Religious Coping Among the Religious: The Relationships Between Religious Coping and Well-Being in a National Sample of Presbyterian Clergy, Elders, and Members

This study examined whether the relationships between religious coping and well-being are moderated by the salience of religion to the individual's identity and social roles. As part of a national survey of Presbyterians, 1,260 clergy, 823 elders, and 735 members completed measures of demographic variables, global religiousness, life stressors, positive and negative religious coping, and well-being (positive affect, depressive affect, religious satisfaction). Our predictions were largely confirmed. First, clergy reported higher levels of positive religious coping than elders, who, in turn, indicated more positive religious coping than members. Second, positive and negative religious coping were associated with higher and lower levels of well-being respectively. Finally, positive and negative religious coping were more strongly related to well-being for clergy than for members. Furthermore, the drawbacks of negative religious coping for the clergy were not offset completely by the benefits of positive religious coping. Longitudinal studies of the longer term implications of positive and negative religious coping are clearly warranted. The results also suggest the need for supportive and educational services to help clergy draw on their religious coping resources and come to terms with their spiritual struggles.     

The Relationship of Religious and General Coping to Psychological Adjustment and Distress in Urban Adolescents

The present study explored the relationships among stress, general and religious coping, and mental health in a sample of urban adolescents. The participants included 587 9th- through 12th-grade students attending two Catholic high schools in the New York City area. They completed a set of self-report measures assessing perceived stress, religious coping, general coping, clinical symptomology, positive and negative affect, and life satisfaction. Correlation and regression analyses were used to describe relationships among variables. Perceived stress, negative religious coping, and avoidant coping were significantly associated with indicators of psychological distress. Conversely, positive religious coping and active/engagement coping were significantly associated with indicators of psychological adjustment. Negative religious coping also was found to moderate the relationship between perceived stress and positive affect. Finally, partial correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between religious coping and mental health indicators, even after controlling for the contributions of general coping. Implications of the findings for research and clinical practice with adolescent populations are considered.     

Negative Life Events, Patterns of Positive and Negative Religious Coping, and Psychological Functioning

Religious coping may or may not be adaptive depending upon whether such coping is positive or negative. We investigated the potential moderating effects of positive and negative religious coping patterns on the relationship between negative life events and psychological functioning. Questionnaires included measures of negative life events, positive and negative religious coping, and psychological functioning, and were completed by 336 adult, Protestant church members. Even after controlling for religious participation, negative events were related to increased use of positive and negative religious coping and decreased psychological functioning. Moreover, negative events and positive religious coping produced an interaction effect on depression, such that the high use of positive religious coping buffered the deleterious effects of negative events.     

Religious Coping in College Students

Three religious-coping profiles (Self-directing, Deferring/Collaborative, and Eclectic) have been identified in previous research with cardiac-transplantation candidates. This study examines the existence of religious-coping styles in college students and tests the role of religious coping as a stress moderator of psychological and physical symptoms. Additional potential stress buffers were included to help explain the relationship between stress and symptomatology more completely. Results supported the existence of the three religious-coping profiles in students; however, no group differences were found for symptomatology. The role of religion in studies of stress for healthy individuals vs. clinical patients is discussed.     

Religious Coping and Psychological Distress in Military Veteran Cancer Survivors

Research on the relationship between religious coping and psychological well-being in cancer survivors is limited. Forty-eight veteran cancer survivors completed measures of psychological distress, posttraumatic growth, and positive and negative religious coping. Negative religious coping was associated with greater distress and growth. Positive religious coping was associated with greater growth. Gender, race, and religious affiliation were significant predictors of positive and negative religious coping. Veteran cancer survivors who utilize negative religious coping may benefit from referral to clergy or a mental health professional. Assessment of religious coping may be particularly important for female, non-White, and Christian cancer survivors.     

Religious Coping and Psychological and Behavioral Adjustment After Hurricane Katrina

Positive and negative religious coping are related to positive and negative psychological adjustment, respectively. The current study examined the relation between religious coping and PTSD, major depression, quality of life, and substance use among residents residing in Mississippi at the time of Hurricane Katrina. Results indicated that negative religious coping was positively associated with major depression and poorer quality of life and positive religious coping was negatively associated with PTSD, depression, poorer quality of life, and increased alcohol use. These results suggest that mental health providers should be mindful of the role of religious coping after traumatic events such as natural disasters.     

When Meaning Matters: Coping Mediates the Relationship of Religiosity and Illness Appraisal with Well-Being in Older Cancer Patients

When individuals face serious, traumatic illnesses such as cancer, religion can contribute to their coping processes and psychosocial adjustment. In the current study, we examined the relationship between religiosity conceptualized as the religious meaning system, illness appraisal, and psychological well-being with religious and nonreligious coping as potential mediators of this relationship among older cancer patients. In a cross-sectional design, 215 older Polish patients (60–83 years of age; 80% Catholic, 9% Protestant) with gastrointestinal cancer completed measures of religiosity, illness appraisal, religious coping, nonreligious coping, and psychological well-being. Using structural equation modeling analysis, we found support for our model depicting a mediated relationship between religiosity, illness appraisal, and psychological well-being. Three forms of coping—negative religious, problem focused, and meaning focused—were key mechanisms in the relationship between the religious meaning system, positive and negative illness appraisal, and psychological well-being. These findings suggest that both religious factors (religiosity and religious coping) and nonreligious factors (illness appraisal and nonreligious coping) can operate together in influencing older cancer patients’ well-being.     

