The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived stress feelings of school administrators toward practices and problems associated with their official educational responsibilities. The study was conducted in the Fort Wayne Community Schools, Fort Wayne, Indiana.The objectives of the study were to determine the following: (1) the extent to which school administrators reported experiencing thriteen symptoms of stress, (2) the extent to which school administrators felt that thirty three management practices were stress-producing, (3) the extent to which school administrators felt that twenty eight problems in education were stress-producing, and (4) the extent to which school administrators felt that ten recommendations would be most helpful in minimizing or eliminating stress.The null hypotheses tested in the study were the following: (1) there will be no significant differences in perceived stress between five age-groups, (2) there will be no significant differences in perceived stress between men, women, (3) there will be no significant differencesin perceived stress between three management levels, (4) there will be no significant differences in perceived stress between five time-period groups indicating the length of time a person has been with the system, and (5) there will be no significant difference in perceived stress between five time-period groups indicating the length of time a person has been in the current position.Each of these hypotheses was tested in relation to symptoms of stress, attitudes toward management practices, current problems in education, recommendations for minimizing stress and position complexity.The eighty-four item instrument, School Administrator Stress Survey, was submitted to 260 administrators. A total of 247 participants responded, representing a ninety-five per cent return. A one-way analysis of variance was used to treat the differential data statistically.As a result of the treatment, the null hypotheses for five variables were rejected at the .05 level. The hypotheses for twenty variables failed to be rejected at the .05 level.Based upon the differential data and the findings, the following conclusions were drawn:1. There was a significant difference in perceived stress between school administrators in five different age-groups in the relationship of age-group to position complexity. An indication of greater stress because of position complexity was found in the "31-40 years" age-group than for the other four age-groups.2. There was a significant difference in stress between men and women, in the relationship of sex and stress-reducing recommendations. An indication of greater stress among female than among male administrators was found as indicated by the recommendations made for reducing stress. An indication of greater stress among male than among female administrators because of position complexity was found.3. There was a significant difference in stress between three management levels, in the relationship between management level and position complexity. An indication of greater stress among "upper management level" administrators than for those at the "middle" or "lower" levels because of position complexity was found.4. There was no significant difference in perceived stress between five time-period groups indicating the length o f time a person has been with the system. None o f the five relationships tested indicated a significant difference at the .05 level, therefore this hypothesis failed to be rejected.5. There was a significant difference in perceived stress between five time-period groups indicating the length of time a person has been in the current position. An indication of greater stress because of management practices was found among administrators who had been in their current positions from "1-5 years."As a result of the descriptive data derived, the following conclusions were drawn. For this part of the study, a response level by one third or more (33 1/3 per cent) of those reporting perceived stress was considered critical (serious enough to warrant attention and action).1. Three symptoms of stress were reported above the critical level.2. Three stress-producing management practices were reported above the critical level.3. Twenty three stress-producing problems in education were identified above the critical level.4. Nine stress-reducing recommendations were identified above the critical level.

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2001.

Thesis (MEd (Human Resource Development)) -- University of South Australia, 1993

Addendum inserted (leaf 170 verso) / Some illustrations are on unnumbered leaves. / Bibliography: leaves 151-170. / xiv, 170, [25] leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Lymphocyte 5'-ectonucleotidase (NT) was selected as a mechanism to explain the phenomenon of stress-induced immunosuppression. The findings indicates that NT is a good marker of stress induced immune suppression and correlates negatively with depression scores such as the Beck Depression Inventory, and psychological distress as measured by the TMD scores, and STAI-trait. The suppression of NT appears to be mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS), and is consistent with the finding of normal NT levels in melancholic patients with high antioxidant intake, the heightened inflammatory responses, the low levels of zinc, the low ascorbate stores, and the down regulation of glucocorticoid receptors reported to occur in stress/depressed patients. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1997?

In order to clarify the relationship between anxiety vulnerability and clinical anxiety, information-processing models have been employed to examine the cognitive biases of anxious individuals for threat-related information. At the core of these models are research findings indicating that anxiety-linked attentional biases render high trait anxious individuals disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of stress. The current research, following the model of Williams, Watts, MacLeod, and Matthews (1988), tested the hypothesis that attention to threat-related information is due to the interaction of trait anxiety and state anxiety. / Five comparable studies employed emotional Stroop and probe-detection paradigms to assess the attentional biases of high and low trait anxious individuals to threat-related words in response to elevations of stress. Four of the studies assessed the preconscious and conscious attentional biases of adults and one study investigated the attentional biases of children. This focus allowed developmental comparisons that had not been undertaken previously. The studies were comparable to each other and to previous research. The studies sought to clarify the effects of different forms of stress on the anxiety-linked attentional biases and to assess the effects of these stressors on domain-specific stimuli. The hypotheses were that, in response to elevations in state anxiety, high trait anxious individuals show increased attention to threat and low trait anxious individuals show avoidance of threat. It was expected that these threat-related attentional biases are identified at both preconscious and conscious levels of processing, and more when the stimuli are related to the individuals’ domain of concern. / Contrary to expectations, only one study found the predicted pattern and this result occurred at a conscious level of processing. In addition to the lack of support for the hypotheses, a counter-intuitive alternative pattern that was the converse of predictions was identified in four of the five studies. In this pattern, in response to elevated stress, there was a trend for high trait anxious individuals to show decreased attention to threat and low trait anxious individuals to show increased attention to threat. The pattern was identified, in various studies, at conscious and preconscious levels of processing, and more in response to domain-specific stimuli. Adults and children showed similar levels and types of attentional biases. / The results of the current studies show some convergence with previous research. The findings are discussed in the context of a proposed model that incorporated aspects of Williams et al’s theories (1988; Williams, Watts, MacLeod, & Mathews, 1977) and Mogg and Bradley’s (1988) theory. This model suggests that high and low trait anxious individuals’ patterns of threat-related attentional biases vary according to their different levels of reactivity to stress, which affects their threat threshold. Due to differences in this threat threshold, high and low trait anxious individuals show divergent attentional responses under the same level of external stress. The model incorporates the avoidance effects identified in previous research and theory. This model may explain both the current counter-intuitive findings and past inconsistencies in the literature. It may also clarify how individuals with different levels of anxiety vulnerability show divergent attentional responses to stress elevations. It is suggested that inclusion of the notion of subjective stimulus threat value into the cognitive processing paradigm may clarify some of the unresolved issues raised in this research.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2007. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1989. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [113]-125).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas Woman's University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-64). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas Woman's University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-64).