Univ., Diss.--Freiburg i. d. Schweiz, 2004.

The Australian Zebra Finch, Taeniopygia guttata, is a common vertebrate model for understanding behavioral, neurological, and physiological changes across the life span. The goal of this study was to determine if color in the environment can act as a stimulus and activate the zebra finch stress response. Zebra finches are diurnal and have color vision. Their plumage coloration is sexually dimorphic and they show behavioral changes to color; females prefer males with redder beaks, and both sexes show individual color preferences for materials in nest building. This experiment was conducted to test whether or not a novel color in the environment can elicit a stress response. A colored poster board was introduced to the adult zebra finches’ habitat, and behavioral changes were measured immediately and then again after twenty four hours. In addition, plasma corticosterone (CORT), the main avian stress hormone, concentrations were measured twenty four hours after introduction of the color stimulus. The introduction of the color stimuli resulted in immediate behavioral changes in the birds and increased activity was observed with the addition of green, blue, and red stimuli and decreased activity with the addition of yellow. However, after twenty four hours there were no changes in behavior or plasma CORT levels for any of the colors. These findings suggest that zebra finches show varied behavioral responses to novel stimuli based on color differences and that these changes are temporary.

This diploma thesis is focused on stressors influencing patients in hospital care. The theoretical part describes stress and stressors, the influence of stress on the state of health, and I further deal with health and illness and the importance of the support provided by the patient?s family in the course of treatment. In the practical part I compare results that I obtained from three medical facilities. The first objective of my thesis was to find out what kind of stressors hospitalised patients meet with most frequently. To achieve this objective, I set a hypothesis. H1 ? The extent of stress load in patients depends on the extent of information on their illness, course of treatment and nursing care. Another objective of mine was to compare whether the extent of stress is different in various departments. This is dealt with in the second hypothesis. H2 - The extent of stress is influenced by the type of department in which the patient is hospitalised. My last objective was to find out what helps patients to deal with stressful situations. To achieve this objective, I set the third hypothesis. H3 ? Dealing with stress when staying in hospital depends on the functionality of the patient?s family and the attitude of the nursing staff. To conduct the research I employed the method of quantitative survey in the form of questionnaires. The questionnaire contained altogether 21 questions. I chose three facilities of medical care to obtain the required data. The target group were clients hospitalised in the hospital in České Budějovice, further in the hospital in Český Krumlov and in the hospital in Prachatice. The total number of correctly completed questionnaires is 228, which means that 57% of correctly completed ones out of 400 returned. The results have proved that hypothesis No. 1 has a considerable influence on patients? stress because patients with a high rate of information experience high stress only in 6.9 per cent, while patients with an insufficient rate of information experience high stress up to 58.6 per cent. In hypothesis No. 2, I also succeeded in proving a considerable influence, because up to 20.2 per cent of patients in surgical departments experience high stress, while it is only 5.3 per cent of respondents in internal departments. In hypothesis No. 3, a considerable influence has also been proved, because patients with functioning families experience low stress to a much larger extent, while low stress in patients with non-functioning families was experienced by only a small number of respondents. Similarly, the attitude of medical staffs influences the extent of stress. The results of my research can be offered to various kinds of facilities of medical and social care, to improve the quality of nursing care and eliminate some stressors. Further, these results can be offered to students of various branches of medicine studies. However, this research is of noticeable importance for the comfort of patients in various facilities mentioned above.

