Browsing by Subject "Stress"

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Approaches to reducing cardiovascular disease risk and stress effects in underserved populations
(2014-06) Witt, Dawn Renee
Background: While the past decade has shown a decrease in mortality and morbidity due to cardiovascular disease (CVD), it remains the leading cause of death for both men and women in the US. The burden of CVD has been demonstrated to disproportionately affect underserved populations. The course and development of CVD has been shown to be affected by modifiable risk factors such as physical inactivity, poor nutrition, smoking, and the psychosocial risk factors of depression, anxiety and stress. Objective: This study sought to explore approaches to reducing cardiovascular disease risk and stress effects in underserved populations; Latina and African American women, and individuals living in a rural population in New Ulm, MN. Method: The first purpose of this dissertation was to describe the results from a secondary data analysis utilizing 2009 and 2011 screening data from the Heart of New Ulm Project (HONU) project. Secondly, we present the results of our recently published literature review that explored the use of motivational interviewing as a technique to reduce CVD risk among African American and Latina women. Results: Women reported higher levels of stress and had higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) compared to men at baseline. Men had a significantly higher diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and reported more physical activity (PA) and a greater history of heart disease compared to women at baseline. No significant difference was found between change in stress level and changes in SBP, PA or CRP for men; however change in stress level was associated with a change in SBP for women. The covariates of body mass index (BMI) and age demonstrated significant associations with the outcome variables for women; among men, smoking, BMI and education had significant association on the outcome measures.None of the community health promotion events were shown to have a direct effect on any of the outcome variables of interest. The female-specific, SBP model demonstrated a borderline significant indirect effect of stress in 2009 via PA and stress in 2011 on SBP in 2011. The female specific, less than moderate PA (< mod PA) and the greater than moderate PA (> mod PA) models both demonstrated significant indirect effects of stress in 2009 via PA and stress in 2011 on < mod PA and > mod PA, respectively. Additionally, stress for females in 2011 was associated with increased CRP in 2011. The male-specific models demonstrated a significant indirect effect of stress in 2009 on > mod PA and < mod PA in 2011 via PA and stress in 2011, respectively. We found that the use of MI in populations of African American and Latina women demonstrated that MI can be an effective technique to reduce CV risk (Witt et al., 2012). It was shown that positive effects were attained in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, decreasing hypertension/lowering SBP, achieving weight loss goals, and improving knowledge of CVD risk modification among those receiving motivational interviewing. Conclusion: The results from this study provide compelling evidence that future work exploring the effects of stress on modifiable risk factors for CVD in underserved populations, particularly physical activity and blood pressure is warranted. The work presented here demonstrate that while the effects of stress on the outcomes of interest were small, more intensive, targeted interventions with individuals experiencing elevated stress may produce more substantive effects in mediating the relationship between stress and physical activity and blood pressure. The small effect sizes found in this study may be due to in part, to the lack of intensity of the interventions delivered via HONU programming and may also be attributed to the fact that the HONU interventions did not specifically have a stress reduction component. Use of behavioral interventions such as motivational interviewing have demonstrated efficacy in supporting positive behavior change and could be used as an adjunct component in CVD risk reduction interventions at the population level, particularly among underserved populations. The key is to deliver the intervention consistently and in a culturally appropriate manner.Recommendations for Future Research:Behavior change programs delivered at the population level and future CVD prevention programming in settings such as New Ulm should continue to build upon the lessons learned from community based projects like HONU, the Minnesota Heart Health Program (MHHP), Pawtucket, and the North Karelia Project. Additionally, more work is needed to determine how to support long-lasting behavior change using techniques such as motivational interviewing and ensure that the modifiable risk factors for CVD are addressed. Targeted interventions that address stress among those experiencing the highest levels of stress may prove to have the most impact in mitigating the effect of stress on other modifiable behaviors. As the results from behavior change interventions have demonstrated, uptake of healthy lifestyle and health promoting behaviors and adhering and maintaining those behaviors are a universal problem, regardless of race and sex. Use of behavioral interventions such as motivational interviewing have demonstrated efficacy in supporting and sustaining positive behavior change and could be used as an adjunct component in CVD risk reduction interventions at the population level, particularly among underserved populations. Developing and implementing targeted interventions that clearly address stress reduction among those at risk for CVD is warranted.
