Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
Psychology
Date of Award
5-2014
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Jameson K. Hirsch
Committee Members
Jon R. Webb, Matthew McBee
Abstract
The experience of trauma is prevalent among young adult college students and is often associated with poor mental health outcomes such as symptoms of anxiety. Not all individuals who have experienced trauma, however, develop anxiety, perhaps due to individual-level adaptive characteristics, such as use of adaptive rather than maladaptive coping strategies. Yet, little research has examined the interrelationships between the experience of trauma, specific types of coping strategies, and subclinical anxiety symptoms. A sample of 915 undergraduate students completed self-report measures of trauma, coping strategies, and anxiety symptoms. We hypothesized that traumatic life events would be associated with anxiety symptoms, and that this relation would be moderated by adaptive and maladaptive coping, such that adaptive coping will weaken, whereas maladaptive coping will exacerbate, the trauma-anxiety relationship. Results demonstrated maladaptive coping, but not adaptive coping, was a moderator of the association between the experience of trauma and symptoms of anxiety.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Foster, Alishia, "Traumatic Life Events and Symptoms of Anxiety: Moderating Effects of Adaptive Versus Maladaptive Coping Strategies" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2380. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2380
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.