Sex roles and social support as moderators of life stress adjustment

In this study we used a longitudinal design to test the stress-buffering effects of sex role orientation in combination with perceived social support on measures of trait anxiety and depression. College undergraduates served as subjects. The cross-sectional analyses provided strong support for the hypothesis that masculinity would function as a life stress buffer. The hypothesis that social support would serve as a stress buffer when coupled with high masculinity was supported by one of the cross-sectional analyses as well as the longitudinal analysis. This pattern was found primarily for perceptions of tangible social support. The longitudinal analysis also revealed a significant interaction involving negative life events and masculinity and femininity. This interaction effect provided unexpected support for a balance model of androgyny, in that non-sex-typed subjects showed greater resilience to recent life stress than did sex-typed subjects. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the study of life stress adjustment.     

Intrinsic religiousness and religious coping as life stress moderators for Catholics versus Protestants

Two prospective studies were conducted to test the stress-moderating effects of intrinsic religiousness and overall religious coping on the depression and trait anxiety of Catholic and Protestant college students. Both studies found a significant cross-sectional interaction between controllable life stress and religious coping in the prediction of Catholics' depression, with religious coping serving a protective function at a high level of controllable negative events. Both studies also found a significant prospective interaction between uncontrollable life stress and intrinsic religiousness in the prediction of Protestants' depression; the relationship between uncontrollable stress and depression was positive for low intrinsic Protestants, flat for medium intrinsic Protestants, but negative for high intrinsic Protestants. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the role of religion in life stress adjustment.     

Presence of human friends and pet dogs as moderators of autonomic responses to stress in women

Autonomic responses were measured while 45 adult women performed a standard experimental stress task in the laboratory with only the experimenter present and 2 weeks later at home in the presence of a female friend, pet dog, or neither. Results demonstrated that autonomic reactivity was moderated by the presence of a companion, the nature of whom was critical to the size and direction of the effect. Ss in the friend condition exhibited higher physiological reactivity and poorer performance than subjects in the control and pet conditions. Ss in the pet condition showed less physiological reactivity during stressful tasks than Ss in the other conditions. The results are interpreted in terms of the degree to which friends and pets are perceived as evaluative during stressful task performance. Physiological reactivity was consistent across the laboratory and field settings.     

Age, gender, and level of activity as moderators of personal incentives to physical activity in Israel

The authors conducted an exploratory study with Israeli adults examining their personal incentives for physical activity (e.g., appearance, weight management). The participants formed a sample of 379 physically active Israelis, aged 20-89 years, divided into 3 age groups and 3 levels of activity. The authors found a similar profile for men and women for most incentives, with men scoring more highly than did women on only competition and fitness. Participants in the highest level of activity attributed greater importance to all incentives than did those in the other levels, and older adults attributed less importance to all incentives except for health benefits. The findings are relevant for planning activities intended to encourage adults to engage in more physical activity.     

A video game-based investigation of power stress moderators in children

Motivation and Emotion - In this paper, we examine the relationship between the implicit power motive (nPow) and power stress in primary school children under the additional consideration of...     

Family‐level coparenting processes and child gender as moderators of family stress and toddler adjustment

The goal of this multi‐method study was to examine how child gender and coparenting processes influence associations between family stress and toddlers' social adjustment. The participants, 104 dual‐earner couples and their 2‐year‐old children, were videotaped in their home during a freeplay activity. Mothers and fathers completed questionnaires about stress in their roles as partners, workers, and parents and their child's social–emotional adjustment. Consistent with previous research, higher levels of family stress were associated with poorer adjustment for children. Family harmony, represented by warmth and cooperation, was significantly associated with fewer internalizing problems for children even when family stress was considered. Conversely, coparental banter or ‘playful humour’ between parents moderated the nature of the association between family stress and children's adjustment. Banter between parents was especially protective for girls suggesting that, even in families with toddler‐aged children, gender plays an important role in family‐level coparenting processes. Future research needs to consider more fully the impact that child characteristics, such as gender, have on the interplay between the family context and children's development. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An empirical investigation of acculturative stress and ethnic identity as moderators for depression and suicidal ideation in college students

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships of acculturative stress and ethnic identity to depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation in college students. The SAFE Acculturative Stress Scale, Multi-Group Ethnic Identity Measure, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Suicide Scale were administered to 452 college students. The authors found that acculturative stress and ethnic identity moderated the depression-suicide ideation relationship for African American but not European American college students. Given that vulnerability toward suicidal thoughts is increased for African American college students who report symptoms of depression accompanied by either high-acculturative stress or poor group identity, these culturally relevant factors should be included in protocol for suicide risk assessment.     

Physical exercise and anxiety as moderators of the stress-illness relationship

This study examines the interplay of unemployment stress, trait anxiety and physical exercise in the development of physical health. Longitudinal data were taken from a sample of East German migrants (N = 330) who were confronted with the potentially stressful demand of finding a job in the Western society. Unemployment stress was found to exert a main effect on illness level. Trait anxiety was a moderator of the stress-illness relationship, but exercise was not. As indicated by a three-way interaction involving exercise, anxiety, and stress, exercise was most beneficial among high-anxious subjects who were not exposed to unemployment stress. Results of this study suggest that exercise may not buffer the deleterious effects of stressful situational conditions (unemployment), but may effectively mitigate the health-damaging consequences of lacking personal resources, such as high dispositional anxiety.     