Behaviors and perceptions before and during Ramadan- Tremdina: The Feeling of Ramadan
(2018-05-18) Pankey, Kia, R
Islam is the fasted growing religion in the world33. Each year Muslims celebrate Ramadan, a month-long holiday, to strengthen their faith by abstaining from food, alcohol, sexual activity, cursing, and smoking31,33. During this time, Muslims cease these habitual behaviors rapidly at the start of the holiday. What happens to individuals stress levels and wellbeing when these habitual behaviors stop? The purpose of the study was to analyze the impact of the month of Ramadan on Moroccan individuals in relation to stress. The study includes the perspectives of 54 Moroccans conducted through Google Form surveys in French and English and two personal interviews. The majority of individuals had a sudden measurable change in habitual behavior during Ramadan. However, the majority of individuals did not feel stressed during the month of Ramadan and experienced an array of positive emotions. The novelty of Ramadan and faithfulness to Islam could overshadow an individual’s increase in stress levels during Ramadan due to sudden changes in habitual behavior.
Characterizing the Mechanical Properties of Biological Tissues
(2019-11-12) Wallace, Niko J
This research provides information indicating individual pixel strains can be calculated via a uniaxial test to map the mechanical properties of tissue including the anisotropic nature of diseased tissue.
Chronic stress induces cellular senescence: implications for aging and neurodegenerative disorders
(2022-06) Lyons, Carey
Chronic stress can shorten lifespan and is a risk factor for a diverse range of aging-related diseases. Despite the consistency of this relationship, it remains unclear how stress might affect aging biology. An association between stress exposure and induction of a fundamental aging process such as cellular senescence has been proposed, but experimental evidence is lacking. A complicating factor in human and rodent stress research is the variability of stressors and stress responses themselves. This dissertation presents several studies interrogating the biological processes by which chronic stress may affect aging and disease risk, and probing the relevance of stressor type to these effects. The thesis starts with a review of existing literature supporting the hypothesis that chronic psychological stress can induce cellular senescence. Chapter 2 provides the first experimental evidence causally linking chronic stress with an increase in senescent cells. Moreover, it suggests that a social stress model (chronic subordination stress; CSS), and a nonsocial psychological stress model (restraint stress) despite both most prominently affecting the brain, may be biased towards different senescence pathways (p16 or p21 respectively) and brain regions (hippocampus and cortex). Spatial transcriptomic profiling of the brains of CSS-exposed mice implicates the DNA Damage Response and elevated Ras/Raf signaling as mediators of CSS-induced senescence. CSS-induced SNCs also appears to alter the local microenvironment via pathways including interleukin signaling, and changes to the extracellular matrix. They are also associated with elevated glutamatergic neurotransmission. However, a lifelong pharmacogenetic strategy to eliminate senescent cells was detrimental to healthspan and lifespan and further exacerbates CSS-induced deficits in those measures. With the CNS emerging as a key target of stress-induced SNC, Chapter 3 reviews the association between stress and Alzheimer’s disease, with an emphasis on rodent models. Chapter 4 demonstrates differential effects of CSS and restraint stress on a mouse model of tau pathology (PS19) – one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although our study found only minor detrimental effects of either model, CSS appears to affect some cognitive function via a tau-independent mechanism. Lastly, Chapter 5 presents an unbiased analysis of the proteomic changes shared by mice exposed to lifelong CSS and AD patients. This work replicates the lack-of-effect of CSS on tau pathology, while demonstrating that most of the overlapping proteins were functionally associated with enhanced NMDA receptor mediated glutamatergic signaling, an excitotoxicity mechanism known to affect neurodegeneration. These findings support the association between stress and AD progression and provide valuable insight into potential early biomarkers and protein mediators of this relationship. The results of these studies provide novel insight into the mechanisms by which stress may affect aging and risk for neurodegenerative disease.
