included pre and post-group testing with two clergy-wife stress assessment instruments -- adaptations of the Clergy Family Life Inventory (Blanton, P., Morris, L, & Anderson, D., 1990) and of the Normative Stress Scale for Clergy Wives (Huebner, 1998). The formative evaluation of the group plan, in its first implementation, identified themes concerning effectiveness, strengths, weaknesses, and suggestions for improvement. These themes emerged from the qualitative analysis of various documents completed by the 9 participants, the group facilitator, and a group observer. Qualitative findings suggested effectiveness of Clergy Wife Wings through themes of participant perceptions and of reported changes in their thinking and behavior related to stress. Quantitative findings, however, from the pre and post-group measures on the clergy-wife stress instruments did not suggest effectiveness, except for a significant decrease in stress related to two of 35 stressor statements. Discussion included possible reasons for the disparity between findings. / Ph. D.

The project of the mobile application Nestresuju aims to create a digital tool in czech language, which effectiveness in the development of stress management skills will be tested and at the same time will be user-friendly and an appealing platform. Specifically, the mobile application Nestresuju target into the help with development of stress management skills through digital transformation of the psychological theory of coping strategies of R. Lazarus and S. Folkman. So far, the project has included several phases, including 1.5-year theoretical research, preparation, and programming phases, which was followed by a pilot survey involving 20 students from Prague universities. The results of quantitative, and especially qualitative data from the final interviews and user data showed that Nestresuju is perceived as useful and shows a trend of possible reduction of perceived stress. All sections of the application were mentioned as useful without significant differentiations. Overall, the tool was rated as professional and trustworthy, even though it is a student project. The results of the pilot survey serve as recommendations for updates in Nestresuju. Followed by main study conducted on a broader sample to verify the effectiveness of the digital tool. The importance of the eHealth application...