Dissertations and Theses

Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Ann Marie Yali

Second Advisor

Adriana Espinosa

Third Advisor

Brett Silverstein

Keywords

Acculturative Stress, Mindfulness, Body Dissatisfaction, Eating Disorder Symptoms, Latinx students, Moderation

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to test the theory that mindfulness is an effective coping strategy for reducing acculturative stress and body dissatisfaction/eating disorder symptoms. It was hypothesized that acculturative stress would be associated with more body dissatisfaction/eating disorder symptoms, but this relation was expected to be moderated by mindfulness. It was also predicted that mindfulness would be associated with less acculturative stress and less body dissatisfaction/eating disorder symptoms. Thirty-eight Latinx students were recruited from The City College of New York, CUNY, through the web-based survey participation pool SONA. Participants answered questions assessing their levels of acculturative stress, mindfulness, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptoms. The results of the study revealed that acculturative stress was associated with body dissatisfaction/eating disorder symptoms. It was also found that mindfulness did not moderate the relation between acculturative stress and body dissatisfaction, but it did moderate the relation between acculturative stress and eating disorder symptoms. Limitations of the study as well as implications of the findings for future research are discussed.

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