Context, cortisol, and executive functions among children experiencing homelessness.
(2011-08) Cutuli, Joseph J.
Homelessness represents a context of risk for child development. Yet, many homeless children show good develop outcomes, nonetheless. The processes of risk and resilience that contribute to this variability involve adaptive systems impacted by factors across levels of analysis, such as cortisol and physiology, executive functions (EF) and other aspects of psychological functioning, and parenting behavior and the family context. This study employs a resilience framework that is grounded in developmental-ecological theory and recognizes factors at multiple levels of analysis. The goal is to elucidate explanatory models of the processes of risk and resilience by incorporating relationships with cortisol, a component of physiological adaptive systems related to the stress response, self-regulation, and other functions. Families in this study were all staying in an emergency homeless shelter and contained a child entering kindergarten or first grade. Children were separated from caregivers and completed a session of cognitive tasks that assessed executive functions and other abilities, followed by a session of parent-child interaction tasks. Saliva samples were collected throughout both sessions and assayed for cortisol concentrations. Parents reported on risk factors and stressful negative life events for each child. Initial levels of child cortisol were negatively related to EF, affirming a proposed inverted-U relationship between cortisol and cognition among this sample of high-risk children. Higher rates of stressful, negative life events were not related to cortisol, nor was positive parenting behavior. However, harsh, hostile, and insensitive parenting behaviors were related to higher levels of child cortisol, but only during the session when parent and child were together. There were no differences based on variables of interested when it came to changes in cortisol over either session. Results are discussed with respect to proposed mechanisms of the interface between cortisol, parenting and EF at different levels of analysis in the context of high developmental risk.
Cure induced stress generation and viscoelasticity in polymer coatings.
(2010-01) O’Neal, Daniel Jeffrey
Coatings solidified by free-radical polymerization and crosslinking (curing) reactions initiated with ultraviolet (UV) light do so quickly and at room temperature. Low viscosity monomer or oligiomer makes the use of volatile solvent unnecessary, decreasing energy use and making the process more environmentally friendly but photoinitiators can be toxic, limiting certain applications. Stress may be generated by a changing specific volume during cure, and stress-induced defects are undesirable. The goal of this research is to understand stress generation in UV irradiated coatings and to model stress generation and viscoelasticity seen during curing. Two new mathematical models were created to accomplish viscoelastic stress modeling. The first, a network model, uses a two-dimensional network of one-dimensional elements to replicate deformation in the coating. The second uses continuum momentum conservation and linear viscoelastic equations. Inertial forces can be neglected and a substitution performed, making the solution more rapid and simple with standard finite element methods. Stress generation in uniformly cured coatings depends on how quickly the specific volume and physical properties change. Reaction kinetics, volume, and stress are calculated simultaneously. Rapid initiation from high initiator concentration or UV light intensity delays volume change, generating more stress because the volume changes with a higher modulus. An optimum curing schedule would insure the actual specific volume and its equilibrium value remain the same. Inhomogeneities in the substrate or the presence of defects change the stress field. Knowing forces on the coating boundaries suggests defect locations and types. Probing the types of geometries and surface roughnesses seen in different types of coatings shows that restricted deformation increases stress concentrations and surface forces seen. Also, avenues for reducing stress via relaxation are discussed. The two-dimensional stress profiles used in these analyses are not possible to measure experimentally, making computational modeling essential. The models developed and methodology presented may be extended to other UV cured coatings or to other methods of coating solidification. Process windows of allowable final conversion-stress-energy-time states suggest what tradeoffs must be made to meet constraints.
EDA Driving Data and Survey Responses
(2023-04-05) Seecharan, Turuna; Tila, Tahrim Zaman; tseechar@d.umn.edu; Seecharan, Turuna; Gamification and Transportation Lab
To find the relation between drivers’ stress levels and driving performance, two types of data were collected: drivers’ stress data, as known as Electrodermal Activity (EDA) Data, and vehicles’ engine data. The purpose of this study is to investigate how drivers’ driving performance changes in higher-stressed situations.
