The purpose of this dissertation was to examine whether a breast cancer survivor’s view of God influences her religious coping strategies, depression, anxiety, stress, fear of recurrence, and psychological well-being. These variables were selected based on literature that demonstrates relationships among them for breast cancer survivors. The specific aims of this dissertation were to: 1) identify religious coping strategies common to each of the four views of God; 2) examine the relationship of psychological well-being (Ryff) and religious coping strategies; and 3) examine differences in depression, anxiety, stress, fear of recurrence, and psychological well-being among women holding various views of God. Three manuscripts comprise this dissertation. The first manuscript is a systematic review of the literature describing what is known about the relationships between psychological adjustment and religion/spirituality (R/S) in women with breast cancer. The second manuscript examines the psychometric properties of the Image of God Scale in a population responding to a crisis event, women with breast cancer. The original scale was developed from a general population survey. Finally, the third manuscript investigates the relationships between view of God, religious coping strategies, and psychological adjustment in women with breast cancer. The systematic review identified three primary themes: 1) R/S domains and psychological adjustment; 2) dynamics of R/S conservation and struggle; and 3) reframing the cancer experience. The psychometric analysis confirmed the original 2-factor model with factor loadings ranging from .56 to .83. Cronbach’s alphas for the two subscales – belief in God’s anger (.80) and belief in God’s engagement (.89) – were consistent with those established at development. Differences were found between views of God and use of religious/spiritual coping strategies focused on Spiritual Conservation and Spiritual Struggle. Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) was inversely correlated with Spiritual Struggle. Differences were noted for psychological well-being, Fear of Recurrence, and the Stress subscale in women who viewed God as highly engaged or not. No differences were noted for the same variables in women who view God as more or less angry. Direct comparisons between groups and variations in outcomes based on common views of God could lead to effective screening for persons at risk for particular outcomes and to effective individualized interventions.

Tyrimo objektas – paauglių, sportuojančių skirtingas sporto šakas psichosocialinės adaptacijos lygis. Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti ir palyginti imtynes ir krepšinį sportuojančių paauglių psichosocialinės adaptacijos lygius. Hipotezė – Paauglių sportuojančių imtynes psichosocialinės adaptacijos lygis aukštesnis, lyginant su to paties amžiaus krepšininkais. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti paauglių sportuojančių imtynes ir sportuojančių krepšinį psichosocialinės adaptacijos lygius; 2. Palyginti abiejų sporto šakų atstovų paauglių psichosocialinės adaptacijos lygį; 3. Atskleisti sportuojančių paauglių psichosocialinės adaptacijos lygį lyties aspektu; Išvados: 1. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad bendrinio paauglystės amžiaus (14 – 17 metų) sportininkų, kurie lanko imtynių treniruotes, psichosocialinės adaptacijos lygis yra žemas (67, 45 ± 10, 91 balo). Tačiau, lyginant vaikinus ir merginas tarpusavyje, nustatėme, kad vaikinų psichosocialinės adaptacijos lygis yra geresnis (67, 84 ± 8, 41 balo), nei bendraamžių merginų (67, 00 ± 13, 66 balo). Tarp laisvųjų imtynių (vaikinų) ir moterų imtynių (merginų) statistiškai reikšmingų skirtumų nustatyti nepavyko. Nustatyta, kad krepšinio sporto šaką lankančių paauglių (14 – 17 metų) psichosocialinės adaptacijos lygis yra žemas (61, 80 ± 8, 63 balo). Lygintant imties viduje, paaiškėjo, kad merginų psichosocialinė adaptacija yra geresnė (63, 61 ± 7, 80 balo), lyginant ją su bendraamžiais vaikinais (60, 55 ± 9, 19 balo). Tačiau, tiek vaikinų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of the research – the level of psychological adjustment of the adolescents practicing different sports. The aim of the research – to determine and compare the levels of psychological adjustment of the adolescents practicing wrestling and basketball. Hypothesis – The level of psychological adjustment of the adolescents practicing wrestling is higher compared with coeval basketball players. The tasks of the research: 1. To determine the levels of psychological adjustment of the adolescents practicing wrestling and basketball; 2. To compare the level of psychological adjustment of the adolescent representatives of both sports; 3. To reveal the level of psychological adjustment of exercising adolescents in the aspect of gender. Conclusions: 1. The results of the research demonstrated that the level of psychological adjustment of the athletes of common adolescent age (14 – 17 years) who attend the wrestling practices is low (67.45 ± 10.91 points). But, comparing boys and girls among them, we determined that the level of psychological adjustment of the boys is better (67.84 ± 8.41 points) than of the girls of the same age (67.00 ± 13.66 points). No statistically significant differences could be determined among the free wrestling (boys) and women wrestling (girls). It was determined that the level of psychological adjustment of the adolescents (14 – 17 years) practicing basketball sports is low (61.80 ± 8.63 points). Comparing inside the set, it became clear that girls’... [to full text]

