Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: Hope
- Creators: Camacho de Anda, Andrea
- Creators: Eisenberg, Nancy
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Resource Type: Text
- Status: Published
Description
Interpersonal strain is linked with depressive symptoms in middle-aged adults. Self-compassion is an emerging resilience construct that may be advantageous in navigating relationship strain by helping individuals respond to emotions in a kind and nonjudgmental way. Although theory and empirical evidence suggests that self-compassion is protective against the impact of stress on mental health outcomes, many studies have not investigated how self-compassion operates in the context of relationship strain. In addition, few studies have examined psychological or physiological mechanisms by which self-compassion protects against mental health outcomes, depression in particular. Thus, this study examined 1) the extent to which trait self-compassion buffers the relation between family strain and depressive symptoms, and 2) whether these buffering effects are mediated by hope and inflammatory processes (IL-6) in a sample of 762 middle-aged, community-dwelling adults. Results from structural equation models indicated that family strain was unrelated to depressive symptoms and the relation was not moderated by self-compassion. Hope, but not IL-6, mediated the relation between family strain and depressive symptoms and the indirect effect was not conditional on levels of self-compassion. Taken together, the findings suggest that family strain may lead individuals to experience less hope and subsequent increases in depressive symptoms, and further, that a self-compassionate attitude does not affect this relation. Implications for future self-compassion interventions are discussed.
ContributorsMistretta, Erin (Author) / Davis, Mary C. (Thesis advisor) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Within a positive youth development framework, Lerner and colleagues posited that youth and young adults are societal assets that support the pillars of democracy and incite community contribution through the development of individual character strengths. Strengths might include hope and civic attitudes, which researchers have linked to numerous positive outcomes; however, connections to civic behaviors are largely unknown. Developmentally, shifting identities, excitement about the future, and an introduction into formal citizenship within U.S. society characterize the emerging adulthood period. Emerging adulthood is also characterized by burgeoning relationships and service opportunities, particularly on college campuses. These factors make emerging adulthood a prime context in which to investigate the aims of the current study, which centered on investigation of the development of hope and civic attitudes, and how each contributed to civic engagement including interpersonal prosocial behavior, community volunteering, and political behaviors. Effortful control was hypothesized to play a role in relations as an intrapersonal factor that implicated relations between hope and civic attitudes and outcomes, and was therefore included as a moderator. Sample consisted of 217 emerging adults (~ 67% female, 58% White, 30% Pell-grant eligible, 19-20 years old) across three time points at a major university in the southwest U.S. from spring 2019 to spring 2020. Path models, structural equation models, and moderation analyses evidenced direct relations between hope and interpersonal prosocial behavior. Civic attitudes directly related to community volunteering and political engagement. Transactional relations between hope and civic engagement were not apparent. Similarly, moderation analyses showed no interactive effects between hope and civic attitudes and effortful control on study outcomes. Findings evidenced stability in hope and civic attitudes across early emerging adulthood and invited future work investigating the development of each in early adolescence and later emerging adulthood. Future interventions might prioritize the development of hope in efforts to increase interpersonal prosociality and civic attitudes to increase volunteering and political engagement among emerging adults, where civic engagement has been historically low. Overall, findings supported hope and civic attitudes as hallmarks of positive youth development with the potential to uniquely contribute to community enhancement in emerging adulthood.
ContributorsFraser, Ashley Michelle (Author) / Spinrad, Tracy L (Thesis advisor) / Bryce, Crystal I (Committee member) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Morris, Stacy L (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
The United States has historically been perceived as a “nation of immigrants'' dueto its eclectic racial and ethnic make-up. Nonetheless, the nation’s relationship and attitudes towards immigrants have been predominantly negative, especially with Latinx immigrants. The criminalization of Latinx immigration has led to an array of poor psychosocial outcomes for those who arrive and remain within the United States. Numerous studies have found a significant positive relationship between discrimination and elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and stress among Latinx immigrants. Seeing that Latinxs are projected to become 25% of the U.S. population by 2060, there is an urgent need for the development of culturally-affirming interventions grounded on protective factors unique to this population. This study sought to expand on the current literature surrounding the relationship between discrimination and poor mental health outcomes in Latinx immigrants, by determining whether hope and optimism serve as protective factors. Findings from a multi-step linear regression analysis showed that hope and optimism do have a significant moderation effect on Latinx mental health outcomes. Nonetheless, results varied by gender and mental health construct between depression, anxiety, and stress. The findings from this study provide an additional antidote for ameliorating the pernicious effects of discrimination concerning this cultural group. Recommendations informed by these findings are made for social work practice, policy reform, and research.
ContributorsCamacho de Anda, Andrea (Author) / Becerra, David (Thesis advisor) / Lechuga-Peña, Stephanie (Committee member) / Athens, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021