abstract: This study examined four research questions investigating relationships among the experience of trauma, identity development, distress, and positive change. There were 908 participants in the study, ranging in age from 18 to 24 which is known as the period of emerging adulthood. Participants completed an online survey regarding their exposure to trauma and reactions to these experiences. The first research question examined the experience of trauma for the sample. The second question examined group differences among the participant's identity status, gender, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnostic status on the hypothesized variables. In general, comparisons among the four identity status groups found participants who experienced greater identity exploration (diffused and moratorium) experienced more distress, whereas the identity status groups that reported greater identity commitments (foreclosed and achieved) were associated with positive change. Similar findings were found for PTSD diagnostic status indicating more distress and identity exploration for participants with the diagnosis and more positive change and identity commitments for participants without the diagnosis. Female participants were found to experience more PTS symptoms, centrality of the trauma event, and positive growth than males. Examination of the relationships between trauma severity and posttraumatic growth revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship (quadratic) that was a significant improvement from the linear model. An S-shaped relationship (cubic) was found for the relationship between trauma exposure and posttraumatic growth. Regression analyses found the centrality of the trauma event to one's identity predicted identity distress above and beyond the experience of trauma. In addition, identity distress and the centrality of the trauma contributed to the variance for identity exploration, while only identity distress contributed to identity commitments. Finally, identity development significantly predicted positive change above and beyond, identity distress, centrality of the trauma event, and the experience of trauma. Collectively, these results found both distress and growth to be related to the experience of trauma. Distress within one's identity can contribute to difficulties in the psychosocial stage of identity development among emerging adults. However, the resolution of identity exploration towards commitments to goals, roles, and beliefs, can help trauma survivors experience resilience and growth after stressful experiences. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Counseling Psychology 2013

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Farrell J. Webb / The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between chronic stressors-believed to be a condition present by race, sex, and social class and Well-being when mediated by individual resources and perceptions. Additionally, this study examined the utility of the proposed ABC-WB Model of Well-Being adapted from the ABC-X Model. The data used in this dissertation were gleaned from the 2004 General Social Survey which contained a weighted sample of 3,260 respondents. Several observed indicators were used to define each of the latent constructs corresponding to theoretical variables of the ABC-WB model. Each of these constructs contributed to the overall model in some way despite some inconsistent findings. The utility of the model was examined with multiple indicators for Stressor. None of the four research hypotheses were supported by the tested models. The data models were then respecified. This process did not produce any working structural models as well. Nevertheless, the findings revealed that well-being was an important factor to consider in the ABC-WB model. Despite the shortcomings of the model the stressor measurement revealed a direct but mild relationship with well-being. In all the models, Stressor was tempered by Resources and Perceptions both of which had a strong relationship with well-being. The selected models suggested that despite the lack of fit, largely to do with data restrictions rather than model specificity, the overall ABC-WB model has research potential.

To address commonly cited organizational and personal outcomes in the nursing industry, it is important to identify factors that may mitigate the relationship between workplace stressors and strains such as turnover intentions, job satisfaction, burnout, and injuries. The purpose of the current study is to explore the role of trait resilience on the emotion-centered model of job stress in a sample of U.S. nurses. The study uses a multiwave design to examine the mitigating role of trait resilience on work strains in nurses. In a sample of 185 nurses and 97 multiwave pairs, resilience was found to be significantly related to job-related affect, turnover intentions, job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment. Using multiple regression analyses, the relative effects of four common stressors affecting nurses were compared: interpersonal conflict at work, quantitative workload, emotional labor, and traumatic events. After accounting for the common workplace stressors that nurses experience, interpersonal conflict at work was the only significant predictor of emotional and behavioral strains among nurses. Moreover, resilience was found to moderate the relationship between interpersonal conflict at work and job-related negative affect such that nurses that were high on resilience reported lower job-related negative affect. Given these significant relationships, resilience in the nursing industry should be further explored, as well as the potential for resilience training in the health care sector.

