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Adult marijuana users seeking treatment (N = 291) were randomly assigned to 3 treatment conditions: 1) a cognitive-behavioral relapse prevention support group (RPSG), 2) individualized assessment and advice group, and 3) delayed treatment control group. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between psychological distress, self-efficacy, and marijuana use. Measures of marijuana use, psychological distress, situational self-efficacy, coping self-efficacy, temptation to use, and frequency of encountering situations were used. Only a portion of the hypotheses were supported. Psychologically distressed individuals had lower self-efficacy for psychologically distressing (PD) situations as opposed to non-psychologically distressing (NPD) situations. Participants had lower self-efficacy for NPD situations than PD situations. The RPSG condition did not have the hypothesized effect on self-efficacy for PD situations. / Master of Science

Psykisk ohälsa ökar och enligt socialstyrelsen lider cirka 20 % av arbetsför ålder av psykisk ohälsa. En enkätundersökning genomfördes för att undersöka, hur stor betydelse kön, ålder, coping och känsla av sammanhang har på psykisk ohälsa? Totalt insamlades 108 enkäter var av 101 användes för analys. Data analyserades med hjälp av en hierarkisk multipel regressionsanalys och Pearson korrelationer. 39 % av variationen i psykisk ohälsa förklarades av KASAM, copingstil, ålder och kön. Starkast relaterad till ohälsa i regressionsanalysen var KASAM. Högre KASAM hos en individ innebär bättre psykisk hälsa. Diskussion förs kring bland annat fördelar och nackdelar med valda instrument, sned könsfördelning, samhällsnytta och enkätkonstruktion. Att se vilka faktorer som starkt påverkar psykisk ohälsa är av betydelse för vidare forskning för att sätta fingret på vad som påverkar psykisk ohälsa och till vilken grad.

Thesis advisor: Karen Kayser / Purpose: Acculturative stress has been found to mediate the relationship between acculturation and psychological distress, yet research investigating the impact of contextual factors on acculturative stress is non-existent. Based on family stress management theory (Boss, 2002), the current study investigates the contextual influence on acculturative stress and psychological distress of Latina women. Acculturation and systems of support were tested for their capacity to moderate the relationships between various significant contexts, acculturative stress and psychological distress. Unique experiences of women born in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico were delineated and compared. Methods: Using the National Latino Asian American Survey, the current study involves 639 Latina women born in Mexico (N=257), Cuba (N=264) and Puerto Rico (N=118). A mediated moderation analysis was conducted through Path Analysis in MPLUS. Results: Findings indicate an inconsistent relationship between acculturative stress and psychological distress. For the combined group of Latina women, racial and daily discrimination shaped acculturative stress and psychological distress most often, followed by age and family-cultural conflict. Income and structural components of internal contexts (i.e. household decision-making power) impacted their psychological distress only. Country-specific variations argue against treating Latina women as a monolithic group. Biculturalism emerged as a more effective integration form. Only spousal support moderated the relationships between contextual factors, psychological distress and acculturative stress. Implications: These findings will inform the development of culturally sensitive clinical interventions. Social work policy makers will gain a comprehensive understanding of resources needed to promote a healthy integration of Latina women into the U.S. Community organizers are encouraged to advocate on behalf of multi-cultural immigration policies that enable the retention of aspects of native culture deemed to buffer Latina women from the negative impact of contextual factors and acculturative stress. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

