Stress Coping Across the Lifespan: Investigating Mechanisms of Resilience and the Impact of Skills-based Interventions on Well-Being

Abstract

Stress exposure has been consistently linked with negative mental health outcomes. While the vast majority of people experience stress, resilience is possible. This dissertation examined factors associated with resilience across the lifespan and investigated whether interventions may promote resilience factors and improve well-being among individuals exposed to stress. This dissertation consists of three studies. The first study examined whether greater mastery and social support influenced the relationship between exposure to negative life events and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Further, this study assessed the differential impact of adolescent subjective stress ratings, consensus stress ratings developed based on context, and stress sensitivity (e.g. the discrepancy between subjective and consensus ratings) on internalizing symptoms. We found that greater social support was associated with reduced depression and greater mastery was associated with reduced anxiety and depression. Gender moderated the associations in that greater social support was associated with reduced subjective stress and consensus stress for males but with greater subjective stress and stress sensitivity for females. Finally, we found that greater subjective and consensus stress ratings and greater stress sensitivity were related to greater symptoms of anxiety and depression. These findings suggest that social support, mastery, and stress sensitivity have important implications for the likelihood of resilience in the context of greater stress exposure. The second study investigated the effectiveness of the Kids’ Empowerment Program (KEP), a novel skills-based group intervention, at influencing prosocial behaviors, emotion regulation skills, parent-child relationship quality, and well-being in school-aged children. Participating in KEP was associated with reductions in child reported anxiety and parent reported depression, increased feelings of parent-child closeness, and increased use of adaptive emotion regulation skills. Stress exposure did not moderate the association between participating in the intervention and changes in resilience factors. These results support KEP as an effective intervention program that improves both mental and social well-being and increases children’s repertoire of emotion regulation skills needed to effectively cope with environmental stressors. The third study investigated the effectiveness of Mood LiftersTM, a novel skills-based group program for adults, on influencing coping skills and social support. Participating in the Mood LiftersTM intervention was associated with greater use of support seeking and approach coping. Increases in approach coping and support seeking and decreases in disengagement coping were associated with reductions in anxiety and perceived stress. Although tests of mediation were not significant, these findings suggest that changes in the use of coping behaviors may contribute to reductions in perceived stress and symptoms of anxiety as a result of participating in Mood LiftersTM. Finally, stress exposure moderated the impact of the intervention on changes in coping skills and outcomes. For individuals reporting greater childhood trauma, increased avoidance and approach coping was related to reduced anxiety. These results support Mood LiftersTM as an effective intervention program that promotes the development of adaptive coping skills based on one’s circumstances. The results of this dissertation suggest that social support, coping skills, and mastery are associated with resilience across the lifespan. Further, novel skills-based interventions may improve coping skills and the use of and perception of social support, bolstering the likelihood of resilience among individuals exposed to stress. While the experience of significant stress is common, this dissertation suggest that the way individuals perceive and respond to stressors has important implications for their likelihood of resilience.