Biomedical subjects

Crystal L Park

Publications and source records attributed to Crystal L Park.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Introduction to the special section: growth following highly stressful life events--current status and future directions.

Interest in the phenomenon of perceived growth following highly stressful experiences continues to proliferate. Already there is abundant evidence that perceptions of growth are commonly reported, often by the majority of people experiencing even the most traumatic of events. However, much remains to be learned about perceptions of growth. In this article, the authors pose 7 major theoretical and empirical questions regarding perceived growth, including issues of measurement, validity, mechanisms, links with well-being, and clinical implications. The authors summarize the current status of psychologists' knowledge, including articles in the present special section, and conclude that there is much to learn about perceived growth. The authors end with suggestions for future research.

Attitude↗

PubMed2005

Determinants of positive and negative consequences of alcohol consumption in college students: alcohol use, gender, and psychological characteristics.

To examine the influence of alcohol consumption, gender, and psychological risk and protective factors on college students' experiences of negative and positive consequences, the present study of 181 students assessed frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption, negative and positive consequences of alcohol use, positive alcohol expectancies, constructive thinking, and positive and negative affect. Results indicated that men and women differed in their experience of some consequences and that while alcohol consumption was generally more strongly related to consequences for women than for men, it was unrelated to most consequences. Further, when controlling for alcohol consumption, positive alcohol expectancies and negative affect were positively related to experiencing positive and negative consequences while constructive thinking was related to fewer positive and fewer negative consequences. Results indicate that consequences are much more strongly related to psychological risk and protective factors than to alcohol consumption. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for intervention efforts.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Possibilities of the positive following violence and trauma: informing the coming decade of research.

The effects of trauma and violence may be better understood by taking a broader perspective that includes resilience and recovery as well as damage and symptomatology. Based on this broader view, this article describes three interrelated, cutting-edge trends in mental health research: (a) the positive psychology movement, (b) the recognition of the role of spirituality and religion in health and well-being, and (c) stress-related growth. The integration of these trends into mainstream studies of trauma and violence will provide a counterbalance to the predominant orientation of victimization and pathology currently evidenced in the literature. All three have important implications for survivors of violence and trauma.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

A prospective study of disordered eating among sorority and nonsorority women.

OBJECTIVE: The current study examined disordered eating prospectively among sorority and nonsorority women. METHOD: University women were surveyed during their first, second, and third undergraduate years. Disordered eating, depression, self-esteem, body mass index (BMI), and ideal weight were measured. RESULTS: Disordered eating did not differ between the groups before women joined sororities. By Time 3, sorority women reported higher Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) Drive for Thinness subscale scores than nonsorority women, but the EDI Bulimia and Body Dissatisfaction subscales did not differ. BMI, ideal weights, depression, and self-esteem did not differ. CONCLUSIONS: Women who join sororities are similar to those who do not in their baseline levels of disordered eating, but they maintain more rigorous attitudes and behaviors regarding dieting over the course of their higher education.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Positive and negative consequences of alcohol consumption in college students.

While the negative consequences of alcohol use in college students are well known, less is known about the relationships of these consequences to alcohol consumption patterns. Further, almost no research has been conducted examining students' positive alcohol-related consequences. The current study examines the nature and frequency of positive and negative alcohol-related consequences, the relationship of these consequences to alcohol consumption patterns, and the impact of these consequences on subsequent drinking intentions. Findings indicate that college student drinking does indeed involve many negative consequences, some of which are quite serious, but that students also experience many positive consequences. In fact, they report their encounters with positive consequences as being more extreme and more frequent than their encounters with negative consequences. Further, consuming more alcohol is related to experiencing more positive and more negative consequences, as well as more extremely positive positive encounters, but not more extremely negative negative ones. Finally, participants reported that their positive and negative consequences would influence their future drinking decisions in a number of different ways. Future research directions and implications for interventions are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Appraisal-coping goodness of fit: a daily internet study.

Using an Internet daily diary methodology, this study tested the goodness of fit hypothesis, which highlights the importance of the match between controllability appraisals and coping efforts in adjustment to stressful events. For 28 days, 190 undergraduates described their most stressful event and its controllability, how they coped, and their daily positive and negative mood. Individuals demonstrated fit across situations, with control appraisals associated positively with problem-focused coping and negatively with emotional approach coping and avoidance coping. A pooled within-person interaction indicated that problem-focused coping had a stronger positive association with positive mood when dealing with high versus low control stressors. Significant variation also was found in several other within-person interactions between control appraisals and coping, and some evidence was found for the notion that individual differences in the degree of matching coping to control appraisals were associated with person-level adjustment.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

The daily stress and coping process and alcohol use among college students.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether students drink more alcohol on higher-stress days than on lower-stress days; whether daily coping strategies and affective states mediate the within-person relationship between stress and drinking; and whether the daily stress-drinking process varies as a function of previously identified between-person risk factors (sex, family history, coping motives, sensation seeking, neuroticism). METHOD: College students (N = 137) completed daily surveys for 28 consecutive days. RESULTS: With daily coping, affect and weekly trends in drinking controlled for, students consumed more alcohol on days that had events perceived as relatively more stressful. Students also drank more on days characterized by relatively lower problem-focused coping and relatively higher positive and negative affect. Contrary to predictions, the effect of stress on drinking was not fully mediated by coping and affect. Findings also revealed individual differences in several links in the daily stress coping-drinking process. CONCLUSIONS: The daily stress coping-drinking process is complex, and it appears that there are both positive and negative affective pathways underlying daily alcohol consumption.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

Coping style as a predictor of health and well-being across the first year of medical school.

Medical students in their 1st year (N=71) were assessed prior to starting training and at year's end. Coping styles reported at baseline were strongly related to coping styles at the end of the year. Students' physical health and psychological well-being declined over the course of the year. The greater the students' use of both problem-focused coping and approach emotion-focused coping, the less their physical health deteriorated. Psychological well-being at year's end was more strongly related to baseline functioning, and coping style did not predict change. This study demonstrated the utility of measuring coping style and the predictive ability of coping on physical health in a healthy sample.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

Drinking to cope among college students: prevalence, problems and coping processes.

OBJECTIVE: To examine four issues regarding college-student drinking to cope: (1) The prevalence of drinking to cope among students in a medium-sized Midwestern state university; (2) the relationships among drinking to cope and alcohol-related outcomes; (3) the use of drinking to cope within the larger context of students' coping processes; and (4) gender differences in drinking to cope. METHOD: Data were drawn from a sample of 275 undergraduates (164 women, 104 men, 7 subjects of unreported gender) in a cross-sectional sample. Of the 275 students assessed, data were analyzed from the 260 who reported ever having consumed alcohol. Drinking to cope was examined both as a style and in response to a specific situation identified by the participant. RESULTS: Drinking to cope is very common among college students and is related to much higher levels of alcohol consumption, episodes of heavy drinking, and levels of both negative and positive alcohol-related consequences. In examining the relative influence of drinking to cope and other variables on alcohol use, regression analyses indicated that positive alcohol expectancies were strongly related to alcohol use and that, even when considering other variables, situational drinking to cope remained a fairly strong predictor of most of the alcohol-use indicators. Analysis of gender differences suggested that men rely on alcohol to cope more than women do. CONCLUSIONS: Drinking to cope is a significant and highly problematic factor in college student alcohol use. Implications for interventions are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