Effects of cognitive stress in handwriting movements in a pursuit loop-drawing task.
(2010-11) Yank, Jane Redfield
The effects of concurrently presented visual traces of hand movements on timing, smoothness, and spatial accuracy were investigated during a loop-drawing tracking task. Thirty-five healthy young right-handed adults used a stylus on a digitizing tablet to track a left-to-right loop-drawing animation presented on a computer monitor. A dot target moved over a template of twelve connected cursive letter e’s, leaving a track as it drew over each loop in the series. Participants were instructed to draw along with the target to reproduce the shape of the loops at the tempo of the target. Participants performed sixteen trials in a 2 × 2 design, eight trials with their trace visible on the computer monitor and eight trials without a visible trace, half with a constant target rate and half with a variable rate change mid-trial. Spatial accuracy was greater when the participant trace was visible, as expected (p < .0001). An inverse relationship was found between drawing speed and spatial accuracy, consistent with the expectation that more spatial errors would occur at increased speeds. However, timing accuracy (p < .0001) and smoothness (p = .0026) decreased when the participant trace was visible. These results suggest that the visual trace of the participant tracking presented on the computer screen disrupted timing characteristics of perception-action coupling and increased the complexity of the task. Findings are discussed in the context of cognitive load.
Effects of Implements of Husbandry (Farm Equipment) on Pavement Performance
(Minnesota Department of Transportation Research Services Section, 2012-04) Lim, Jason; Azary, Andrea; Khazanovich, Lev; Wang, Shiyun; Kim, Sunghwan; Ceylan, Halil; Gopalakrishnan, Kasthurirangan
The effects of farm equipment on the structural behavior of flexible and rigid pavements were investigated in this study. The project quantified the difference in pavement behavior caused by heavy farm equipment as compared to a typical 5-axle, 80 kip semi-truck. This research was conducted on full scale pavement test sections designed and constructed at the Minnesota Road Research facility (MnROAD). The testing was conducted in the spring and fall seasons to capture responses when the pavement is at its weakest state and when agricultural vehicles operate at a higher frequency, respectively. The flexible pavement sections were heavily instrumented with strain gauges and earth pressure cells to measure essential pavement responses under heavy agricultural vehicles, whereas the rigid pavement sections were instrumented with strain gauges and linear variable differential transducers (LVDTs). The full scale testing data collected in this study were used to validate and calibrate analytical models used to predict relative damage to pavements. The developed procedure uses various inputs (including axle weight, tire footprint, pavement structure, material characteristics, and climatic information) to determine the critical pavement responses (strains and deflections). An analysis was performed to determine the damage caused by various types of vehicles to the roadway when there is a need to move large amounts agricultural product.
Effects of Mindfulness in Motion on Adults with Multiple Sclerosis
(2015) Gilbertson, Rachel M; Brice, Lynn; Munson, Bruce
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disorder that can negatively affect physical and cognitive abilities and mental health. Although there is no known cause or cure for MS, increased stress levels is thought to exacerbate symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an eight-week Mindfulness in Motion (MiM) program on adults with MS in areas of stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue and quality of life. Twenty-two adults with MS completed the program and assessments. After comparing pre and post responses of four self-reported questionnaires, significant improvements were seen in physical functioning, vitality, and mental health; specifically anxiety, depression, and positive affect; cognitive, psychosocial, and overall functioning in regard to fatigue, and mindfulness in areas of observation, acting with awareness, non-judgment, and non-reactivity. At the final session, participant feedback was collected via open ended question form and group dialog. Qualitative analysis found improvements in general health, better-quality sleep, increased awareness of body sensations and energy levels, overall improvement in emotional response, enhanced mindful awareness, improved quality of life, and enhanced resiliency through decreased stress. Because of the unknown nature of MS, uncertainty in disease progression, and multiple mental and physical symptoms associated with it, coping and stress reduction are key areas of future research of MS disease management. The positive results from this study support the need for more research to determine the extent to which mindfulness training can improve health outcomes for adults with MS.