Posttraumatic stress and worry as mediators and moderators between political stressors and emotional and behavioral disorders in Palestinian children

This study was designed to assess whether the symptoms of posttraumatic stress mediate or moderate the relationship between political stressors and emotional and behavioral disorders in Palestinian children. It was hypothesized that (a) posttraumatic stress and worry mediate the effect of political stressors on behavioral and emotional disorders and (b) the relationship between political stressors and behavioral and emotional disorders should be attenuated for children with low levels of worry and posttraumatic stress and strengthened for children with high levels of worry and posttraumatic stress. The total sample was 1267 school age children of both sexes with a mean age of 11.97 years. Interviews were conducted with children at school. As hypothesized, the results indicated that posttraumatic stress and worry mediated and moderated the relationship between political stressors and emotional and behavioral disorders in children. Cognitive-behavioral therapy may be used to reduce the incidence of posttraumatic stress and decrease self-reported worry, somatic symptoms, general anxiety, and depression among children exposed to political trauma. Cognitive-behavioral treatment that exclusively targets excessive worry can lead to clinical change in the other interacting subsystems at the cognitive, physiological, affective and behavioral levels.     

Fear of hypoglycemia: relationship to physical and psychological symptoms in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Among diabetic patients, experience with hypoglycemia ranges from the unpleasant to the life threatening. The aversiveness of these episodes often results in fear. To examine the impact of hypoglycemia on fear, 69 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus completed the Behavior and Worry subscales of the Hypoglycemia Fear Survey along with measures of psychological symptoms, perceived stress, risk of future hypoglycemic episodes, and glycosylated hemoglobin. Behavior and Worry scores were positively related to psychological symptoms, perceived stress, and previous experiences with hypoglycemia. Fear was unrelated to glycosylated hemoglobin but was significantly higher for patients who had greater variability and lower mean daily blood glucose.     

Trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress symptoms among Syrian refugee youth in Jordan: Social support and gender as moderators

This study assessed relations between exposure to trauma and post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, and whether perceived social support from family and friends and gender moderated these associations. Syrian refugee youth (N = 418, 55.0% female) attending public schools in Jordan participated. Boys reported more age-adjusted PTS symptoms than girls. Analyses revealed that family support and gender moderated the association of trauma on PTS symptoms. For males, the benefits of family support were most evident under conditions of high traumatic stress exposure, while for females, benefits of family support were evident when no loss or injury to family members had been reported. Support from friends was not helpful for either gender. School- or family-based interventions designed to treat PTS symptoms need to consider the different needs of boys and girls, particularly within the Syrian Muslim cultural context.     

Psychological stress and blood glucose regulation in type I diabetic patients

Fifteen Type I diabetic patients self-monitored daily mean blood glucose levels (BGL), psychological stress, diet, exercise, and insulin injections for a period of 8 weeks. Separate multiple-regression analyses were conducted for each subject to assess the predictability of BGL from stress reports, independent of the effects of diet, exercise, and insulin self-administration. Considerable individual variability in findings was evident, with stress predicting BGL in a statistically significant manner in 7 of the 15 subjects. Stress had a significant effect on BGL independent of diet, exercise, and insulin administration for each of these 7 subjects. Discussion focused on the problems of measuring the key self-management behaviors influencing BGL and on the possibility that a subgroup of diabetic patients may be BGL stress responders.     

Self-esteem and job complexity as moderators of performance and satisfaction

Self-esteem and job complexity were investigated as moderators of self, supervisor, and peer ratings of performance and satisfaction with work, supervisors, and peers testing balance and activation theories. One hundred and fifty-three registered nurses served as subjects. Measured self-esteem was not significantly related to the performance or satisfaction measures. Rather, the important variable was perceived job complexity as predicted by Scott's activation theory. Self-ratings of performance and satisfaction with work and peers were greatest at optimal complexity with lower values at high and low complexity. Some support was found for self-esteem as a moderator of the relationship between performance and satisfaction measures in line with Korman's formulations.     

Environmental stress and blood glucose change in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

Blood glucose (BG) response to psychological stress in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) patients has not been firmly established. We report a study designed to address the gaps and methodological difficulties reviewed. Subjects with IDDM were exposed to two sessions (12 weeks apart) of two 20-min standardized stressors (active and passive) and a control condition administered in counterbalanced order. To measure BG response, subjects were connected to a glucose/insulin infusion system providing continuous BG measurement. Mood checklist measures were obtained at prestressor, poststressor, and recovery periods. During the first session of testing, the active stressor was associated with significantly more absolute change in BG response than the passive stressor. Results also indicate that IDDM subjects' BG response to this active stressor was idiosyncratic but significantly reliable over time.     

Adult attachment styles and stressor severity as moderators of the coping sequence

This study examined the normative temporal sequence of the coping process and whether stressor severity or adult attachment styles moderated that sequence. Participants (N = 75) described a minor or a major stressor. They were given a stack of index cards, representing coping strategies from five different domains. They selected strategies they had employed and sorted them into the order used. Overall, support from partner was one of the first coping techniques used. Adult attachment styles moderated the coping sequence. For major stressors, dismissing attachment predicted later use of support seeking from partner and earlier use of distancing coping, while preoccupied attachment predicted earlier use of emotion‐focused coping.     

Perceptions of social support,receipt of supportive behaviors,and locus of control as moderators of the effects of chronic stress

Conclusion Although the cross-sectional methodology of the present study limits causal inference, the results concerning the buffering effects of received social support for those who have perceptions of internal locus of control corroborates previous research and thus suggests that causal interpretations offered may have some validity.Several general conclusions appear justified from the present study. First, it appears a measure of social support that asks respondents to report on the receipt of particular supportive actions yields different information than a measure that asks respondents to rate the amount of support available to them. Second, perceptions of internal locus of control in combination with receipt of supportive behaviors has a stress-buffering effect. Third, perceptions concerning locus of control appear important in determining the direct and moderating effects of perceived social support on psychological distress. Finally, the interpretation of social support by stress interactions in which support acts as a negative buffer, i.e., increases the stress-symptom relation, may increase our understanding of the role of social support in coping with stress.