Iwasaki, Yoshitaka2006-07-282006-07-2819981998http://hdl.handle.net/10012/313The present research examined different ways and numerous processes by which leisure helps people cope with stress to maintain or enhance their health/wellbeing from a longitudinal perspective. In particular, the research focused on (1) the reconceptualization and examination of leisure stress-coping dimensions, (2) the development and test of various models of leisure and health, (3) the analyses of the effects of gender on the relationships between stress, leisure, and health, and (4) the examination of stress-coping processes within individuals across various circumstances over time from the disaggregated perspective. Two preliminary studies were conducted to construct the Leisure Stress-Coping Scales, examine the scales' reliability and validity, and develop and refine a repeated stress-coping assessment design for the main study. The objective of the main study was to examine the effects of leisure and general stress-coping strategies on how people manage major life events and weekly hassles. First, participants responded to a set of dispositional measures and health and wellbeing measures. Secondly, they recalled the most stressful major life even that they had experience din the past year, and described how they coped with the event. Thirdly, the participants monitored the most stressful event that they had experienced during the preceding weeks, and described how they coped with each event. Weekday events were recorded on Thursdays, and weekend events on Sundays. After the completion of the two-week session, the participants responded to a set of health and well-being measures. The comparisons of different measurement models supported the idea of hierarchical dimensions of leisure-stress coping in which the various sub-dimensions of leisure coping beliefs and strategies are identified at three levels of specificity. Only limited evidence for the buffer hypothesis was found. Leisure empowerment, friendship, and palliative coping acted as a buffer against the negative impact of weekly stress to maintain mental or physical health. Furthermore, this research identified a number of processes by which leisure influences the relationship between stress and health/wellbeing. Leisure empowerment and friendship directly contributed to the reduction of mental illness and the enhancement of psychological wellbeing. Also, leisure friendship indirectly reduced mental illness and promoted psychological wellbeing through its suppression effects on weekly stress. The three types of leisure coping strategies (i.e., leisure companionship, palliative coping, and mood enhancement) had different mediating effects on the stress-health/wellbeing relationship according to the types of stressful events experienced (e.g., academic stress and interpersonal stress). Other mediators of the stress-health/wellbeing relationship included event appraisal, coping effectiveness, and emotions. The analyses of gender differences suggested that both biological sex and gender role orientation played a role in affecting the stress-health relationship. Overall, the amount of variance explained appeared to be greater for the effects of gender role orientation than for the effects of biological sex. Interestingly, gender identity reversal (the demonstration of masculinity by women and femininity by men) was associated with better coping outcomes and health/wellbeing. The research also provided evidence that a match between the demands of the stressors and coping functions led to positive coping outcomes and health/wellbeing (i.e., the idea of optimal matching). Finally, the within-individual analyses suggested that the effectiveness of the specific types of coping strategies and these consequences for coping outcomes and emotions varied according to the different types of stressful events or different appraisals of these events. Of the various models of leisure and health/wellbeing tested, stronger evidence was found for the alternative models (i.e., the direct and indirect effect models, the process or mediating models, and the optimal matching models) than for the buffer models. There appeared to be some consistent findings across the different analytic approaches taken in this research: (1) the ways in which leisure helps people cope with stress are multifaceted; (2) the processes by which leisure influences the stress-health/wellbeing relationship are complex; (3) the stress-health/wellbeing relationship differs according to the types of stressful events, appraisal of the events, and the types of health/wellbeing measures; and (4) both individual characteristics and social factors influence the stress-health/wellbeing relationship. Despite these consistent findings across the various approaches, each provided unique insights into leisure stress-coping as well. The theoretical and practical implications of this research are discussed.application/pdf11594914 bytesapplication/pdfenCopyright: 1998, Iwasaki, Yoshitaka. All rights reserved.Harvested from Collections CanadaDoctoral Thesis