Evaluating an online intervention to increase present control over stress
(2013-08) Hintz, Samuel
The temporal model of perceived control is concerned with the perception of control over stressful life events and differentiates between past, present, and future control (Frazier, Berman, & Steward, 2001). To date, present control has been found to be associated with a range of positive outcomes including lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress and higher levels of life satisfaction and physical health (e.g., Frazier, 2003; Frazier et al., 2011). The goal of the three studies presented here was to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of an online intervention designed to increase present control in samples of undergraduate students coping with stress. In an initial pilot test (Study 1, N = 31), our online intervention increased present control in both within group (pre/post within intervention group, d = .56) and between group (intervention group vs. stress-information only group, d = .51) analyses. In Study 2 (N = 34), a refined intervention produced larger within-group increases in present control (d = .79). Finally, Study 3 (N = 292) compared the present control intervention, the present control intervention plus feedback, and stress-information only groups and found that the two present control intervention groups had lower levels of stress, depression, and anxiety relative to the stress-information only group at posttest and 3-week follow-up (mean between group d at follow-up = -.35, mean within group d for intervention groups at follow-up = -.46). Further, mediation analyses revealed that these effects were mediated by changes in present control. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Food and emotions: Assessing the effects of food behaviors and prior associations on the emotional response to food consumption
(2015-05) Osdoba, Katie
Because of the impact diet and food choice have on health, and the role that emotion may play in food choice, a growing research interest in the links between food and emotion has emerged. The research presented in this thesis attempted to further the understanding of the relationships between food and emotion, focusing particularly on the effects of certain food behaviors on mood, and the formation of emotional associations with food. The objective of Part 1 was to determine whether having a choice of meal components (vs. no choice) and/or preparing a meal (vs. someone else preparing) influenced the stress-relieving and mood-boosting effects of food and eating. One hundred eighteen participants completed a laboratory stress task in which they were asked to deliver an impromptu speech and to do complex mental arithmetic. Following the stress task, participants consumed a pasta meal. Participants either chose the components of their pasta meal or not (experimenter chose the components for them), and either prepared it themselves or not (experimenter prepared it for them). Stress (salivary cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure) and mood (adapted Profile of Mood States) were measured several times throughout the experiment. Not choosing the meal components resulted in greater reductions in anxiety and anger than choosing. Systolic blood pressure was reduced more in the no choice than in the choice condition after the meal. Preparing versus not preparing had little effect on stress and mood measures. Given that people generally have emotional responses to food and eating experiences, the second part of this thesis explored why and how those emotional associations are formed. The main objective of Part 2 was to attempt to induce positive emotional associations with novel foods in the laboratory by conditioning the foods with emotionally positive film clips. The effect of calorie content of foods on formation of emotional associations was also examined, as was the relationship between liking ratings of the novel foods and emotional associations. One hundred participants completed a conditioning procedure in which they ate novel foods (High-Calorie foods or Low-Calorie foods) while viewing film clips (Positive film clips or Neutral film clips) for four consecutive days. Prior to conditioning, they made baseline ratings of explicit (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) and implicit (Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test) emotional associations and liking (9-point hedonic scale). On the day after the last conditioning session, and also one week later, participants rated explicit and implicit emotional associations and liking again. Positive emotional associations were not successfully induced with novel foods. No differences in emotional associations between high-calorie and low-calorie foods were observed. A major limitation was that the film clips did not reliably increase participants’ positive mood, which may have contributed to the failure of our conditioning procedure. Liking ratings of the novel foods increased throughout the duration of the study, and were positively associated with positive emotional associations. The research presented in this thesis demonstrates the complexity of the relationships between food and emotions, and sheds light on the many methodological issues to consider when studying these relationships.
HBCU vs. PWI: institutional integration at PWIs and Black doctoral student depression, anxiety, and stress
(2014-07) Williams, Marcuetta D.
