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.

No description available.

Studien syftade till att undersöka vilka stressorer högskolestudenter upplever samt vilka copingstrategier de använder för att hantera stressorerna. En kvalitativ metod användes där 12 intervjuer med högskolestudenter genomfördes med en semistrukturerad intervjuguide som utgångspunkt. Deltagarna var högskolestudenter mellan 20–30 år. Alla deltagare studerade termin 3 och framåt. Studien visade att studenterna känner sig stressade av arbete i kombination med studier, höga krav, brist på emotionellt stöd, brist på instrumentellt stöd i form av att vara ifrån familjen, eget ansvar, parallella kurser med krockande krav och kommunikationsbrist mellan lärare och elev. Copingstrategier som studenterna använde sig av var planering och struktur, söka socialt stöd, icke studierelaterade aktiviteter och undvikande strategier.

Sensory pollution from artificial night-lighting and anthropogenic noise have increased at a dramatic rate over the last several decades. Alterations to the sensory environment have been found to affect wildlife in a wide variety of ways including behavioral changes, physiological responses, changes in species interactions, and altered community structure. Increased levels of light and noise pollution can originate from many sources including roads, energy development and infrastructure, and urbanization. Even remote or protected areas are not immune to the effects of increased sensory disturbances with 63 percent of protected areas within the United States found to have been exposed to a doubling of background noise levels due to anthropogenic activity and skyglow, the scattering of artificial light by the atmosphere, extending hundreds of kilometers from the source. Despite a large body of work investigating the effects of light or noise pollution acting alone, relatively few studies have examined the effects of both stimuli acting together even though they frequently co-occur. Better understanding how these stressors, especially when present simultaneously, are affecting ecosystems is critical to ongoing mitigation and conservation efforts. In Chapter 1, we investigated the effects of increased levels of light and noise pollution, both singularly and in tandem, on pinyon mouse (Peromyscus truei) activity and body condition. Using a full factorial study design allowed us to isolate the effects of both stimuli when acting alone as well as any potential interactions between the two when both were present. We used standard trapping methods across a gradient of light, noise, and both combined while also accounting for variations in moonlight, vegetative structure, and weather. We found that an increased level of artificial night-lighting resulted in lower trap success of pinyon mice while there was no effect of noise on trap success. There was no effect of elevated light levels on body condition but there was a negative effect of noise on body condition early in the season. Later in the season, neither light nor noise influenced body condition. No interactive effects between light and noise were found. In Chapter 2, we studied the effects of anthropogenic light and noise, singularly and in tandem, on species richness and community structure using camera traps in a manipulative field experiment. We investigated these effects at both the species level and the taxonomic level (nocturnal mammals, diurnal mammals, lagomorphs, birds, mesocarnivores, and ungulates). We showed that both light and noise pollution did alter species richness and that these effects can differ depending on the scale of observation. Increased levels of night-lighting had a scale-dependent effect on species richness such that increases in light levels had a negative effect on richness at the camera level, but light-treated sites had the highest estimated cumulative richness. In contrast, noise was found to have a negative effect on richness for birds. When both stimuli were present, the addition of night-lighting mitigated the effects of noise for birds. For community structure, noise-treated sites were the most dissimilar from other treatments, indicating that increased levels of anthropogenic noise likely have the largest effect on community structure in this study. We also found evidence of a possible rescue effect of light that counteracts the negative effect of noise. That is, combined treatment sites were significantly dissimilar from both light and noise sites but not from the control sites. Together, our results provide evidence that alterations to the sensory environment from anthropogenic activity can affect wild animal populations in multiple ways. As human development increases to meet the demands of growing human populations, more ecosystems will be exposed to increased levels of sensory disturbance, making the understanding of how these changes affect wildlife critical to ongoing conservation efforts.

