Calderon, Enriqueta HEART’S SYMPHONY: EXPLORING DAILY SOCIAL SUPPORT, STRESS, AND HRV USING MODERN WATCHES. 2024. Radford University, Thesis. Radford University Scholars' Repository.
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Abstract
Social support has been shown to buffer stress (Szkody et al., 2019), and stress has been shown to influence physical health (Kara, 2021). Recent research has focused on perceived stress during and after the pandemic, indicating the need for new findings to reassess the current perspectives of the younger generation (Gewalt et al., 2022; Grey et al., 2020; Traino et al., 2021; Velez et al., 2023). Therefore, this study aims to better understand the perspectives of emerging adults on social support by evaluating their perceptions of close relationships when dealing with stress. It is hypothesized that perceived social support, perceived stress, and physical health are correlated. Physical health is assessed through heart rate variability, self-rated health, and somatic symptoms. Additionally, it is hypothesized that social support moderates the relationship between stress and physical health. There were 25 Radford University students who participated in a 6-day study, reporting daily social support and daily stress, while wearing a Garmin activity watch that tracked heart rate variability. The pattern of results was the opposite of the pattern predicted and does not support the hypothesis that social support buffered associations between stress and parasympathetic deactivation. However, with some adjustments to the study's methodology, significant results may be achievable. The study's strength lies in the acceptable reliability of the Daily Social Support scale, but there were numerous limitations. These limitations should be considered in future research when measuring social support, stress, and physical health simultaneously. Keywords: social support, heart rate variability, stress, psychological arousal, and relaxation
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) |
| Divisions: | Radford University > College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences > Department of Psychology |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Jan 2025 00:15 |
| Last Modified: | 22 Jan 2025 00:15 |
| URI: | http://wagner.radford.edu/id/eprint/1146 |
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