Specialist in Education (Ed.S.), University of Dayton, 0, School Psychology

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students may experience stress related to acculturation experiences, specifically in balancing the tension between conforming to mainstream cultural pressures and maintaining the values and traditions of their culture of origin. This qualitative study will share results from a focus group conducted with first- and second-generation American students regarding experiences of acculturative stress. Nine first and second generation CLD students were interviewed over Zoom and Google Meets meetings about their acculturative experiences. Students described their experiences as difficult and sometimes burdensome, rather than stressful. Included in this research exploration is a discussion of effective strategies students employ to manage acculturative stress at home and in school and how educators and school-based mental health providers can provide support.

Committee: Elana Bernstein (Advisor); Susan Davies (Committee Member); Robyn Coleman (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology; School Counseling

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2013, Clinical Psychology (Arts and Sciences)

National surveys indicate that approximately 15.9 percent of full-time students attending 4-year universities in the U.S. for the first time come from families where neither of their parents attended college (Pryor et al. 2006). These "first-generation college students" have been deemed an at-risk group based on evidence that they experience extensive stressors, both those related to adjusting to being a college student generally as well as unique disadvantages and heightened stressors related to factors associated with their first-generation status (Choy, 2001; Pryor et al., 2006; Thayer, 2000). Although previous studies have examined the outcomes of stress management programs for college students, these studies have methodological limitations and no known study has examined the areas of impact of such an intervention for first-generation college students specifically. Accordingly, the present project examined important adjustment outcomes of a stress management program designed to help first-generation freshman effectively cope with the demands of college life. Using a RCT design, 56 incoming first-generation college students were randomly assigned to either a control or an intervention group. Participants in the intervention group participated in a weekly 7-session mind/body stress management and support group. All participants completed a pre- and post-intervention assessment that included measures of distress/impaired functioning, social support, health promoting behaviors, adaptive coping, and academic performance. Using MANCOVA, controlling for pre-intervention differences between groups, there was a significant difference at post-intervention between the intervention and control group on the combined dependent variables. Specifically, the intervention group reported significantly lower distress and impaired functioning, significantly greater social support, marginally greater health promoting behaviors, and no significant difference in perceived stre (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Bernadette Heckman Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Garske John Ph.D. (Committee Member); Anderson Timothy Ph.D. (Committee Member); Marcks Brook Ph.D. (Committee Member); Meyer Hans Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Education; Counseling Psychology; Psychology

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

Although considerable research has established a bidirectional relationship between depression and stressful life events, more research is needed to elucidate mechanisms accounting for the pathway between depressive symptoms and future stressors. The present study attempted to bridge this gap and explored interrelationships among facets of sleep, including sleep quality (SQ), sleep onset latency (SOL), and total sleep time (TST), negative and positive affect (NA, PA), and stressful life events in a sample of college students (n = 158). Mediation models tested the relevance of sleep in explaining how affect predicted future stressors. Given previously established bidirectional relationships between affect and sleep, affect indices were also modeled as mediators in the relationships between facets of sleep and future stressors. Results showed that sleep quality was bidirectionally linked with NA and PA. A bidirectional relationship was also found between TST and NA. Moreover, sleep quality predicted future stressors, but not vice versa. Stressors also predicted NA, but not vice versa. NA was found to mediate sleep quality's effect on future stressors, and TST's effect on future stressors. No other mediational effects were found. These findings illustrate the complexity of relationships with affect, sleep, and stressors. Moreover, these results suggest sleep's relevance in better understanding stress generation and underscore sleep quality as an important treatment target.

Committee: Jeffrey Ciesla (Advisor); John Updegraff (Committee Member); Kristen Marcussen (Committee Member); Mary Gallagher (Committee Member); Joel Hughes (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2022, Mechanical Engineering

The development of next generation electrode materials provides the opportunity to significantly increase the energy density of lithium-ion batteries. These materials form alloy compounds with lithium and have specific capacities that are much higher than of graphite. Of these materials, silicon, which has a theoretical capacity of ~4200 mAh/g, is the closest to commercialization. However, silicon experiences large volume changes during the lithiation and delithiation processes. This ultimately leads to stress generation within the particle causing fracture, loss of active material, and rapid loss of cell capacity. The differences in behavior for silicon-based anodes compared to traditional graphite anodes highlights the need for the development of physics-based models to capture the effects of volume change and stress generation on the solid-state diffusion process. One such model proposed by Christensen and Newman describes the effects of diffusion, volume change, and stress generation in a spherical electrode particle. This mathematical model takes the form of an index-2 set of differential and algebraic equations which require implicit numerical methods to obtain a solution. Due to the mathematical complexity and high computational time and memory requirements, this model is not suited for controls or estimation-based applications. This thesis presents a mathematical reformulation of the Christensen-Newman equations using index-reduction to obtain a semi-explicit index-1 version of the model. Index reduction allows for the differential and algebraic equations to be decoupled enabling the use of explicit time marching methods. This reformulation will enable the integration of this model into larger cell level frameworks as well as estimation and controls-based applications. The reduced index model is verified against a fully implicit benchmark solution for a graphite anode. A local sensitivity analysis is performed to ascertain the effects of the mechanical (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Marcello Canova (Advisor); Jung Hyun Kim (Committee Member) Subjects: Mechanical Engineering

