Publications by authors named "Dylan G Serpas"

Article Synopsis
  • The study explores how experiences of ableist microaggressions contribute to mental health issues among adults with disabilities (AWD).
  • It found that there is a significant link between these microaggressions and increased symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.
  • Additionally, disability visibility affects this relationship, with less visible disabilities leading to stronger associations with mental health problems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain condition often accompanied by sleep problems and depression that are each associated with reduced physical ability including postural control. Research supports a sequential association between pain intensity and depression in FM, and poor sleep quality may play a key role in this relationship. This study aimed to verify a serial pattern of associations among sleep quality, pain intensity, and depressive symptoms and quantify these effects on objective postural control.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Previous minority stress scholarship has investigated racism as both a constituent to stress and as an independent psychosocial stressor. It is generally understood that experiences of racism operate differently to affect mental health outcomes compared to general life stress. Racism is consistently implicated in poor psychological health outcomes among Arab Americans.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Flourishing is considered an optimal state of well-being and is associated with positive psychological outcomes. Although, individual, family, and social factors may either facilitate or impede flourishing, their unique influence on flourishing outcomes is not well-understood among youth.

Objective: Using data from the 2016-2017 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), this study investigated cross-sectional associations among adverse family experiences (AFE), community safety, family resilience, parental aggravation, and flourishing among youth.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain condition that is frequently accompanied by comorbid conditions, including depression. Depression is associated with reduced physical functioning and health, disproportionately affecting middle-aged and older adults with FM. This study examined associations between FM status and depressive symptoms with body mass index (BMI) and several physical performance indicators among middle-aged and older adults.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the 5-item Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) among US undergraduates ( = 212). The CAS demonstrated adequate internal consistencies among the sample. CAS scores correlated in a theoretically consistent manner with the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To investigate COVID-19 perceived risk and fear as predictors of preventive behaviors among young adult undergraduates, guided by the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM).

Design: Participants (= 174; = 21.94, = 3.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Discriminationas a unique psychosocial stressordisproportionately affects the mental health of communities of color as a function of systems of power and oppression. The increasing population of Hispanic undergraduates nationally warrants the importance of understanding the impact of discrimination on the mental health of students within Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), which enroll the most Hispanic students across the nation. This study investigated differences in the relationship between discrimination and mental health symptoms among Hispanic and non-Hispanic students of color (SoC) to better contextualize student experiences within an HSI setting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study investigated the mediating role of depressive symptoms among 147 middle-aged and older adults with FM in the relationship between pain intensity and 4 objective measures of physical performance: Fullerton Advanced Balance scale (FAB), 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), 30-Second Chair Stand (30SCS), and 8-Foot Up and Go Test (8FUPGT). Asymptotic mediation analyses revealed that depressive symptoms fully mediated the relationship between pain intensity and FAB (95% CI [-0.40, -0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Racial/ethnic minorities experience disproportionately greater risk to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This study examined racial/ethnic discrimination-as a psychosocial stressor-in a path model and its associations with CVD health risk factors among undergraduate students of color (SoC). The sample included 404 SoC whose ages ranged from 18 to 54 ( = 21.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF