Hope, optimism, and several markers of religiosity and spirituality were examined as potential moderators of the association between negative life events and depressive symptoms in a secondary data analysis of an ethnically diverse sample. Participants (267 female, 119 male) were college students enrolled at an urban Northeastern university. It was hypothesized that negative life events would be associated with increased depressive symptoms and that higher levels of hope, optimism, and religious and spiritual variables would attenuate this relationship. Ethnically-stratified moderation analyses were conducted to assess for differences in moderation between Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, and Asians. Hypotheses were generally supported, with some ethnic variation in findings. Although hope and optimism predicted decreased depressive symptoms in Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites, optimism was a significant moderator in Whites only. Measures of religiosity were significant moderators among Blacks as well as Whites. Clinical and research implications are explored based on the extant literature.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-3236 |
| Date | 19 December 2009 |
| Creators | Visser, Preston Lee |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright by the authors. |
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