In the present study, we examined the role of racial discrimination, social support (viz., family and friends), and hope (viz., agency and pathways) in accounting for negative psychological adjustment (viz., anxious and depressive symptoms) and positive psychological adjustment (viz., vitality and life satisfaction) in a sample of 249 African Americans. Overall, results of conducting a series of hierarchical regression analyses provided some evidence for the role of racial discrimination and social support in accounting for both negative and positive psychological adjustment. Noteworthy, the inclusion of hope was found to significantly augment the prediction models of psychological adjustment. Within the hope set, agency was consistently found to uniquely account for adjustment. In contrast, pathways was only found to uniquely account for vitality. Beyond affirming the importance of racial discrimination and social support, the present findings highlight the added value of considering hope, especially agency, in understanding positive and negative psychological adjustment in African Americans. Implications of the present findings for understanding the role of racial discrimination, social support, and hope in the psychological adjustment of African American adults are discussed.

In the present study, we examined the role of ethnoracial discrimination, social support (viz., family & friends), and hope (viz., agency & pathways) in accounting for negative psychological adjustment (viz., worry & depressive symptoms) and positive psychological adjustment (viz., vitality & life satisfaction) in a sample of 203 (164 females & 39 males) multiethnoracial adults. Results of conducting a series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that beyond ethnoracial discrimination and social support, the inclusion of hope was found to augment the prediction model of psychological adjustment. Within the hope set, agency was found to be uniquely associated with adjustment. Pathways was found to be uniquely associated with positive indices of psychological adjustment. The present findings are the first to highlight the significance of hope in multiethnoracial adults. Some implications of the present findings for understanding psychological adjustment in multiethnoracial adults are discussed.

The current study investigated whether finding meaning in relation to sexual trauma and using mature defense mechanisms would moderate the association between child sexual abuse (CSA) severity and relationship and psychological adjustment in a sample of undergraduate women with a history of child sexual abuse. CSA severity was measured both objectively (i.e., severity of the abusive event) and subjectively (i.e., self-reported perceptions of the severity of the abusive event). As predicted, the interaction of objective CSA severity and mature defenses uniquely predicted one of four aspects of romantic relationship functioning (i.e., dyadic cohesion or doing joint activities with one's partner), which provides strong support for a moderating effect of mature defenses on relationship adjustment for CSA survivors. In addition, Objective CSA Severity X Meaning and Perceived CSA Severity X Meaning were both significantly correlated with various aspects of psychological functioning. Similarly, Objective CSA Severity X Mature Defenses and Perceived CSA Severity X Mature Defenses were significantly correlated with psychological functioning. These findings provide mild support for a possible moderating effect of meaning and mature defenses on psychological adjustment for CSA survivors. Contrary to hypotheses, the interaction of perceived CSA severity and mature defenses was not significantly related to relationship functioning. Also contrary to hypotheses, the interactions of Perceived CSA Severity X Meaning and Objective CSA Severity X Meaning were not significantly related to relationship functioning. Finally, results did not support the hypothesis that relationship functioning would moderate the association between CSA severity (objective and perceived) and psychological adjustment.

This study aimed to investigate the psychological adjustment of children with learning disabilities (LD) / to examine the group and gender differences of the psychological adjustment between children with LD and diabetes / and to investigate group differences in the way mothers experience having children with LD and diabetes in terms of their adjustment levels. In order to test the above aims, 2 (Gender) x 2 (Diagnosis) ANCOVA&rsquo / s were conducted to evaluate the diagnosis and gender differences on the psychological adjustment levels of children, separately. Significant diagnosis main effects were found for all of the study variables, indicating that children with a learning disability had worse psychological adjustment compared to children with diabetes. Regression analyses were conducted in order to find out the variables associated with the symptoms of depression and anxiety for children with learning disabilities and diabetes groups, separately. Separate regression analyses were run to examine the mediator role of self-esteem between parental rejection and learned helplessness and depression in children with LD. In order to evaluate the diagnosis differences (LD, diabetes) on the psychological adjustment levels of mothers ANCOVA&rsquo / s were conducted. Significant diagnosis main effects were found for all of the study variables regarding mothers, indicating that mothers of children with a learning disability had worse psychological adjustment compared to mothers of children with diabetes. The results were discussed in terms of the treatment needs of children with LD, helping parents and children cope with LD, and the importance of early identification of these children for the prevention of psychosocial problems.