Thesis advisor: Pratyusha Tummala-Narra / The present-day sociopolitical climate, with its noxious anti-immigrant sentiment and policies, has increased the emotional stress experienced by immigrant-origin populations. This dissertation presents findings from research that explored the relationship between race-and ethnicity-based discrimination, exposure to trauma, and psychological distress among a sample of Central American–origin immigrants and refugees in the United States. Informed by socio-ecological and contemporary acculturation theory, this research extended the traumatic stress and migration literature by examining how a global sense of social connectedness, as well as a sense of belonging to one’s ethnic community or the mainstream community, may mitigate or exacerbate the influence of discrimination and trauma on mental health. In addition, this research explored the potential moderating role of immigrant generation and documentation status. Participants (N=89) between 18 and 70 years of age completed surveys both online (N=28) and in person (N=61). Survey instruments included a demographic questionnaire, the Perceived Racism Scale for Latinos (PRSL), the Trauma History Questionnaire (THQ), the Social Connectedness Scale – Revised (SCS-R), the Social Connectedness in Mainstream (SCMN) and the Social Connectedness in the Ethnic Community (SCETH) scales, as well as measures to assess for symptoms of depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), posttraumatic stress (PCL-C), and somatization (SSS-8). Ordinary least-squares regression analyses revealed that discrimination and exposure to trauma significantly predicted psychological distress. Higher levels of social connectedness predicted lower levels of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Mainstream social connectedness was found to moderate the association between exposure to trauma and PTSD such that for individuals with low levels of SCMN, posttraumatic stress was consistently relatively high regardless of the degree of trauma exposure. For those individuals with high SCMN, posttraumatic stress symptoms were low when trauma exposure was low. However, all individuals regardless of their sense of mainstream belonging experienced high PTSD when trauma exposure was high. In addition, a lower sense of mainstream belonging augmented the strength of the association between discrimination on depression, whereas a stronger sense of mainstream belonging reduced the strength of this relation. Specifically, individuals with low SCMN reported higher depressive symptoms with increasing perceived discrimination, while individuals with high SCMN reported similar levels of depression even at increasing levels of discrimination. Analyses did not support moderation effects for ethnic social connectedness, immigrant generation and documentation status. The study’s strengths and limitations as well as its significance for future research and practice are discussed. Implications highlight the multifaceted and dynamic nature of belongingness in the context of discrimination and trauma, and speak to the importance of culturally responsive and multi-systemic interventions. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: Thanh V. Tran / Purpose: According to census estimates, Asians are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in the US, and the fastest growing group among all elderly. This study examines the impact of acculturation, measured as English ability, along with other predictors on health for older Asian Americans. Data Sources: Data from the 2009 American Community Survey and the National Latino and Asian American Study were used to examine large-scale population characteristics of Asian American elderly. Measures: A broad view of health (physical, mental, Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living(iADLs)) was examined using items capturing functional disability. Psychological health was examined using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Analytical Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis, logistic regression analysis, and path analysis was conducted. Results: CFA suggests scales are reliable for use. Cross-cultural comparability was found for psychological distress, but not for functional disability. Results indicated that English ability predicted lower disability, but had no relationship to psychological distress. Higher levels of intergenerational family conflict increased distress for Asian elders. Perceived discrimination, which represents a form of social marginalization, emerged as a key mediating variable and was consistently associated with poorer mental health. Conclusion: This study provided key insights into the applicability and measurement invariance of two key measures of health for older Asian Americans. While the measures captured health reasonably well, the results suggest confounds for this population, which may be due to perceptions of disability, language, immigration status, social networks, health insurance status, and access to services. Acculturation is a process involving the individual and the family, and can cut across age groups and generations. Policies should emphasize the development of culturally-specific services for Asian American elders. The study highlights that social workers must engage families across generations and the lifespan when working with Asian elders. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

The aim of this study is to from a qualitative perspective develop a deeper understanding of how religiously conservative homosexuals with deeply held religious views, experience and tackle the conflict between their religiousity and sexuality. I am also interested in how this conflict might contribute to psychological distress, if at all. To settle these curiosities the essay will address the following questions: how does two homosexual orthodox jews and one homosexual muslim experience and handle the conflict between their sexuality and their religious convictions? And: Does this conflict contribute to psychological distress? If so, how does it manifest? As indicated by the first question, the study will only include a small sample size of three persons. The aforementioned people are portrayed in the documentaries ”A Jihad for love” or ”Trembling before G-d”, and their stories constitute the material that will be used to answer the research questions. To analyse this material I have chosen an inductive approach, and Festingers theory regarding cognitive dissonance is later implemented. This theory suggests that human beings constantly strive towards a sense of consistensy, and when incoherencies appear the person is automatically motivated to solve or relieve them. The result of the study found that the sample size prioritized their religiousity over their sexuality and they all described the experience of the conflict between the two identity aspects in negative terms. To handle this discrepancy two of the research subjects had tried to change their sexual attractions, or is still trying to. The third person balanced their sexual and religious identity and sought solace in LGBT events whilst staying married to her husband and engaging in orthodox jewish life. The study also manages to establish a link between the aforementioned conflict and psychological distress.

