Dealing with stress in the best way may improve the overall quality of life. Psychology major Katrina Riedel’s senior thesis, a study dealing with the ways people cope with stress, is likely the first of its kind. Her study compares college students’ stressors with the quality of life the students have.
“There hasn’t been much research behind this,” Riedel said. “What I have found says that people who better deal with stress have a higher quality of life. However, quality of life studies are usually done on cancer patients or other sick individuals, so it’ll be interesting to see the outcome in the college population.”
Riedel’s idea started out as a study dealing with stress in relation to drinking habits. “My adviser, Dr. Zagumny, and I sat down and eventually hammered out this idea,” Riedel said. “It took a lot of meetings and rough drafts to eventually come up with this. But once we did, we were both very excited about it.”
Riedel is aiming for her study to conclude by the end of this semester. The finished product will then be put in the senior thesis database, which is located in the counseling and psychology department’s section of Tech’s website.
To participate in Riedel’s study or other research being conducted by Tech students, visit http://tntech.sona-systems.com/.
