The things I like to research
My Master's thesis: The Experience of Stress and Coping in a Sample of College Students: Developing an Intervention Oriented Model.
Abstract
The present study used quantitative and narrative techniques to explore the experience of stress and coping for at-risk first-year students in a large, urban, public university. A multi-dimensional understanding of these students in their reaction to stress is developed. The sample was composed of 115 participants whose demographic and high school backgrounds indicated that they were at risk for poor college performance. Students completed a multi-item questionnaire pertaining to life as a student. Each student was also asked to provide a description of a significant stressor in an online journal and to rate its severity. The student was then asked to describe how he or she coped with the stressor and to rate how successful he or she felt the coping was. A general, content-driven, picture of what students are “stressed out” about and how they cope is first presented. A second dimension examined the relationships between stress, coping, and other aspects of life as a first-year student. This examination revealed that severity of stressor had a modest negative correlation with perceived family support and a modest positive correlation with having a job. Perceived self-efficacy in coping response was found to be modestly correlated with perceived family support, sense of family obligation, and perceived social support. Using categorical regression analysis, a third dimension of the stress and coping response, factors predicting coping response, was explored. Implications for intervention are discussed
My graduate thesis/dissertation proposal Mechanisms Contributing to Subjective Well-Being in a Spiritual Community: Introducing a New Methodology
My undergraduate Thesis Experiences Leading to Self Actualization:
Personal Growth and Life Satisfaction in College Student Population.
Abstract
Positive psychological functioning can be conceptualized in many different ways. The present study examined positive psychological functioning as indicated by
self-actualization in a sample of 104 college students. Using a paper and pencil questionnaire, five areas of experience and activities were examined as predictors of a
student's extent of self actualization. These areas were, a student's spiritual experiences, his or her experiences with non-prescription psychoactive substances,
interpersonal relationship experiences, experiences in nature, and academic experiences. Positive correlations were found with both a person's spiritual experiences and
level of close relationships, with level of self actualization. A negative correlation was discovered between a person's use of legal drugs (alcohol, caffeine/ephedrine, and
tobacco) and his or her level of self actualization. Recommendations for future studies are proposed and implications of the results for the Claremont Colleges are
discussed.
A Literature Review: On the Neuropsychology of religious experiences
Drug use and abuse in Spanish adolescentsA paper
on my research that I presented at a conference in Santa Clara