The current study examined the relationship between trait hope, state hope, connectedness, trauma symptoms, and positive religious coping with psychological distress among undergraduate students while also assessing the moderating effect of trauma symptoms. Grounded in theoretical frameworks by Snyder et al. (1991), Hobfoll et al. (2007), and…

Re-injury anxiety is common among college student-athletes at the varsity (Podlog et al., 2011; Putukian, 2016) and club (Watanabe et al., 2023) level. Coping with sport injury has been studied in previous reviews (Putukian, 2016; Sims & Mulcahey, 2018) and literature (Kontos et al., 2013; Schlierf & Vosloo, 2020), but the relationship…

Feelings of distress over the unknowns of the future refers to an intolerance of uncertainty (IU). IU is significantly linked to internalizing disorders like anxiety. College students are in a unique position of uncertainty and anxiety as they emerge into adulthood. Additionally, external sources of uncertainty, like the economy, may contribute to…

Introduction: "A good coach can change a game; a great coach can change a life" (Wooden, n.d., para. 1). The focus of this dissertation was to explore associations between attachment of high school athletes to their coach and the athlete's ability to cope in the athletic environment. In looking at high school coach-athlete relationships…

The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate how first-year college students describe their experiences with stress and coping. This study sought to understand what coping mechanisms first-year college students use when they experience stress. Prior to this dissertation, it was not known how first-year college students describe…

Teachers are leaving the profession at record rates, but the reasons that they are leaving and the contributing factors to their departures involve emotional and physical safety. This qualitative study aimed to examine the experiences and perceptions of teachers who have left the profession as a result of emotional and/or physical safety concerns.…

The purpose of this research was to explore experiences of nontraditional doctoral students with impostor phenomenon (IP) at an R1: Doctoral University in the U.S. The research questions guiding the study were: (1) what are the experiences of nontraditional doctoral students with impostor phenomenon at an R1: Doctoral University in the U.S.? (2)…

The purpose of this research was to explore master-level counseling students' lived experiences when taking online counselor education courses within the past five years (i.e., 2017-2022). Traditionally, counselor education programs and classes are offered through in-person learning modalities. However, the increased movement and utilization of…

This qualitative phenomenological investigation explores the impact of systemic racism on stress among African American doctoral students in clinical psychology aged 25 to 55 and identifies coping strategies employed by this demographic. The study analyzes participants' experiences, emotional responses, and coping mechanisms in the face of…

This study explored the impostor phenomenon experiences of early career counselor educators fulfilling faculty responsibilities within CACREP-accredited counseling programs in the United States. Impostor phenomenon, which negatively impacts well-being and work quality, is prevalent among higher education faculty, yet little research addresses its…

Because the dominant narrative in the media around teachers is fixated on the burnout and unhappiness they are experiencing, this dissertation study explored the joy female Critical Teachers of Color experienced while teaching during the COVID-19 global pandemic. In this qualitative study, I employed both autoethnography and portraitures as a way…

The COVID-19 pandemic created substantive stress and uncertainty for secondary educators, including responding to the shifts in delivering education from the traditional to the online classroom and back to the classroom. Improper training, increased work demands, increased responsibilities, and decreased autonomy took a toll on teachers' work and…

The problem is Black women principals experienced race-related stressors due to sociopolitical influences and COVID-19 resulting in higher stress levels (Weiner et al., 2022). Historically marginalized groups, particularly women of color, have endured elevated allostatic workloads and confronted systemic racial biases within professional…

A phenomenological qualitative research study was conducted to answer the research question: How do first-generation college students experience ambiguous loss towards their cultural identity because of cultural mismatch? To what extent do first-generation college students experience ambiguous loss of their cultural identity? The researcher…

Despite enrollment increases in institutions of higher education, Black/African Americans still hold one of the lowest rates of doctoral degree attainment compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Doctoral education provides an opportunity for pioneering ideas and breakthroughs in a variety of fields as the core purpose of doctoral education is…