Religious coping in highly religious psychiatric inpatients

This study among highly religious psychiatric patients in a mental hospital in the Netherlands focused on the following issues: their religious and spiritual beliefs and activities; their religious coping activities, measured using Pargament's three coping styles and a positive religious coping scale; the influence of religious coping on psychological and existential well-being; and the predictive value of general religiousness, as compared with religious coping activities, regarding psychological and existential well-being.

For this population of inpatients, religion had a positive influence on their ways of dealing with mental problems; religious coping was positively correlated with existential and psychological well-being. General religiousness as well as religious coping were positively correlated with existential well-being, whereas psychological well-being primarily was predicted by positive religious coping.

Results are discussed in the context of theoretical notions of religious coping, addressing in particular the positive influence of religious beliefs, relying on God, religious activities and religious social support in psychological and existential times of crisis.     

Religious Coping and Church-Based Social Support as Predictors of Mental Health Outcomes: Testing a Conceptual Model

This study assesses religious coping and church-based social support as mechanisms explaining religious benefits to mental health. We build on recent research and test an explanatory model using the 1998 General Social Survey. The model considers both institutional and individual aspects of religiousness, and their interrelations, as predictors of mental health outcomes. It considers negative effects of religion along with the well-known positive effects. We found that benefits of attendance, a measure of institutional participation, are mediated by church-based social support. Benefits of prayer, an individual form of religiousness, are mediated by the similarly privatized religious coping. Institutional measures of religion were found to impact individuals' religious coping styles. Implications are suggested for the scientific study of religion as well as for the applied efforts of clergy, pastoral counselors, and lay church members concerned with improving religious benefits.     

Religion and Coping: A Contribution from Religious Studies

Freud and Marx pegged religion as a beguiling painkiller. Recent social scientific research has exposed the not-so-simple reality of religious coping, identifying differential usage, means, and outcomes. Appropriately, psychologists, many with clinical training, lead the way. This article is a contribution from religious studies. It describes two thus far neglected modes of religious coping that are prominent in traditions and distinctly representative of religious responses to suffering—magical rituals and religious experiences. Consideration of these forms will address deficiencies and imbalances in the literature apparent from the study of religions. Specifically, the current investigation of religion and coping would benefit from historical perspective, greater attention to unconscious coping processes, heightened use of qualitative data, and fuller recognition of the challenges inherent in the therapeutic use of religion .     

The Relationship between Religious Coping and Self-Care Behaviors in Iranian Medical Students

In recent years, researchers have identified that coping strategies are an important contributor to an individual’s life satisfaction and ability to manage stress. The positive relationship between religious copings, specifically, with physical and mental health has also been identified in some studies. Spirituality and religion have been discussed rigorously in research, but very few studies exist on religious coping. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between religious coping methods (i.e., positive and negative religious coping) and self-care behaviors in Iranian medical students. This study used a cross-sectional design of 335 randomly selected students from Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. A data collection tool comprised of the standard questionnaire of religious coping methods and questionnaire of self-care behaviors assessment was utilized. Data were analyzed using a two-sample t test assuming equal variances. Adjusted linear regression was used to evaluate the independent association of religious copings with self-care. Adjusted linear regression model indicated an independent significant association between positive (b = 4.616, 95% CI 4.234–4.999) and negative (b = ?3.726, 95% CI ?4.311 to ?3.141) religious coping with self-care behaviors. Findings showed a linear relationship between religious coping and self-care behaviors. Further research with larger sample sizes in diverse populations is recommended.     

Suppressor Effects of Positive and Negative Religious Coping on Academic Burnout Among Korean Middle School Students

Statistical suppressor effects in prediction models can provide evidence of the interdependent relationship of independent variables. In this study, the suppressor effects of positive and negative religious coping on academic burnout were examined using longitudinal data. First, 388 middle school students reported their type of religion and use of positive and negative religious coping strategies. Four months later, they also reported their level of academic burnout. From structural equation modeling, significant suppressor effects were found among religious students. That is, the coefficients became larger when both positive and negative religious coping predicted academic burnout simultaneously, compared to when each religious coping predicted academic burnout alone. However, suppressor effects were not found among non-religious students.     

Religious Coping Methods of Taiwanese Folk Religion

The purpose of this study was to explore religious coping methods employed by Taiwanese folk religious believers. This study applied qualitative research methods in data collection and data analysis by conducting semi-structured interviews with participants and analyzing the interview contents. We have identified fourteen coping methods that can be categorized into five different religious dimensions: belief, ritual, ethical, emotional and material. The findings not only expanded our knowledge about how believers of Taiwanese folk religion employ the religion to cope with difficulties but also discovered that some coping methods employed by them are also reported in Western countries, only in different forms.     