The current study explored coping and the relationship between coping, stressors, seriousness of delinquency, and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in a sample of 93 (69 male, 24 female, M age=14.3 SD=1.4) court-involved adolescents. Participation took place in the Juvenile Court Clinics of Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties in Massachusetts. Participants completed the Brief COPE (Carver, 1997) with added items to measure aggressive coping, the Behavior Assessment System for Children Parent Report, Second Edition (BASC-2, PRS), and the Self-Report Delinquency Scale (SRD; Elliot, Huizinga, & Ageton, 1985). The documented history of delinquencies and stressors was collected from court records. An exploratory principal component analysis of the 14 subscales of the Brief COPE was conducted yielding 4 factors: approach coping, avoidant coping, seeking support, and emotional coping. Male participants reported more Active Coping than female participants whereas female participants demonstrated more Self-Blame Coping than male participants. Caucasian participants used more Acceptance, Venting, and Seeking Emotional Support than African-American and Hispanic participants. Participants with financial hardships reported using more Denial Coping than participants without financial hardship. Participants who were raised in single-parent households reported less Seeking Emotional Support Coping than participants who were raised in two-parent households. Participants who were subjected to parental physical abuse used less Seeking Instrumental Support Coping than participants without a history of parental physical abuse. Participants with a history of physical abuse between parents reported more Denial than participants without such history. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that the avoidant coping factor was associated with more internalizing symptoms and that the approach coping factor was associated with fewer internalizing symptoms. Coping was not associated with externalizing symptoms or seriousness of delinquency. The current investigation provides preliminary evidence for the use of the Brief COPE scale in court-involved adolescents. Furthermore, the study introduced a novel way of capturing aggressive ways of coping that may be particularly relevant for delinquent populations. The differences in coping strategies as a function of stressor supports an argument that coping is flexible and is influenced by environmental circumstances. Implications of the results include the need to develop coping measures that capture unique dimensions of coping in court-involved adolescents and the need to develop coping-informed interventions for at-risk adolescents.

No description available.

No description available.

This paper examines the relative influence of family stressors and the family’s socioeconomic circumstances on children’s happiness. Data from the 9 year old cohort of the national Growing Up in Ireland study (GUI) was used to examine these relationships. The sample consisted of 8,568 children and their families. The stressors considered were a conflictual parent–child relationship; children with emotional and social problems; parental depression; low parental self-efficacy and child isolation. A group of families and children who were experiencing a higher level of these stressors was identified. This constituted 16 % of the sample. Although socioeconomic disadvantage contributed significantly to the vulnerability of this group, it was by no means the sole or dominant issue. Using the Piers-Harris Happiness and Satisfaction Subscale, children’s self-assessed happiness in this identified group was found to be significantly lower than in the other groups, irrespective of socioeconomic and demographic variables. The family stressors were found to explain more than twice the variance in the children’s happiness than explained by the measures of socioeconomic status. Nonetheless, most of the variance remains unexplained. Future research directions to explore this are indicated.

Little has been published regarding the experiences of seasoned MFTs who not only manage to survive the demands and pressures in the mental health field, but also thrive and find enjoyment in their work. This qualitative study, guided by a phenomenological perspective, provides a rich understanding of the experiences of seasoned MFTs who continue to remain joyous and passionate in their work. Six female peer-nominated therapists, with at least 15 years of clinical experience, from the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area participated in semi-structured interviews. Results from the interviews are organized around six themes: Portrait of passionate seasoned therapist; getting renewed by clinical work; managing spillover; sustaining balance; changing commitment to the profession; and advice to novice therapists. The findings are both consistent with, and add to the literature indicating that accumulated experience is a major resource for therapists and sustaining balance through the use of various self-care strategies is vital. Limitations, suggestions for future research, and implications of this study also discussed. / Master of Science

Several studies about stress have been conducted in different disciplines. However, little attention has been given to studying stress among IT professionals in Sweden despite increasing concern about mental health in the workplace. This study aims to address this gap by examining the main stressors prevalent in the IT profession in Sweden, with the corresponding coping strategies used to mitigate these stressors. The study also examines to what extent existing coping strategies help manage stressors encountered by IT professionals in Sweden. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative methodology was employed, involving semi-structured interviews with a sample of eight participants. The data gathered from these interviews was then systematically coded and analyzed using a deductive thematic analysis approach. The results confirm several stressors and their respective coping strategies and identify a few new ones highlighted in the results chapter and discussed in the analysis chapter.