Rosa Espinosa Zuniga graduated from Eastern Washington University in 2020 with her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Spanish with a minor in Sociology. She is interested in the effects of religiosity and gratitude in the mental health of the elderly, especially in the Latino communities in the Yakima Valley and Columbia Basin in Washington State (i.e. Yakima, Sunnyside, Toppenish, and Spokane). Once graduated from Eastern, Rosa is planning to attend graduate school and work towards her PhD in Psychology.
She is working at L.E.A.P.S. and Beyond, Inc. as a Certified Behavioral Technician.
2019 McNair Faculty Research Mentor: Dr. Theresa Martin - Psychology
2018 McNair Faculty Research Mentor: Dr. Phillip Watkins - Psychology
Research Title: Gratitude, Spirituality, and Religiosity as predictors of psychological well-being in Latinx Aging Population
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to test if there is a correlation between the level of spirituality, religiosity and the mental health of elders. Research has attributed the fluctuation in the mental health of older adults not only to spirituality, religiosity, meaning in life and gratitude but also to the physical health. A study that shows the correlation between the involvement in religious activities, having a clear meaning in life, and the level of spirituality displayed by the elders in institutionalized care or community living with the mental health that they show throughout their aging process.
The views of what encompasses mental health or whether or not an individual need to receive therapy or any kind of anti-depressive drugs to assure that they will continue to have a progressive aging process is shown to be different from culture to culture. This study will employ the gratitude questionnaire, satisfaction with life scale, and the meaning in life for the purposes of showing the way these affect the perception of mental health and the mental well-being of elderly from different cultural/ethnic groups.
