Stress and Sleep Quality: Mediating Effects of Social Support

Stress is defined as the “nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it” (Kohn & Frazer, 1986). Stress is among the top five threats to academic performance among college students (Pettit & DeBarr, 2011). The purpose of the study was to investigate whether stress affects perceived sleep quality, as mediated by social support, and to determine whether stress levels vary based on academic major. Using ANOVA in SPSS 24, we tested three hypotheses: stress and sleep quality are negatively correlated, social support mediates the relationship between stress and sleep quality, and stress levels will vary by academic major (specifically that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors will show greater perceived amounts of stress). Results of this study show that there is positive correlation between sleep and stress, a negative correlation between social support and sleep, and a negative correlation between stress and social support

Integration of the Saline Process on Holistic Patient Care to Improve Student Understanding of Interprofessional Team Roles, Values, and Ethics

Description of the Problem: Healthcare practitioner students currently report feeling underprepared to provide holistic and spiritual care to their patients upon transitioning into practice, and there is currently little data on the efficacy of holistic care-focused interventions on interprofessional outcomes. The goal of this research was to assess the impact of an interprofessional training session on holistic care on student perceptions of interprofessional 1) roles/responsibilities and 2) values/ethics. The Innovation: A live, interactive interprofessional training session to address holistic patient care was implemented in fall of 2017. Students’ pre- and post-training perceptions of their confidence in study outcomes were assessed using a survey instrument. Critical Analysis: Significant positive changes were seen in students’ perceived ability to participate in team discussions and clarify misconceptions regarding their role in healthcare following the training. Students had high confidence in interacting ethically at pre-test and sustained that confidence. Next Steps: Live, interactive educational interventions with skills practice and group discussions can help to increase students’ awareness of team roles and responsibilities, as well as expand their understanding of the values and ethics within healthcare professions

Differentiation and Relationship Satisfaction: Mediating Effects of Alcohol Use

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between differentiation and alcohol use and how these factors interact to influence relationship satisfaction in couples. Bowen Family Systems Theory suggests that alcohol and other substances are used as a distance regulator in relationships, but this idea has not been tested in a clinical sample. Using structural equation modeling with AMOS20, I tested 3 hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that couples with higher differentiation are less likely to use alcohol because they do not need it to regulate distance. I also hypothesized that couples who used more alcohol had lower relationship satisfaction. Finally, I hypothesized that alcohol acts as a mediator between differentiation and relationship satisfaction. The models produced a poor fit to the data, suggesting nonlinearity in the data. Therefore, repeated measures ANOVA was conducted and showed significant results, suggesting that alcohol served as a successful distance regulator. Results support previous findings that alcohol recovery can have a destabilizing effect on the family system because of the important function of alcohol use in intimate relationships. This study has important clinical implications because it provides a picture of the mechanism that underlies alcohol use in intimate relationships, which is a good starting point for planning and considering the effect of therapeutic interventions

Differentiation and Relationship Satisfaction: Mediating Effects of Alcohol Use

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between differentiation and alcohol use and how these factors interact to influence relationship satisfaction in couples. Bowen Family Systems Theory suggests that alcohol and other substances are used as a distance regulator in relationships, but this idea has not been tested in a clinical sample. Using structural equation modeling with AMOS20, I tested 3 hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that couples with higher differentiation are less likely to use alcohol because they do not need it to regulate distance. I also hypothesized that couples who used more alcohol had lower relationship satisfaction. Finally, I hypothesized that alcohol acts as a mediator between differentiation and relationship satisfaction. The models produced a poor fit to the data, suggesting nonlinearity in the data. Therefore, repeated measures ANOVA was conducted and showed significant results, suggesting that alcohol served as a successful distance regulator. Results support previous findings that alcohol recovery can have a destabilizing effect on the family system because of the important function of alcohol use in intimate relationships. This study has important clinical implications because it provides a picture of the mechanism that underlies alcohol use in intimate relationships, which is a good starting point for planning and considering the effect of therapeutic interventions