This study provided a comprehensive picture of the lives of young adolescents (ages 12-14) and their mothers residing in emergency family violence shelters. It used qualitative Life Story methods emphasizing a holistic, contextualized, chronological approach to gain deeper insight into experiences as told from the emic perspectives of individuals who have lived them, with research questions addressing relationships, intimate partner violence (IPV), coping, and views of the future. The study was prompted by the prevalence of childhood exposure to adult IPV with 15.5 million American children/adolescents exposed annually, the risks of IPV exposure, and the paucity of first-person perspectives in existing research. Research focusing on adolescents is especially lacking. The study was informed by social cognitive and family systems theories and an ecological/resilience framework. An ethnically diverse, purposive sample of 14 young adolescent-mother dyads (N= 27) was recruited from four Texas shelters. Youth and mothers were interviewed separately using a semi-structured interview guide. They completed standardized measures of IPV exposure level and youth psychological adjustment. Interviews were analyzed using thematic and categorical-content analysis. Four staff interviews at recruitment sites added context. Results revealed high levels of IPV exposure, poverty, parental incarceration, child maltreatment, residential instability, school transitions and maternal health problems. Seven themes were prominent in youths’ life stories, with the most prevalent concerning lifelong frequent moves, highly cohesive family boundaries, and loss and fear. Other themes concerned evolution in youths’ thinking about family issues, complex feelings about adult males, centrality of physical child abuse, and the influence of parental crack cocaine abuse in their lives. Numerous quotes voice participants’ strengths in spite of adversities. Youth typically framed experiences in terms of how they affected daily living, with IPV interwoven with the broader themes. Youth described key relationships, perceptions of fathers, general coping strategies, situational coping with IPV (including safety planning behaviors), perspectives on shelters, potential protective factors, and views of the future. Mothers’ interviews expanded interpretation of youth narratives. Results compare youth-mother perspectives. Implications are discussed for theory, research, and social work practice, including practice in emergency shelters, schools, substance abuse treatment programs, law enforcement and CPS. / text

Researchers have struggled to define how to age well since the time of Roman philosopher Cicero in 44 BC, yet today it remains a mystery (Tate, Lah, & Cuddy, 2003). In the context of dealing with age-related declines that often accompany later life, it has recently been suggested that positive reinterpretation, a concept implicit to positive psychology, may be important (Ouwehand, de Ridder, & Bensing, 2007; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Positive reinterpretation has at times been referred to as “secondary control” in the psychological literature. In their seminal article of 1982, Rothbaum, Weisz, and Snyder theorized that there were multiple ways in which people could positively reinterpret outcomes and gain feelings of secondary control, including believing in the power of others and nature, as well as downgrading importance. These belief patterns become especially important in later life, when faced with age-related challenges. In the present study, secondary control beliefs were examined cross-sectionally in 2003 (n = 223) and prospectively in 2006 (n = 117) in a sample of older adults (M age = 85 years, 62% women) using a variety of outcome measures including severity of chronic conditions score, recent health, self-rated health, positive emotion, life satisfaction, and perceived stress. The unique contributions of this study are twofold. First, the findings suggest that some older adults may emphasize certain secondary control beliefs in combination. Second, the combined beliefs were found to relate cross-sectionally to measures of physical and psychological well-being. These exploratory findings have important implications in applied and theoretical contexts. In applied contexts, they may help to enhance physical and psychological well-being in the very old. In theoretical contexts, they extend contemporary thinking on secondary control.

Researchers have struggled to define how to age well since the time of Roman philosopher Cicero in 44 BC, yet today it remains a mystery (Tate, Lah, & Cuddy, 2003). In the context of dealing with age-related declines that often accompany later life, it has recently been suggested that positive reinterpretation, a concept implicit to positive psychology, may be important (Ouwehand, de Ridder, & Bensing, 2007; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Positive reinterpretation has at times been referred to as “secondary control” in the psychological literature. In their seminal article of 1982, Rothbaum, Weisz, and Snyder theorized that there were multiple ways in which people could positively reinterpret outcomes and gain feelings of secondary control, including believing in the power of others and nature, as well as downgrading importance. These belief patterns become especially important in later life, when faced with age-related challenges. In the present study, secondary control beliefs were examined cross-sectionally in 2003 (n = 223) and prospectively in 2006 (n = 117) in a sample of older adults (M age = 85 years, 62% women) using a variety of outcome measures including severity of chronic conditions score, recent health, self-rated health, positive emotion, life satisfaction, and perceived stress. The unique contributions of this study are twofold. First, the findings suggest that some older adults may emphasize certain secondary control beliefs in combination. Second, the combined beliefs were found to relate cross-sectionally to measures of physical and psychological well-being. These exploratory findings have important implications in applied and theoretical contexts. In applied contexts, they may help to enhance physical and psychological well-being in the very old. In theoretical contexts, they extend contemporary thinking on secondary control.

