Date of Award
Fall 2010
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Clinical Psychology
First Advisor
Torres, Lucas
Second Advisor
Oswald, Debra
Third Advisor
Wierzbicki, Michael
Abstract
This study examined whether religious coping and social support are moderators and/or mediators between acculturative stress and psychological distress in a Latino community sample. Particularly, the buffering model, the deterioration model, and the counteractive model were tested. Two hundred and twenty-eight Spanish-speaking and English-speaking participants filled out surveys, and it was found that both religious coping and social support mediated the relationship between acculturative stress and psychological stress. However, the results did not support any of the coping models. This study shows that religious coping and social support are associated with an increase in psychological distress.