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.     

The effect of psychologists’ disclosure of personal religious background on prospective clients

The present study explored the relation of religious coping and spirituality to adjustment and psychological distress in urban early adolescents. The participants were 76 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students attending Catholic day schools in the New York City area. They completed a set of self-report measures assessing religious coping, daily spiritual experiences, positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and psychological distress. Correlational and regression analyses found positive religious coping and daily spiritual experiences to be associated with positive affect and life satisfaction, while negative religious coping was associated with negative affect and psychological distress. The relations generally were more robust among males, and their overall robustness decreased with age. Implications of the findings for research and clinical practice are offered to address the gap (compared to adults) in the literature on youth religious coping.     

中国背景下情绪智力与心理健康关系的元分析

本研究使用元分析的方法探讨了情绪智力与心理健康的关系（包括心理健康症状学指标、感知到的压力、应对方式、社会适应及主观幸福感）,共纳入104篇文献,151个独立样本和75754名被试。结果发现,个体情绪智力与积极应对、社会适应以及主观幸福感呈现显著正相关,与心理健康症状学指标、感知到的压力以及消极应对呈现显著负相关。此外,情绪智力与心理健康的关系受到出版年代、被试年龄、情绪智力理论模型和测量工具的调节作用。结论表明,情绪智力与积极心理健康变量的联系强于与消极心理健康变量的联系,且存在较长时期的稳定性。     

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.     

歧视知觉与心理健康的关系:基于中国留守儿童的元分析

研究以心理健康双因素模型为视角,运用元分析技术梳理了留守儿童歧视知觉与积极和消极心理健康的关系,并探究了影响其关系的调节变量。通过文献检索与筛选,共27篇中英文文献,56个独立样本纳入元分析,包含被试17146名。结果显示,歧视知觉与积极心理健康指标呈显著的负相关关系(r=-0.298),与消极心理健康指标呈显著的正相关关系(r=0.365)。调节效应分析发现,留守儿童歧视知觉与积极心理健康的关系受到歧视知觉测量工具的影响,与消极心理健康的关系受到歧视知觉测量工具、学龄段以及消极结果类型的影响。同时,元回归分析发现,文献年份对歧视知觉与积极心理健康指标关系的调节效应显著; 性别对歧视知觉与积极和消极心理健康关系的调节作用均不显著。研究结果进一步明确了留守儿童歧视知觉与积极和消极心理健康的关系,为探索提升留守儿童心理社会适应的新路径提供了借鉴。     

The Association Between Strength of Religious Faith and Psychological Functioning

Recently researchers have begun examining the benefit of religious faith on mental and physical health outcomes. This study examined the relationship between religious faith and psychological functioning in 342 university students in diverse educational and geographic settings including a private West Coast Catholic college (sample 1), a Southern public state university (sample 2), and a Southern private Baptist college (sample 3). Participants completed several self-report measures. Strength of religious faith was significantly associated with optimism and experiencing meaning in life among sample 1. Results from sample 2 suggest that strength of religious faith was significantly associated with coping with stress, optimism, experiencing meaning in life, viewing life as a positive challenge, and low anxiety. Strength of religious faith was significantly associated with viewing life as a positive challenge and self-acceptance among sample 3. Although modest correlations surfaced, results suggest that strength of religious faith is associated with several important positive mental health benefits among college students.     

Is Religious Coping Associated with Cumulative Health Risk? An Examination of Religious Coping Styles and Health Behavior Patterns in Alzheimer’s Dementia Caregivers

The current study explored the relationship between religious coping and cumulative health risk associated with health behavior patterns in a sample of 256 Latina and Caucasian female caregivers of elderly relatives with dementia. Primary analyses examined the relationship between religious coping (both positive and negative) and an overall index of cumulative health risk. Secondary analyses were conducted on the individual health behaviors subsumed in the broader index. Findings revealed that negative religious coping was significantly associated with increased cumulative health risk. Positive religious coping was predictive of decreased cumulative health risk among Latina caregivers but not among Caucasians. Negative religious coping was significantly associated with both an increased likelihood for weight gain and increased dietary restriction. Positive religious coping was associated with decreased likelihood for weight gain in Latinas. Implications for both caregivers and clinicians are discussed.     