Religious coping,stigma, and psychological functioning among HIV-positive African American women

The present study examined the role of religious coping in psychological distress and adjustment both cross-sectionally and longitudinally among 141 HIV-positive African American women. Cross-sectional analyses showed that negative religious coping was associated with poorer mental health and functioning, and greater perceptions of stigma and discrimination. Longitudinal analyses revealed that greater negative religious coping at baseline significantly predicted greater changes in mental health in a negative direction 12 months later. Positive religious coping was not associated with any measures of psychological well-being, nor did it predict any mental health outcomes at 12 months. However, participants who experienced high levels of HIV-related stigma and reported high levels of positive religious coping were less depressed than those who reported lower levels of positive religious coping. These results suggest that for this population, negative religious coping was a more salient determinant of psychological distress than positive religious coping was of psychological health.     

An Initial Examination of Religious Coping in Children With Asthma

This study evaluated the relations between positive religious coping (PRC) and negative religious coping (NRC) strategies and adjustment in 87 children and adolescents (described as “children”) hospitalized for asthma. Children's adjustment during hospitalization and at follow-up was correlated with and regressed onto measures of PRC and NRC. After controlling for relevant variables, religious coping predicted up to 50% of the variance in adjustment measures. Religious coping also significantly predicted adjustment after controlling for established measures of secular coping. PRC did not predict adjustment as hypothesized, other than predicting spiritual growth. NRC predicted poorer adjustment during hospitalization and at follow-up, and an increase in anxiety over time suggesting potential risk to children's adjustment. Although methodological limitations are noted, these initial findings provide a foundation on which to further examine the palliative and potentially harmful effects of children's religious coping.     

Religious Coping,Coping Resources,and Depressive Symptoms: Test of a Mediation Model

This study examined the relationships between religious coping, coping resources, and depressive symptoms. The authors tested whether coping resources explained the link between religious coping and depressive symptoms in a sample of 349 college students. Results indicated that coping resources partially mediated the relationship between negative religious coping and depressive symptoms, primarily through decreased social ease. The results offered no evidence that coping resources mediated the relationship between positive religious coping and depressive symptoms.     

The Comparison of Death Anxiety,Obsession, and Depression Between Muslim Population with Positive and Negative Religious Coping

Death anxiety, obsession, and depression constitute three dimensions of death distress which can be influenced by religious coping in religious individuals. The aim of this study was to compare death anxiety, depression, and obsession between Muslims with positive and negative religious coping. In a cross-sectional study, a sample of 339 participants were selected via stratified random sampling method. The participants were screened using the Brief Religious Coping Scale, in which 60 individuals were identified to have positive religious coping and 62 individuals were recognized as individuals with negative religious coping. They responded to Death Anxiety Scale, Death Obsession Scale, and Death Depression Scale. The data were analyzed using factor analysis and multiple analysis of variance. The results of principal component analysis showed that death anxiety, death obsession, and death depression were separate factors of death distress. The results also revealed that individuals with negative religious coping gained higher scores than those with positive religious coping in all the three variables of death anxiety, obsession, and depression. Consistent with the previous studies and Terror Management Theory, this finding lays emphasis on the role of positive religious coping in reducing death distress and the possible consequent psychopathology.

     

The Effect of Pastoral Care Services on Anxiety,Depression, Hope,Religious Coping,and Religious Problem Solving Styles: A Randomized Controlled Study

This randomized controlled study measured the effect of chaplain interventions on coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients over time. One hundred sixty-six CABG patients, received pre- and post-surgery testing at 1 month and 6 months with four instruments. Five chaplain visits were made to the intervention group, the control group received none. Comparison scores for anxiety, depression, hope, positive and negative religious coping, and religious coping styles were analyzed. Significant difference was found between groups in positive religious coping (PRC) (p = .023) and negative religious coping (NRC) (p = .046) scores over time. PRC increased in intervention group, decreased in the control group while NRC decreased in intervention group and increased in the control group. Demographics were comparable between groups. Moderate chaplain visits (average total visits time, 44 min) may be effective in helping CABG patients increase positive religious coping and decrease negative religious coping.

Religious Social Identity as an Explanatory Factor for Associations Between More Frequent Formal Religious Participation and Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

Guided by social identity theory, this study investigated having a closer identification as a member of one's religious group as an explanatory mechanism for linkages between more frequent formal religious participation and better subjective psychological well-being (more positive affect, less negative affect, and more life satisfaction). Multivariate regression models were estimated based on data from 3,032 respondents, ages 25 to 74, in the 1995 National Survey of Midlife in the U.S. Results provided support for the hypothesis that religious social identity would mediate the associations between more frequent religious service attendance and all three dimensions of subjective psychological well-being examined. These findings contribute to understandings of self, religion, and health while indicating the continued importance of drawing on well-developed social psychological theory in investigations of linkages between religion and mental health.     

Recollections of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Complexities of Religious Coping and Muslim Religious and Psychological Adjustment in Afghanistan

Journal of Religion and Health - Religious coping is a double-edged sword. Clarification of the psychological benefits for positive religious coping requires statistical controls for negative...