MA, Kent State University, 2020, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

The stress generation literature has established a bidirectional relationship between depression and stressors. Not only do stressful life events predict depressive episodes, but depressive history is also linked to increased, future stressors. One mechanism that has received little attention to account for this relationship is sleep. Sleep difficulties are well associated with depression, both as a predictive and maintenance factor. Beyond depression, sleep disruption is also a factor in various stressful events, from an increased risk of accidents to higher reports of interpersonal conflict. The present study explored the role of sleep quality and sleep duration to account for depression's association with stressors. Ninety-six college students reported on their depressive symptoms before undergoing a two-week, online diary, where they reported on sleep quality, sleep duration, and the number of stressors experienced. Two, generalized structural equation models (GSEMs) were used to test the unique relevance of both sleep quality and duration, to account for baseline depressive symptoms' predicting average differences in stressors over the diary. Within each GSEM, a multilevel model was used to explore the daily, within-person association of either sleep quality or duration and the number of stressors reported. Baseline depression was predictive of poorer sleep quality and more stressors. Moreover, sleep quality also mediated the effect of depression on stress generation, accounting for 9.97% of the variance. On a daily level, poorer sleep quality and less sleep duration the night before also predicted more stressors the next day. However, sleep duration was not associated with depression, nor did it mediate the depression's relationship with stress generation. The results suggest that both sleep quality and duration may help explain future stress generation. Sleep quality, in particular, appears to be a relevant mechanism in the prediction of f (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jeffrey Ciesla (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2017, Antioch New England: Clinical Psychology

The allocation of educational resources has been a widely debated topic. While scholars and government officials have focused their attention on how resources are divided, significantly less attention has been paid to how parents are advocating for their children to obtain necessary resources themselves. Existing data agree that fighting for educational resources can cause stress to parents (Levine, 2006). This is especially true for parents of children with learning disabilities. These children often require more individualized academic and educational attention. Currently, little research exists which focuses on the relationship between parental stress and parental self efficacy (the belief that one has an ability to accomplish a task) and none of the existing research focuses on parents of learning disabled children specifically. Self-efficacy is particularly important for those seeking resources for their children because parents who believe they can gain resources for their children are more likely to attempt to do so. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between parental stress and parental self-efficacy as well as understand the impact socioeconomic status has on parental perception of efficacy. Using a series of regression models, I determined that there is a negative correlation between stress and self-efficacy but that socioeconomic status seems to have no impact on the strength of this relationship. Such results suggest that regardless of socioeconomic status, the more stress Generation X parents feel, the less self-efficacious they feel. While no significant moderation was found, understanding the relationship between self-efficacy and parental stress of Generation X parents is still important. This information can help inform mental health practitioner's conceptualization and treatment of parents of learning-disabled children.

Committee: Martha Straus Phd (Committee Chair); Barbara Belcher-Timme PsyD (Committee Member); Gina Pasquale PsyD (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), Wright State University, 2012, School of Professional Psychology

The current generation of college students, the Millennials (Howe & Strauss, 2000, 2007) lead highly pressured and achievement-oriented lives. Along with generational changes, change is occurring on university campuses, especially in terms of mental health demographics. There is an increase in the severity of presenting concerns reported by students as seen at counseling centers (Gallagher, 2008), and more students with existing mental health diagnoses are seeking college admissions (Gallagher, 2009). Changes in the current college student generation and socio-cultural changes underscore the need for an effective stress-reduction program for university students. Mindfulness-based interventions have received attention from researchers and clinicians. The current dissertation modifies the traditional Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Kabat-Zinn, 1990) to propose a new format for facilitating a mindfulness group suited for beginning meditators within the Millennial college student population. In addition to emphasizing flexibility of the group program, the handbook includes information on conducting pre-group screening, debriefing, assessment of members' mindfulness skills, and allied mindfulness practices such as Tai chi and Qigong. Future directions include gathering empirical support for the proposed format and including practices suitable for college students with severe psychological concerns.

Committee: Robert Rando PhD, ABPP (Committee Chair); Jeffrey Allen PhD, ABPP (Committee Member); Daniela Burnworth PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Higher Education; Psychology; Psychotherapy