This study sought to explore the experiences of Black doctoral students at PWIs. Utilizing Tinto's (1975) theory of college student retention as a foundation, this research was guided by the premise that Academic and Social Integration are related to mental health outcomes for Black doctoral students at PWIs, and that type of undergraduate institution attended prior to graduate education is an important factor. The purpose of this study was (a) to determine whether there is a relationship between Academic Integration (as measured by Academic and Intellectual Development and Faculty Concern for Student Development and Teaching) Social Integration (as measured by Peer Interactions and Interactions with Faculty), Depression, Anxiety, and Stress for Black doctoral students at PWIs and (b) to determine whether type of undergraduate institution (attending an HBCU or PWI) is a factor that indicates differences in these variables. A total of 140 Black doctoral students from PWIs across the Midwestern, Northeastern, and Southern regions of the United States completed a demographic form, the Institutional Integration Scale (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1980), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), the College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES; Owen & Freeman, 1988), and the Scale of Perceived Social Self- Efficacy Scale (PSSE; Smith & Betz, 2000). Analyses conducted in this study included correlational, standard multiple regression, and MANOVA. Results of the correlational analyses showed a significant negative relationship between Depression and all four measures of Academic and Social integration. Also, Peer-group Interactions and Academic and Intellectual Development both had a significant negative relationship with Anxiety and Stress. Results of the regression analyses showed that the three models, including all four measures of Academic and Social Integration, were significant in predicting Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. Peer-group Interactions was a significant predictor across all three models. Academic and Intellectual Development was also a significant predictor in the model predicting depression. Results of the MANOVA showed that type of undergraduate institution was a significant factor in differences between Academic and Intellectual Development and Anxiety for this sample of Black doctoral students at PWIs. Clinical implications and areas for future research are also described.
Identifying novel roles for the immunoproteasome in the retina.
(2010-10) Hussong, Stacy Ann
Immunoproteasome is a proteasome sub-type that is known to produce antigenic peptides for MHC class I presentation. However, immunoproteasome is present in the immune-privileged brain and retina and is upregulated with disease in human retina and injury in mouse retina and brain, suggesting functions unrelated to its role in the immune system. The goal of this thesis is to define novel roles for the immunoproteasome in the retina. Potential functions of the immunoproteasome were defined by comparing the stress response of wild-type and knock-out mice missing one (lmp7-/-(L7)) or two (lmp7-/- /mecl-1-/-(L7M1)) of the three immunoproteasome subunits. Aging was used as a model system for chronic stress. Chronic peroxide exposure in cultured retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells developed from wild-type mice was used as an additional stress model. In wild-type retinas and RPE cells, upregulation of immunoproteasome was observed in response to both models of chronic stress. To determine the consequence of eliminating immunoproteasome, the retinas and RPE cells from KO mice were examined.L7M1 retina had significantly elevated levels of photoreceptor apoptosis that further increased with age. In addition, L7M1 cell lines were more susceptible to oxidantinduced death. Together these data suggest immunoproteasome is protective against oxidative stress. The localization of immunoproteasome to the outer plexiform layer in wild-type retina suggested a role in retinal function. Electroretinography was used to test the hypothesis that immunoproteasome is required for maintaining normal visual transmission. Data indicated that immunoproteasome-deficient mice had a decreased bipolar cell response as compared to wild-type. Evaluation of several retinal synapse proteins by Western blot revealed no significant difference in protein content across strains. In addition, gross retinal morphology and bipolar cell density were not different. In conclusion, immunoproteasome-deficiency causes a decrease in visual transmission but the mechanism is still unclear. In summary, these data provide compelling evidence that immunoproteasome has a role in retinal stress response, specifically in protecting against oxidative stress. Furthermore, immunoproteasome-deficient mice have a decreased bipolar cell response as measured by ERG. Altogether, data from this thesis strongly support the hypothesis that immunoproteasome has additional functions in the retina that do not involve immune function.
Immunizations: What can I do to help ease my child’s stress?
(2008-02-06) Arcilla, Lisa M.
