Jin Wen
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)
Research Topic
Evaluating cognitive appraisals as mechanisms in the links between sleep and next-day affective reactivity to daily stressors
Nancy Sin
Associate Professor
Research Classification
Research Interests
social determinants of health
stress
Social Aspects of Aging
Health Promotion
Lifestyle Determinants and Health
Adult development and aging
cardiovascular disease
depression
Emotions
Health behaviours
Stress processes
Well-being
Relevant Thesis-Based Degree Programs
Research Methodology
Daily diary
Ecological momentary assessment
Biological markers of stress
Recruitment
Doctoral students
Postdoctoral Fellows
Stress processes and stress-buffering in daily life; Role of daily positive experiences in adult development and aging; Biological and behavioural pathways linking daily experiences to health outcomes; Day-to-day dynamics of psychosocial well-being and health behaviours (e.g., sleep); Biopsychosocial determinants of risk and outcomes for cardiovascular disease
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Supervision Enquiry
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Graduate Student Supervision
Master's Student Supervision
Theses completed in 2010 or later are listed below. Please note that there is a 6-12 month delay to add the latest theses.
Everyday discrimination, daily affect, and physical symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic (2022)
The full abstract for this thesis is available in the body of the thesis, and will be available when the embargo expires.
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Perceived control and cortisol reactivity to acute stressors: variations by age, race and facets of control (2020)
Greater perceived control is associated with better health and well-being outcomes, possibly through more adaptive stress processes. Yet little research has examined whether global perceived control, as well as its facets of personal mastery and perceived constraints, predict psychological and physiological stress reactivity. Thus, the goal of the present study was to evaluate the associations of perceived control and its facets with changes in subjective stress and cortisol in response to acute laboratory stressors. In addition, we considered the moderating roles of age and race. In a sample of 735 U.S. adults ages 25–75 (71% White, 18% Black, 11% Other/Unknown Races), participants completed a measure of perceived control at baseline and subsequently underwent two lab-based acute stress tasks. Subjective stress and salivary cortisol were collected pre- and post-stressors. Perceived control was related to smaller increases in subjective stress, but did not directly predict cortisol responses. Age and race interacted to moderate the associations between facets of perceived control and stress reactivity. Specifically, greater personal mastery predicted lower subjective stress responses in White older adults, and higher perceived constraints predicted greater cortisol reactivity among White younger adults, whereas no association was found among racial minorities. These findings suggest that, among Whites, older adults garner the stress protective benefits of mastery and are buffered against the link between constraints and cortisol stress reactivity. Future research on the role of perceived control in stress and health should distinguish between facets of control as well as consider the importance of age and racial differences.
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News Releases
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Current Students & Alumni
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