College is recognized by many researchers to be an exceptionally stressful period of
development. Despite considerable theoretical and empirical attention, many questions
still remain regarding the experience of stress among college students. There is a
dearth of multivariate investigations in this area and, to date, no clear consensus exists
among researchers as to which coping strategies best attenuate negative affect, and
whether male and female students cope with stress in different ways. As such, the
purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to examine the goodness of fit of a model
depicting multivariate relations among self-report measures of appraised stress
(Cohen, Kamarch, & Mermelstein, 1983), dispositional coping strategies (Carver,
1997), and negative affect (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1997); and (b) to identify, whether
the model relations varied by gender. The model, based on previous research with
college students (e.g., Dunkley et al., 2000; Soderstrom et al., 2000), specified that
students' appraised stress would predict their negative affect, and that coping would
partially account for the relation between these variables. Results derived from a large
sample (N=1088) of college students (females, n=562; males, n=526) indicated
that the model fit the data well, with no observed gender differences. The model
pulled together common observations in the stress literature, and a more
comprehensive and parsimonious understanding of college student stress has emerged.
Overall, the model is a useful heuristic device (a) to understand, assess, and diagnose
college student stress, as well as (b) to identify and target specific areas for
intervention to promote well-being among college students. / Graduation date: 2004
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/29938 |
| Date | 12 May 2003 |
| Creators | Eisenbarth, Christopher A. |
| Contributors | Champeau, Donna A. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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