Magister Artium - MA / Wetlands occupy about 6% of the world’s surface and are fragile ecosystems that support a diversity of plants and animals. Wetlands are increasingly recognised for their role in the provision of ecosystem services and contribution to global biodiversity. Despite this, more than half of the world’s wetlands have vanished or been degraded, primarily due to agriculture. Wetlands are constantly adjusting to disturbances occurring within them and within their surrounding landscape. It is important to recognise to what extent various disturbances affect wetlands when assessing disturbance and impact, and when considering wetland protection options. The benefit of the detailed characterisation of the sub-catchments of the Nuwejaars catchment is deepened understanding of how different combinations of land-uses and soils impact catchment hydrology, and ultimately, the wetlands within the catchment

ABSTRACT Burn up syndrome, or a "burnout", was for the first time described in 1974. It is the psychical stadium of the human being in modern society. Especially teachers could be fully burned down. Nowadays is this problem rising up very fast in the group of educators. Teachers are the group in a huge danger of the burnout emergence, where someone could suffer with it at this time. And that`s why was dedicated this research to teachers of chosen Junior and High school. The main goal was to find out the teachers`affection of this syndrome in this concrete chosen school and find out which stressors mainly contribute to rising burnout syndrome. Partial goals should investigate methods and ways used by the teachers of this school and by the school management to protect teachers against the burnout syndrome. The quantitative research was brought into effect by the structural anonymous open, semi - closed and closed questionaire. Documents of investigation were distributed to the chosen school teachers by electronic way. The results of investigation didn't prove the burnout syndrome of this chosen school teachers. But the stressors described in professional literature were confirmed as a source of possible reason of the teachers' burnout syndrome beginning. The investigation also proved the teachers'...

The problem that was examined in this research was to develop and test a conceptual model that describes the relationship between personal financial wellness and worker job productivity. The research questions were (1) what is the personal financial wellness profile?; (2) how does the personal financial wellness profile differ by the demographic characteristics?; (3) what is the relationship between financial stressors and personal financial wellness profile?; (4) what is the relationship between personal financial wellness and financial stress level?; (5) what is the worker job productivity profile?; (6) what is the relationship between personal financial wellness and worker job productivity?; (7) what is the relationship between financial stress and worker job productivity?; and (8) what financial education programs do employees want in the future? In order to test a part of the conceptual model, a survey research design was undertaken. A questionnaire was developed and pre-tested. A mail survey (N=474) of white-collar clerical workers of a large employer located in mid-eastern state was conducted during January, February, and March of 1998. From a random sample of 447 (27 out of original 474 were undeliverable), 288 questionnaires were returned (64.4%). Seventeen questionnaires were determined unusable resulting in a 60.4% usable return rate (271/447). In terms of subjective perception, as a group, the respondents were not financially well. In the behavioral assessment, the respondents reported above a mid-point score. On overall financial wellness scales, the respondents were not satisfied with their financial situation. Personal financial wellness was influenced by some of the demographic characteristics and financial stressors. The lower levels of personal financial wellness were related to the financial stress level. Those who have high levels of personal financial wellness reported better performance ratings, less absenteeism, and less work time used for personal financial matters. Workers are interested in comprehensive financial education programs which include retirement education, better use of employee benefits, money management, credit management, and consumer protection. Some workers are not financially well because they have financial problems. If employers can improve personal financial wellness of workers, such as through financial education, it may increase productivity, because personal financial wellness is related to worker productivity. / Ph. D.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a profound impact on the personal and professional lives of employees globally. Using extant literature on large-scale traumatic events and extraorganizational stressors as a foundation, this thesis explores the effect of supervisor support on the relationship between COVID-19 related fear and diminished employee mental health. Informed by the Social Support Buffering Hypothesis (Cohen & Wills, 1985) and the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping (Lazarus, 1990), and using time-lagged online questionnaire data from 2057 employees residing in Canada and the United States, this study finds a significant positive relationship between COVID-19 fear and poor mental health, such that higher COVID-19 fear was associated with poorer mental health. Results do not support the hypothesized buffering effect of supervisor support on the relationship between fear and poor mental health within the entire sample; however, further (post-hoc) analysis revealed disparate impacts of supervisor support on this relationship according to country of residence. Supervisor support significantly buffered the relationship between fear and poor mental health in the American but not Canadian sample, such that high levels of supervisor support attenuated the relationship between fear and poor mental health. These results have the potential to contribute to the leadership and mental health literature, inform future organizational preparedness, and suggest new, boundary spanning, areas of inquiry for management research.