Background: Previous research has reported positive correlations between perfectionism, anxiety and depression within community adolescent samples. Psychological distress has the potential to develop into adulthood; therefore consideration is required about potential mechanisms that could positively impact on this trajectory. Self-compassion has been shown to be negatively associated with psychopathology and positively related to psychological well-being. It has also been found to be inversely related to maladaptive perfectionism (negative aspects of perfectionism) in adult populations. No previous studies have examined both constructs of perfectionism and self-compassion in an adolescent population and what impact they may have on psychological distress and well-being. Aims: This research had two aims: 1. Conduct a systematic literature review exploring the relationship between perfectionism and anxiety/stress in young people; 2. Establish empirically whether perfectionism and self-compassion have a role in the prediction of psychological distress and psychological well-being in an adolescent population. Method: For the first aim a systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify studies that explored the relationships between perfectionism and anxiety/stress in young people. Fourteen papers were identified which were subsequently subjected to methodological appraisal using quality criteria. To address the second aim an empirical study was conducted. It was a cross-sectional, quantitative design using self-report surveys, in an adolescent population (n=128; 64.1% female, mean age 16.24 years) across schools in Edinburgh. Results: The results of the systematic review suggested that there is a significant relationship between perfectionism and anxiety and/or stress in young people; however, some inconsistent results were found between the perfectionism subtypes and their impact on anxiety. Methodologically, the studies held good internal validity, but external validity was poor meaning that the ability to generalise findings beyond the remit of the studies was questionable. The results of the empirical study demonstrated a significant relationship between perfectionism and self-compassion and a subsequent relationship with psychological distress and psychological well-being in the adolescent population. An interaction effect between perfectionism and self-compassion was also established for some of the variables, with self-compassion playing a particularly significant role in this relationship. Conclusions: Overall, there is evidence to suggest a link between perfectionism and psychopathology in adolescents. The factors of perfectionism and self-compassion demonstrated a significant relationship, with both constructs having an impact on psychological well-being in particular. Self-compassion demonstrated a strong predictive relationship to both psychological distress and psychological well-being. The significant findings regarding self-compassion in particular suggest that it may be a potential strategy for working with young people (either clinically or in academic settings) who experience psychological distress related to perfectionistic tendencies. Further research exploring perfectionism and self-compassion and the link with psychopathology in adolescents is much needed. In particular, studies are required which attempt to focus on this area with alternative designs (non cross-sectional), different methodologies and various clinical and non-clinical adolescent populations.

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the literature on the educational outcomes and protective factors (i.e., support systems) in the lives of Latino immigrant youth, with a special emphasis on how these experiences relate to and are impacted by their migration experiences. Using the cultural-ecological theoretical framework and the Stages of Migration framework, this study utilized an existing data set to explore the relationships between migration stress, psychological distress, experiences of discrimination, and awareness of discrimination in relation to educational outcomes in a sample of 281 Latino immigrant youth. These relationships were then examined to see if they differed as a function of perceived support, gender, and school type (i.e., middle school versus high school). Structural equation modeling was utilized to test the hypothesized model that included migration stress, psychological distress, and education outcomes. The structural model showed very good fit. Results suggest that migration stress has a significant direct effect on psychological distress and on educational outcomes among Latino immigrant youth. Participants reporting high migration stress reported greater psychological distress and had poorer educational outcomes with respect to academic grades, educational aspirations, and educational expectations. Moderation testing indicated the structural model did not vary as a function of perceived support, gender, or school. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The current study examined the roles of emotional intelligence (attention, clarity, and repair) and coping styles (reactive and suppressive) in the relationship between adult attachment and interpersonal and psychological distress. Participants were 233 undergraduate students from a Southeastern university who completed a battery of self-report questionnaires, including the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems. This study utilized latent structural equation modeling in order to explore the well-established link between adult attachment and distress. Results support the notion that both emotional intelligence and coping styles are important variables to include when conceptualizing the relationship between attachment style and psychological and interpersonal distress. Whereas avoidant attachment was found to distinctively relate to emotional intelligence, anxious attachment uniquely related to coping style. Lastly, emotional intelligence and coping styles directly related to psychological and interpersonal distress. Research and clinical implications are discussed.