There are several things that parents, physicians, and nursing staff can do to decrease the amount of pain and distress children experience during routine immunizations. Those discussed in this pamphlet include parental behavior, positioning, distraction techniques, injection site, and sucrose administration.
The Influence of Acute Stress on the Perception of Robot Emotional Body Language: Implications for Robot Design in Healthcare and Other High-Risk Domains
(2017-07) Thimmesch-Gill, Zane
In coming years, emotionally expressive social robots will permeate many facets of our lives. Yet, although researchers have explored robot design parameters that may facilitate human-robot interaction, remarkably little attention has been paid to the human perceptual and other psychological factors that may impact human ability to engage with robots. In high-risk settings, such as healthcare—where the use of robots is expected to increase markedly—it is paramount to understand the influence of a patient’s stress level, temperament, and attitudes towards robots as negative interactions could harm a patient’s experience and hinder recovery. Using a novel between-subject paradigm, we investigated how the experimental induction of acute physiological and cognitive stress versus low stress influences perception of normed robot emotional body language as conveyed by a physically-present versus virtual reality generated robot. Following high or low stress induction, participants were asked to rate the valence (negative/unhappy to positive/happy) and level of arousal (calm/relaxed to animated/excited) conveyed by poses in five emotional categories: negative valence-high arousal, negative valence-low arousal, neutral, positive valence-low arousal, positive valence-high arousal. Poses from the categories were randomly intermixed and each pose was presented two or three times. Ratings were then correlated with temperament (as assessed by the Adult Temperament Questionnaire), attitudes towards and experience with robots (a new questionnaire that included measures from the Godspeed Scales and Negative Attitudes about Robots Survey), and chronic stress. The acute stress induction especially influenced the evaluation of high arousal poses – both negative and positive – with both valence and arousal rated lower under high than low stress. Repeated presentation impacted perception of low arousal (negative and positive) and neutral poses, with increases in perceived valence and arousal for later presentations. There were also effects of robot type specifically for positively-valenced emotions, such that these poses were rated as more positive for the physically-present than virtually-instantiated robot. Temperament was found to relate to emotional robot body language. Trait positive affect was associated with higher valence ratings for positive and neutral poses. Trait negative affect was correlated with higher arousal ratings for negative valence-low arousal poses. Subcategories within the robot attitudes questionnaire were correlated with emotional robot poses and temperament. To our knowledge this dissertation is the first exploration of the effects of acute and chronic stress on human perception of robot emotional body language, with implications for robot design, both physical and virtual. Given the largely parallel findings that we observed for the poses presented by the physically-present versus virtually-instantiated robot, it is proposed that the use of virtual reality may provide a viable "sandbox" tool for more efficiently and thoroughly experimenting with possible robot designs, and variants in their emotional expressiveness. Broader psychological, physiological, and other factors that designers should consider as they create robots for high-risk applications are also discussed.
The Interplay of Leisure Travelers’ Stress, Coping, and Acculturation Strategies: A Study of Korean Immigrants
(2020-12) Choi, Ami
Given the projected diversity among the U.S. national population by 2065, immigrant leisure travelers will increase, are unique and understudied. In a three-article format, this dissertation examines immigrant leisure travelers’ stress, coping, revisit intention, and acculturation among Korean immigrants residing in the United States. The first article proposes an adapted framework that incorporates acculturation as a sociocultural factor underlying immigrants’ leisure travel stress experiences. The second article assesses the relationships within the stress and coping model including primary appraisal, secondary appraisal, coping, and revisit intention using structural equation modeling. Findings suggest that leisure travelers experienced stress across travel phases, employed both problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies to manage stress, and that coping positively related to revisit intentions. The utility and application of the transactional stress and coping model was demonstrated and supported. The third article identifies leisure travel stressors encountered in three select travel phases, and examines if and how acculturation strategies Korean immigrants use to adjust to the new culture differentiates them. Findings revealed perceived travel stress differed by acculturation strategies at all three travel phases and within select individual stressors. Overall, those seeking marginalization and separation perceived significantly higher stress levels than those seeking integration and assimilation. Implications for theory and management and future research are discussed for each chapter.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
(2012-07-23) Jin, Wendy
Left ventricular assist device therapy: family caregivers' stress, perceived burden and quality of life.
