The presence of a sexually transmitted infection (STI) causes numerous physiological and psychological changes in the lives of those infected. In general, people with STIs tend to have higher rates of depression, higher rates of stress, and lower levels of self-esteem as a result of the disease. The notion of stress management for individuals with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection is even more critical in that research suggests stress and depression are associated with lower levels of immune functioning. Review of medical and social science literature revealed a substantial gap in research that examined the impact of health stress and depressive symptomatology among young adults with HPV infection. The purpose of this study was to examine differences among young adults with HPV, young adults with other STIs, and young adults with no sexually transmitted infections with regard to general health stress, gynecologic/urologic health stress, and depressive symptomatology. This study also examined the mediating effects of partner connectedness and self-esteem on the relationship between general health stress and depressive symptomatology when controlling for gender among the groups. Additionally, the mediating effects of partner connectedness and self-esteem on the relationship between gynecologic and urologic health stress and depressive symptomatology were also examined among the three groups. Family Stress Theory, the ABCX model, and Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development were utilized as the theoretical frameworks for this research. Data for this study were taken from the third wave of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative survey of adolescent health behaviors and outcomes in young adulthood. The sample consisted of 322 young adults who participated in Wave III interviews when they were between 18 and 26 years of age. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to validate the index of questions chosen a priori (based on theoretical considerations) for each variable by demonstrating that its constituent items load on the same factor, and to eliminate proposed items which cross-loaded on more than one factor. Factor scores and reliabilities of the models were computed to ensure unidimensionality and internal consistency as estimated by a coefficient alpha level. Other assessments of adequacy were done to test the hypothesized factor models, including the Keiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and the Bartlett Test of Sphericity. One-way analysis of variance was conducted to test the hypotheses that there would be no group differences with regard to levels of general and gynecologic/urologic health stress, partner connectedness, self-esteem, and depressive symptomatology. A series of hierarchical regression analyses and a 3x2 factorial analysis of covariance were conducted to address the three research questions posed for this study. Results of this study yielded significant differences among young adults with HPV, young adults with other STIs, and young adults with no STIs, with regard to depressive symptomatology and partner connectedness. Respondents with HPV and other STIs experienced higher levels of depressive symptomatology than those with no STIs; however, young adults with no STIs reported significantly more partner connectedness than those with HPV and those with other STIs; young adults with other STIs reported significantly more partner connectedness than those with HPV. For young adults with HPV, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that general health stress and being female were significant predictors of depressive symptomatology. General health stress was the only factor in this group to have significant effects on depressive symptomatology, in that an increase in general health stress resulted in an increase in depressive symptomatology. Among respondents with other STIs, general health stress and partner connectedness were significant predictors of depressive symptomatology. General health stress was the only factor to have significant effects on depressive symptomatology in this group, in that an increase in general health stress resulted in an increase in depressive symptomatology. For young adults with no STIs, only self-esteem significantly predicted depressive symptomatology. In addition, self-esteem was the only factor to have significant effects on depressive symptomatology, in that as self-esteem increased among this group, depressive symptomatology decreased. The model that incorporated gynecologic/urologic health stress had no predictive ability among any of the groups, which indicated a poor fit of the model. Related findings indicated that females experienced significantly more depressive symptomatology and higher levels of gynecologic/urologic health stress than males; however, males perceived that their health was significantly better than females. With regard to health perceptions among groups, respondents with no STIs perceived that their health was better than those with HPV and those with other STIs. Implications for research, theory, and family health education are provided, including recommendations for future studies, theoretical applications, and the role of family and health educators in general health stress and HPV prevention. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2008. / March 19, 2008. / Self-esteem, Partner Connectedness, HPV, Depression, Stress, Sexually Transmitted Infections / Includes bibliographical references. / Carol A. Darling, Professor Directing Dissertation; Marsha Rehm Departmental, Committee Member; Gary Peterson, Outside Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182627 |
| Contributors | Fairclough, Jamie L. (Jamie Latoya) (authoraut), Darling, Carol A. (professor directing dissertation), Departmental, Marsha Rehm (committee member), Peterson, Gary (outside committee member), Department of Family and Child Sciences (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds