This paper presents a research review conducted to determine whether there is empirical support for the idea that people can benefit both emotionally and physically from humor. Special attention is given to stress and coping since these concepts have been of particular interest to humor researchers. The document begins with a discussion of the…

Investigates the relationship between anxiety, fear, self-esteem, and coping strategies with children aged 7 to 12 (N=224) in Australia. Specially examines whether these changes were gender specific. Results indicated girls had consistently low levels of self-esteem, while boys showed decreases in anxiety and fear by age 12. By year 12, boys and…

Black elderly males display the greatest death anxiety, followed in decreasing order by Black females, White females, and White males. The overall effects attributed to sex were not significant, nor were there any significant interactions. (Author)

Investigated whether anxious children favor the processing of threatening or concern-related information. Tested 47 "high anxious" and "low anxious" children in stressful (medical center) and neutral (classroom) situations, and 50 such subjects in only non-stressful situations. Found that both high and low anxious children gave…

Hispanic adolescents (n=171) completed a questionnaire on levels of psychosocial stress, anxiety, depression, and patterns of alcohol use. A strong association between psychosocial stress, depression, and alcohol use was found, suggesting that Hispanic American adolescents use alcohol as a way of coping. (SLD)

Tests male and female high school band members' performing solos under three levels of audience presence: no audience, one observer, and a larger audience with recording equipment. Reports that self-reported anxiety rose with each step but that measures of physical stress only rose on the third step. (DSK)

The self-esteem of 125 diabetic and 82 nondiabetic adolescents was examined with the Piers-Harris scale. Girls who developed diabetes before five years of age had poorer self-concept scores than early onset boys, whereas boys and girls in the later onset or control groups had equivalent scores. This interaction was restricted to Physical…

Explored the role that gender and ethnicity play in athletes' responses to life events that correlate to depression, anxiety, somatic discomfort, and stress. Neither ethnicity or gender influenced the number of experienced stressful life events. However, Black and male athletes reported significantly higher ratings of aversiveness than did White…

The study examines the coping strategies among 130 undergraduate college and university students with learning disabilities (LD) and 146 students without learning disabilities (NLD). Students completed self-reported instruments designed to measure stress, support and strategies. The findings revealed that students without LD reported higher work…

Performing Arts Psychology has recently emerged as a unique subspecialty comparable to that of Sports Psychology. Attention has been focused on problems common to all performers (e.g., performance anxiety); however, the various stresses within each art form often remain hidden from view. To assess the psychological aspects of different art forms,…

On the premise that "anxiety" and "achievement motivation" may be indicative of coping strategies, questionnaire measures of these traits plus academic tests were administered to 956 British pupils taught by teachers representing formal, informal, and mixed teaching styles. For part two of this study, classroom behavior, see AA…

The Adolescent Coping Scale was administered to 749 gifted students attending two different summer enrichment programs. Results indicate little evidence of gender or grade differences but found racial differences on the Seek Spiritual Support scale (African and Hispanic students had the highest scores), the Self-Blame scale, and the Worry scale.…

Using a behavior observation schedule, classroom behavior was investigated in relation to pupils' level of anxiety and achievement need, which were hypothesized to be indicative of coping strategies. Subjects were 104 British students (ages 10-11) in formal and informal classrooms. For part one of this study see AA 532 922. (Author/SJL)

Surveyed students (n=166) living in graduate student housing to assess social support in their academic programs and family environment, recent stressful life events, and depression and anxiety as psychological symptoms of stress. Women reported significantly more stress, more symptoms of stress, and significantly less support from their academic…

A study examined variables that might mediate the incidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in 20 Australian child witnesses (ages 6-12) to domestic violence. Results found PTSD was not mediated by maternal emotional well-being, age and gender of the child, or the child's style of coping with parental conflict. (Author/CR)