This dissertation investigated a very specialised, highly sensitive and complex research area in policing known as undercover policing or covert policing operations. This is the first examination to be conducted in the Australasian policing context and the only known research to explore, empirically, undercover operatives' experiences of returning to mainstream police duties after completing their covert duties.----- There were two main research objectives in this dissertation. The first was to develop research methodology specific for use with undercover police officers. The second main objective was to conduct an empirical investigation to identify the psychological processes associated with the reintegration or re-assimilation of undercover police officers into mainstream policing environments. Social identity theory was applied to deconstruct undercover police officers' reintegration experiences.----- Given the closed and protected nature of covert policing, careful consideration to methodological and ethical issues required high priority in the development of research practices. Addressing these considerations in research practices protected the anonymity and security of those involved in the research. Tailoring research methods to suit the officers' circumstances and satisfy police managements' security concerns improved the practical application of research methods and research relations with police members and, therefore, the quality of the findings.----- In developing a research methodology for specific use with undercover police officers, a multi-method approach was adopted. Data triangulation with the use of a variety of data sources and methodological triangulation with the use of multiple methods and multiple indicators were employed. This technique proved constructive in creating a more holistic perspective of undercover policing and officers' experiences of re-assimilation.----- In theoretical terms, the major issue under investigation is of negotiating dual memberships or multiple identities. Three studies are reported. The first study is a field study, in which the researcher spent more than 18 months in the covert policing context, as a participant observer. Through field research, the researcher was able to learn about the Australasian covert policing context; obtain in-house police documents; define research issues and hypotheses; understand methodological considerations; identify a psychological theoretical framework; and examine &quotthe fit " between theory and the social dynamics of covert policing. Other benefits of becoming immersed in the working life of undercover police officers and the police organisation included understanding the ways of proceeding and the social and organisational structure that exists among covert personnel.----- The second study interviewed 20 former covert police personnel, from two police jurisdictions, who had been reintegrated for more than three years. The majority of officers found returning to mainstream police duties a difficult experience and two separate profiles of reintegration experiences emerged from the data. This study identified the presence of more than one police identity among former operatives. It found that some officers internalise aspects of the undercover policing norms and use these police norms to define aspects of the self both as a police officer and as an individual. That is, role-playing the undercover police persona became an extension of the officer as an individual and contributed positively to their personal self-worth. It was noted that the majority of officers expressed cognitive confusion over how to behave in the mainstream policing environment after covert duties had ceased.----- The other profile to emerge from the data was of officers who characterised their undercover policing experiences as being more integrated into their overall police persona. Officers interviewed in this study employed different identity decision-making strategies to restructure their police identities. In sum, this study found that the extent, to which the undercover and mainstream memberships were integrated cognitively, influenced officers' experiences of reintegration.----- The third study is a cross-sectional design using survey methods. Thirty-eight trainees, 31 currently operational and 38 former undercover operatives from four police jurisdictions took part in this study. A group of mainstream police officers matched according to former operatives' age, gender and years of policing experience was also included. This study found that police identities change over the phases of undercover police work and that changes in former operatives' mainstream police identity were a function of covert police work. Cross-sectional comparisons revealed that former operatives' undercover police identity had declined since covert policing, however, officers' mainstream police identity had not significantly increased. Failure to increase identification with mainstream police after undercover police work has ceased has a number of implications in terms of predicting re-assimilation. Operatives most likely to experience difficulties were those who resisted the mainstream police identification and reported difficult relations with their mainstream peers. Trends analysis revealed that despite the physical change, 'cognitive' re-assimilation actually commences in the second year of the operatives' reintegration. These exploratory analyses revealed that following return to the mainstream policing environment, identity stressors were mostly likely to be experienced in the first year of reintegration.----- To determine psychological adjustment since undercover police work, the person-environment fit was also investigated in the study. Operatives' current perceptions of working in the mainstream context were reported using a number of behavioural and organisational indicators. Overall, this study found that former operatives remain committed to their policing profession, however, those who experienced identity stress during the re-assimilation process were less satisfied with their current work duties and failed to find their work interesting, tended to perceive undercover duties as having been detrimental to their career, and expressed greater intentions to leave the service within 12 months of the survey. Overall former operatives' satisfaction and commitment levels were not significantly different from mainstream officers. Mainstream police, however, reported being under greater pressure and felt more overworked in the mainstream context than former operatives. In summary, these organisational indicators revealed that the difficulties of re-assimilation and intentions to leave the service are more related to the stress of modifying officers' police identity during this period than the workload characteristics of mainstream policing.----- Overall these studies demonstrated that the process of negotiating police identities is an important psychological dynamic present in undercover operatives' reintegration experiences. The identity stress experienced during this period was shown to have a number of organisational-behavioural consequences, such as problematic intergroup relations and greater intentions to leave the police service after undercover police work. Based on findings from this research a number of practical recommendations are made and suggestions for the direction of future research are outlined. Contributions to theory are also discussed.