The literature has documented that negative life events such as divorce, financial issues, or relationship changes lead to various psychological concerns including depression, anxiety, or suicidal behaviors. However, several variables affect how people cope with negative life events. Among those variables, optimism, hope, and gratitude have been emphasized in the literature, and their relationships with several psychological outcomes have been studied. However, little is known about the effects of these variables on negative life events and their relationship to psychological distress and life satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between negative life events and psychological distress and life satisfaction. This study also examined the moderating effects of optimism, hope, and gratitude on negative life events' prediction of psychological distress and life satisfaction. This investigation tested the theoretical model that negative life events predicted psychological distress and life satisfaction in undergraduate students (N = 738). In addition, this investigation tested three theoretical interaction models that optimism, hope and gratitude moderated the relationships between negative life events and psychological distress and life satisfaction. The results revealed that negative life events predicted psychological distress and life satisfaction. Regarding moderating effects, optimism hope, and gratitude moderated negative life events' prediction of psychological distress, but not life satisfaction. These results are consistent with the existing literature on negative life events. The results and limitations are discussed along with suggestions for future research. Implications are presented for college counselors and counselor educators.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-6073 |
| Date | 01 January 2016 |
| Creators | Gungor, Abdi |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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