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Many outdoor recreation settings present stressful situations that directly influence the quality of one's leisure experience. Some recreationists are able to maintain their enjoyment by adopting various coping strategies. In conditions that induce stress, recreationists can select from a combination of behavioral coping strategies (e.g., substitution of recreational setting or activity) and/or cognitive coping strategies (e.g., rationalization). Previous coping research has indicated that the key to understanding the stress -- coping process is how one appraises the stressors. In spite of the acknowledged importance of individual appraisals, however, there is scant empirical evidence available documenting this mediating effect. To explore the role of appraisal in the stress - coping relationship, I drew upon Lazarus and Folkman's transactional theory of stress and coping. Using data collected from recreationists boating in Texas and Korea, I tested a model where the relationship between stress and coping was hypothesized to be mediated by individual's appraisals within the context of water-based recreational activities. Data were collected from recreationists residing near Lake Granbury in Texas (n=186) and recreationists at Lake Chung-pyung in South Korea (n=462). Initial testing of the model illustrated poor fit. I then tested the model independently for the two groups. For Korean respondents, results showed that one's evaluative process (appraisal) mediated the relationship between stress level and selected coping strategies. Further, the degree of involvement with a recreational activity, attachment to a setting, and self-construal moderated the stress -- appraisal -- coping relationship. Model testing for American respondents showed that the factor structure deviated from what was originally hypothesized. Subsequent testing produced an alternate factor structure; direct action, disengagement, temporal substitution, and cognitive coping. However, there was no mediating role of appraisal in the relationship between stress and coping for this group. Moreover, there was no moderating effect of place attachment, leisure activity involvement, and self-construal for American respondents. In short, the results of this study partially supported the transactional theory of stress and coping. For both groups, positive appraisal was more strongly related to behavioral coping, while cognitive coping (rationalization) was influenced by respondents' negative appraisal of the boating conditions. Even under potentially stressful conditions, some recreationists consider the situation controllable. Future investigations should also consider exploring and comparing the coping processes of different user groups, across age cohorts, and among recreationists within similar contexts.

My goal was to examine how experiences and behaviors of individuals and their romantic partners impact relationships on a daily basis. I conducted three separate but empirically and conceptually related studies. For all three papers, the sample was both members of heterosexual romantic relationships (N = 164 couples, 328 individuals) who completed measures each day for seven days. The papers were informed by tenets from interdependence theory and the conservation of resources model. The main purpose of the first paper was to examine a set of relational constructs (i.e., satisfaction, commitment, closeness, conflict, ambivalence, maintenance, and love) to determine which constructs fluctuated daily. All seven relational constructs showed significant within-person variability and were thus appropriate for further daily investigation. With this information, the next step was to understand how to foster positive relationships by examining what daily experiences were associated with those fluctuations. In the second paper I examined whether daily hassles and uplifts were associated with same-day and next-day feelings about the relationship. For same-day effects, I found that hassles were associated with decreased positivity and increased negativity about relationships, whereas uplifts were largely associated with increased positivity. I also found interactions between hassles and uplifts, suggestive of "blunting" effects whereby the positive effects of uplifts were nullified by high levels of hassles. For the next-day effects, I unexpectedly found that uplifts were associated with <italic>decreased</italic> positive relational constructs on the next day, possibly indicating a return to homeostatic levels. In the third paper, I moved to a more explicit examination of dyadic processes by examining both actor and partner effects and focusing on the role of relational sacrifices, or the daily changes individuals make for the sake of their romantic parnters. I expected that sacrifices would be beneficial for positive relationship quality, particularly on days characterized by low (versus high) hassles. I found support for these expectations with regards to actor, but not partner effects. Overall implications are that the everyday things that individuals experience (e.g., hassles and uplifts) and enact (e.g., sacrifices) are important considerations in fostering less negative and more positive romantic relationships.

There has been a steady increase in the incidence of diabetes in the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a difference in the daily hassles of African American adults with a self-reported diagnosis of type 2 diabetes compared to those of African American adults without a self-reported diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. The theoretical underpinning for this quantitative, descriptive study was the cognitive appraisal theory (CAT), but the concept of stress and the effects stress has on the body was the broad framework that connected all the variables. The CAT was used to develop the central research question designed to investigate if there was a difference in the hassles total, frequency, and severity between the 2 research groups. There were 54 persons without type 2 diabetes (59.3%) and 37 with type 2 diabetes (40.7%). The hassles portion of the Combined Hassles and Uplifts Scale was used for data collection and interpretation. A t test for independent means was used to determine the differences in hassles between the 2 groups. Data analysis indicated that those with a self-reported diagnosis of type 2 diabetes reported more total hassles (p .005), frequency of hassles (p .003), and severity of hassles (p .006) than those without a self-reported diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. The study will contribute to positive social change by facilitating creation of opportunities by healthcare providers, to develop client-specific, culturally-sensitive programs and best practice interventions that underscore daily hassles that affect the lived experiences of persons with type 2 diabetes. Legislators on all levels may also use the findings of this study to inform health policy decisions that affect people with type 2 diabetes in their daily experiences.