(2011-04) Petty, Michael Glenn
Background: Individuals implanted with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) as bridge to transplant or as destination therapy expect to be discharged home. Responsibility for providing care to those patients has fallen almost exclusively to family caregivers. Yet there is a paucity of research on the experience of family caregivers of LVAD patients. This study assessed the burden and quality of life (QOL) of caregivers over a period of up to 6 months. The influence of stress and select demographic variables on those outcomes was also evaluated. Methods: Subjects recruited from a single LVAD center in the upper Midwest were required to be > 18 years old, the identified primary caregiver of an LVAD patient, and able to read and write English. Each was asked to complete a questionnaire at baseline and again at 2, 6, 14 and 22 weeks after the baseline measure. Measures included demographics, the Caregiver Distress Scale, the Caregiver Involvement Instrument, the Caregiver Burden Assessment, the Cantril Ladder scale, the CES-D, and the SF-12. Results: A total of 46 subjects provided data for analysis. The average caregiver was a 58 year old Caucasian female spouse of a bridge-to-transplant patient with a HeartMate II living with the patient and one other adult with an average income of $40,000-$59,999. Stress was mildly to moderately elevated over the entire period. Baseline burden was measured at levels that warranted intervention in up to 41% of participants, but decreased steadily over time (p=.04). Sixty to eighty-five percent of subjects reported below average quality of life that was largely static across the study. Stress was negatively correlated with QOL. (p=.004) Conclusions: Interventions to reduce stress are most likely to improve caregiver quality of life.
Mindfulness based stress reduction effects on registered nurses.
(2009-12) Penque, Susan
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Effects on Registered Nurses Background: Nursing turnover is reaching disturbing rates and proving to be a crisis. Nurses are leaving the profession mostly due to stress from clinical work and inability to practice as they were prepared. Strategies are needed to assist nurses manage clinical work and their overall health. The MBSR program promotes overall well being and reduces stress in some populations. The purpose of this study was to determine whether MBSR is an effective tool to support nurses psychologically and to improve work satisfaction as they perform their essential work roles. Theoretical Framework: This study was based on Heideggerian philosophy of `being' and Kabat Zinn's work on mindfulness. METHOD: A quasi-experimental, longitudinal, pretest post test design was used to examine the effects of MBSR on mindfulness, self compassion, empathy, serenity, and work satisfaction of nurses (N=80). The correlation between mindfulness and self compassion, serenity and empathy were examined. The effects of MBSR on incidental overtime and job burnout were also analyzed. RESULTS: Most (N=61) nurses completed the MBSR program (76%). Statistically significant differences were found pre to post MBSR in mindfulness (33.2 to 42.9), self compassion (2.8 to 3.8), serenity (3.0 to 3.7), work satisfaction measure of autonomy (3.3 to 4.3), and all subscales of job burnout. There was a statistically significant increase in empathetic concern from baseline (21.3 to 22.5). Mindfulness was significantly correlated with self compassion (r=.79) and serenity (r=.78). Incidental overtime trended downward throughout the study. IMPLICATIONS: Findings support the utilization of MBSR to improve overall psychological outcomes and work satisfaction for registered nurses. MBSR statistically increased mindfulness in nurses which impacts practice by enhancing nursing presence. Mindfulness may improve patient care through patient safety, satisfaction, and quality of outcomes. RECOMMENDATIONS: Further research is needed to explore the effects of MBSR on different groups of nurses. The utilization of MBSR as an intervention to help transition new graduates to staff nursing may be an effective means for overall retention. MBSR may be helpful in settings with high stress such as critical care units. The program of MBSR enhances mindful thoughts and actions. Further nursing research is needed to explore the effects of MBSR on nursing practice as it relates to patient safety.

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