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Browsing by Author "Luong, Gloria, advisor"

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    Age group differences in responses to laboratory stressors: task appraisals and affect reactivity
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Miller, James Walter, author; Luong, Gloria, advisor; Aichele, Stephen, committee member; Graham, Daniel, committee member
    Several theories of lifespan socioemotional development posit that adults become more adept at regulating their emotions during stressful situations as they age. However, mixed findings in the literature do not yet provide clear support for this assumption. Cognitive appraisals have been found to influence affective reactivity to stressors, but few studies have directly examined their role in explaining age-group differences in affective reactivity. Additionally, there is limited information available for how trajectories of adaptation in affective reactivity and cognitive appraisals in response to equivalent stressor exposures may vary across adult age-groups. To address these gaps in the literature, the current study used a structural equation modeling framework to examine younger (n = 138) and older adults' (n = 106) trajectories of affective reactivity and cognitive appraisals in response to three exposures to the Trier Social Stress Test. We then investigated the extent to which, over time, changes in cognitive appraisals accounted for age-group differences in changes of affective reactivity. Older adults reported attenuated reductions in negative affective reactivity, smaller decreases in appraisals of task-difficulty, and reduced improvements in appraisals of task-performance, relative to younger adults. Additionally, older adults' appraisals of the task as relatively more difficult over time accounted for their comparatively elevated levels of negative affective reactivity across assessments. Together, these findings suggest that older adults, compared to younger adults, may show attenuated trajectories of adaptation to repeated stressor exposures when the stressor is novel, uncontrollable, or especially threatening to older adults.
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    Health discrepancies and marital satisfaction in older couples
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Richkin, Talia, author; Luong, Gloria, advisor; Steger, Michael, committee member; Quirk, Kelley, committee member
    Many studies have explored marital satisfaction and the factors that contribute to it such as communication, shared values, sexual satisfaction, and marital conflict. Furthermore, marital satisfaction has been robustly linked to health, and well-being. However, health discrepancy between romantic partners and how such differences in health may be linked to marital satisfaction has received far less attention. The current study extends previous research by examining the degree to which health discrepancy between partners is associated with marital satisfaction, using multidimensional assessments of both health (self-rated health, and chronic health conditions) and marital satisfaction (daily and global). Participants from the Relocation and Transitional Experiences (RELATE) study (N=82, comprising 41 heterosexual couples) completed questionnaire packets regarding demographics, health status, and global marital satisfaction. Additionally, participants completed experience sampling surveys, called ecological momentary assessment surveys (EMA), each day for 7 consecutive days via mobile smart phones. The results demonstrated that people with better self-rated health compared to their partner tended to report lower average daily marital satisfaction. Health discrepancy was not predictive of global marital satisfaction. These findings point to the importance of refining the distinctions between daily and global marital satisfaction, as well as further differentiating health conditions based on severity, to elucidate how different dimensions of health uniquely contribute to different dimensions of marital satisfaction.
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    Pathways underlying differences in health between White and Black Americans: exploring the role of racial discrimination
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Marin, Josephine, author; Luong, Gloria, advisor; Zimmerman, Toni, committee member; Choi, Eunhee, committee member
    This study explored the association between experiencing racial discrimination and poor health outcomes between White and Black Americans. Secondary data from wave 11 of HRS (N = 17,085) were used to test the research questions of whether the experience of racial discrimination mediates the relationship between race and poor health, and whether this association differs for Whites and Blacks. Much of the previous literature has focused on understanding how race differences in health may be explained by racial discrimination experiences, and the current study built on this work by testing the extent to which group differences in health between White and Black Americans may be explained (i.e., mediated) by different types of racial discrimination experiences: less severe everyday experiences vs. major racial discrimination. Moreover, much less is known regarding how racial discrimination experiences may be differentially linked to health outcomes for Whites compared to Blacks. To test these questions, self-reported and objective measures of health were used along with the Major Experiences of Lifetime Discrimination and Perceived Everyday Discrimination scales. Results indicated that experiences with major discrimination significantly accounted for differences in self-rated health and number of health conditions for Blacks. Further, for Blacks experiences with both types of discrimination were related to poorer health for total number of chronic health conditions and systolic and diastolic blood pressure, whereas for Whites experiences with either type of discrimination were associated with improvements in health in self-rated health and total number of chronic health conditions.
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    The effects of anticipatory cognitive processes and rumination on negative affect reactivity to a laboratory controlled stressor
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Muller, Anna M., author; Luong, Gloria, advisor; Barrett, Karen, committee member; Adams, Henry, committee member
    A growing body of literature on stress reactivity shows mixed findings on the efficacy of anticipatory cognitive processes (ACPs) in reducing negative affect reactivity (NAR). Established stress research highlights the association between high NAR and poor long-term health outcomes. The current study explores cognitive processes that may buffer negative and prolonged reactions to stress and reduce the likelihood of stress contributing to poorer health in the future. This study aims to provide answers as to how the use of anticipatory deliberation (AD), anticipatory appraisals (AA), and rumination differentially predict NAR using a standardized lab stressor. It was predicted that participants who engaged in more frequent AD and more positive AA would experience less NAR, and those reporting high rumination about lab stressors would experience greater NAR. To test these hypotheses, researchers recruited participants from the parent HEADE study. The participants answered a series of daily Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs) reporting their engagement use of AD, AA, and rumination. Participants took part in three lab sessions where they completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and answered questionnaires about their current affect before and during the TSST to measure NAR. Results from the correlation matrix and multiple regressions analyses did not support the hypothesis about AD and AA. AA showed no measurable effect on NAR, and AD exacerbated NAR rather than reduced it. The hypothesis regarding rumination was supported. Results showed rumination and AD were strongly correlated with one another and both were associated with a significant increase in NAR. Implications of these findings, such as the negative impacts of perseverative thought both before and following a stressor, as well as strengths, limitations and future research directions are also discussed in this paper.
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    Understanding racial health differences: the role of stressor exposure and affect reactivity
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Arredondo, Carla Michelle, author; Luong, Gloria, advisor; Coatsworth, J. Douglas, committee member; Borrayo, Evelinn A., committee member
    Despite all that is known about racial differences in health and well-being outcomes, much less is known about the processes that give rise to these differences. Previous work examining racial differences in stress-health processes has primarily focused on examining stressor exposure as a predictor and posits that mediating effects account for the racial differences in health and well-being outcomes. This study expands on previous work by examining the extent to which different stressor characteristics (i.e., stressor exposure and affect reactivity) may account for racial group differences in the following health and well-being outcomes: grip strength, health conditions, self-rated health, depressive symptoms, loneliness, and life satisfaction, and by testing for both mediating and moderating effects of each stressor characteristic. Results demonstrate that there were racial differences in self-rated health, depressive symptoms, and loneliness. In all instances, Whites demonstrated more favorable outcomes compared to non-Whites. These racial differences, however, were not accounted for by mediating effects of either stressor characteristic. Furthermore, the results indicate that race moderated the association between the stressor characteristics and grip strength, loneliness, and life satisfaction. Results are discussed in light of a stress-health framework and implications for minority health and well-being are discussed.