Date of Conferral

2-6-2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Melanie Shores

Abstract

Exposure to stress can affect youths’ well-being; however, there was a need for research on how different types of stress or daily hassles are associated with emotional adjustment. Daily hassles common in adolescence, can occur in multiple domains including school, family, peer, appearance, and sports. Being sensitive to rejection may strengthen associations with emotional adjustment problems, especially for hassles in interpersonal domains. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the associations between daily hassles in different domains and later anxiety and depression and how nervous and angry rejection sensitivity moderated those relationships. This study was based on the theory of psychological stress and coping and the rejection sensitivity model. Multiple regression analyses were completed using the archival data of 452 adolescents from the Midwest region of the United States. The results indicated significant associations between the experience of some or all of the daily hassles and later anxiety and depressive symptoms and that these associations were significantly moderated by nervous and/or angry rejection sensitivity. Implications for positive social change include providing more education on stress, coping, and the effects of rejection sensitivity to those who work with adolescents. Findings may also lead to the development of targeted treatment and interventions for adolescents who experience daily hassles and rejection sensitivity.

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