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The presented thesis discusses an investigation conducted into the improvement of employee experiences of stress in the workplace. It is estimated that 11.4 million working days were lost in 2008-2009 due to stress-related outcomes, and that stress was described as the top cause of long-term sickness absence in 70% of all public-sector organisations in 2010-2011 (CIPD, 2011a). Indeed major studies have associated chronic stress with individual outcomes such as increased cardiovascular disease, depression and burnout. The work, conducted within one department of a borough council organisation in the East of England, had two main objectives: the discovery of 'daily hassles' that comprise organisational stressors for staff and the intervention design aimed at improvement of stress. A novel mixed-methods approach combining quantitative surveys with Appreciative Inquiry (AI) was utilised, with five phases of inquiry conducted. The surveys (Stages 1 and 5) were utilised to assess the experience of work-related stress and Burnout. Stages 2, 3 and 4 were employee completion of daily logs, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The ultimate aim of the qualitative work was to design a number of interventions for the improvement of stress. A local stress theory, designed via the mixing of convergent qualitative and quantitative outcomes, found that professional efficacy, relationships and creativity buffered the impact of three major stressors: (too many) demands, (lack of) managerial support and (poorly communicated) organisational change. These translated into concrete examples of procedural 'hassles' and a number of organisational interventions were designed with staff and subsequently implemented into the organisation. It is concluded that the methodology used was fruitful without being largely resource-demanding for either employees/participants or the organisation. Also while the mixing of AI methodologies with quantitative surveys can appear contradictory, it is demonstrated that the pragmatic approach taken led to strong research and practitioner-based outcomes. Lastly the work has demonstrated both originality and new knowledge in a variety of areas, as well as opening a number of future research questions and avenues.

Student Number : 9805453M - MA research report - School of Human and Community Development - Faculty of Humanities / In recent years, there has been increased interest among multidisciplinary researchers in looking at the relationship between religion and health, with the bulk of the literature indicating that religion has largely positive effects on mental health (Masters, Hill, Kircher, Benson & Fallon, 2004; Pieper, 2004; Smith, McCullough & Poll, 2003). Hence this study has chosen to focus on the relationship between undergraduate students’ perceptions of religious orientation, as defined by Allport and Ross (1967), and their perceptions of pressure – a form of stress identified by Weiten (1988). Questionnaires comprising of the Religious Orientation Scale, the Pressure Inventory and demographic information in terms of age, gender and religious affiliation were administered to undergraduate engineering students at the University of the Witwatersrand to explore religious orientation and pressure respectively. The sample consisted of 76 undergraduate engineering students at the University of the Witwatersrand. The results revealed that in this sample religious orientation had no influence on perceptions of pressure. In terms of the demographic variables, neither age nor gender was found to influence students’ perceptions of religious orientation or pressure, respectively. However a significant difference was found between religious affiliation and both religious orientation and pressure. More specifically religious affiliation showed a significant difference in terms of intrinsic religious orientation, selfimposed pressure, pressure in intimate relations and total pressure.

Student Number : 9604621R - MEd (Ed Psyc) research report - School of Education - Faculty of Humanities / The Adolescent Stress Identification Inventory (ASII) was developed specifically to identify stress in South African adolescents. It consists of structured questions in response to which the subject is required to rate a statement according to a given scale. The purpose of this research was to assess the usefulness of the ASII as a structured inventory for identifying stress in adolescent girls who attend a private high school in Johannesburg. The sample of adolescents used in this research comprised only of English speaking girls but with the added dimension of the different race groupings namely White, Black, Chinese, Indian and Coloured. This allowed the researcher to compare the stressors identified by Kruger (1992) with the comparative female age cohort selected in this sample and identify and compare the stressors amongst the different racial groups. Understanding what types of things adolescents find stressful in relation to their stage of development is important in helping the adolescent cope with their “daily hassles” and assists teachers, parents and psychologists in treating and preventing the symptoms of stress. Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development is used as a basis for understanding the complex interaction and integration of physical, psychological and social factors that characterize adolescence as a period of development. The findings from this research suggest that the stressors identified by grade 10 and grade 11 girls, can be viewed in terms of the factors associated with the ASII, namely societal demands, self-concept, future expectations, relations and positive experience. The ASII was able to identify stressors and detect the similarities and differences of the types of concerns that the adolescents from the different race groups perceived as stressful. It is recommended that the ASII is used in conjunction with a qualitative means of acquiring more information about the respondents stress experience.