Religious coping,stress, and quality of life of Muslim university students in New Zealand

Most of the research on religious coping has been conducted with Christian participants from Western cultures, although in recent years increasingly more studies have been conducted with Muslim participants. For university students in Muslim countries, religiosity is positively correlated with a variety of indices of mental health and psychological well-being, but only a small number of studies investigated coping in Muslims living and studying in a non-Muslim country. The present study thus explored the relationship between perceived stress, quality of life (QOL), and religious coping in a sample of 114 Muslim university students in New Zealand. International Muslim students had higher levels of spirituality/religiousness than domestic Muslim students, and used more positive and negative religious coping methods. For international students, positive religious coping was positively related to QOL and lack of stress, while, for domestic students, negative religious coping was negatively related to the QOL and increased stress. This different pattern may relate to the ethnic background of the participants, and the results of the present study thus highlight that Muslims studying at universities overseas can certainly not be considered as a homogenous group.     

Forgiveness and mental health variables: Interpreting the relationship using an adaptational-continuum model of personality and coping

The present paper uses an adaptational-continuum model of personality, based on Ferguson’s (2001) health psychology model integrating Eysenck personality factors and coping style, to provide a context for examining the relationship between forgiveness and mental health. Three hundred and twenty respondents completed measures of personality, coping style, forgiveness (forgiveness of self, others, likelihood, presence of positive forgiveness, absence of negative forgiveness), general health, stress, positive and negative affect and life satisfaction. Among respondents, all measures of forgiveness, bar one, load negatively on a neuroticism-coping factor. The remaining measure of forgiveness (presence of positive forgiveness) loaded on an extraversion-coping factor. The relationship of the neuroticism-coping-forgiveness factor was associated with poorer mental health, suggesting forgiveness is associated with better mental health within the context of this personality-coping factor. Significant positive relationships were found between the extraversion-coping-forgiveness factor and two measures of positive mental health outcomes (positive affect and life satisfaction) suggesting forgiveness is associated with some aspects of mental health within the context of this personality-coping factor. The present findings suggest that forgiveness, or failure to forgive, can be conceptualised within an adaptational-continuum model of personality.     

Roles of Leisure in Coping with Stress Among University Students: A Repeated-Assessment Field Study

This article reports findings of a study to examine the effects of leisure coping on various stress coping outcomes including: immediate outcomes (perceived coping effectiveness, perceived satisfaction with coping outcomes, and perceived stress reduction) and distal or long-term outcomes (physical and mental ill-health and psychological well-being), above and beyond the contributions of general coping - coping not directly associated with leisure. A repeated-assessment field design was used to examine ways in which university students cope with stressors in their daily lives. The study found that leisure coping beliefs (leisure-generated dispositional coping resources) significantly predicted lower levels of mental and physical ill-health and greater levels of psychological well-being above and beyond the effects of general coping. Also, the use of leisure coping strategies (situation-specific stress coping strategies through leisure) was significantly associated with higher levels of perceived coping effectiveness and stress reduction when the effects of general coping were taken into account. Significant contributions of specific leisure coping dimensions were found as well.     

Stress and coping among gay men: age and ethnic differences

Previous studies suggest that perceived stigmatization of sexual minority status, ethnicity, and age are associated with negative mental health outcomes, and other studies suggest that coping styles may influence these outcomes. However, no studies have examined these relationships among gay men of varying ethnicities and age groups. Three hundred eighty-three Black and White, younger, middle-aged, and older adult gay men completed measures of perceived stigmatization, coping style, and mental health outcomes. Black older adult gay men reported significantly higher levels of perceived ageism than the older White group, significantly higher levels of perceived racism than the younger Black group, significantly higher levels of homonegativity than the younger Black and the White groups, and were more likely to use disengaged coping styles than White gay men. However, Black older adult gay men did not experience significantly higher levels of negative mental health outcomes. Results suggest that further research should examine how older Black gay men, who perceive higher levels of stigma while reporting greater use of less effective coping styles, do not appear to be experiencing more negative mental health outcomes as a result.     

Resource loss,religiousness, health,and posttraumatic growth following Hurricane Katrina

This study examined associations among resource loss, religiousness (including general religiousness, religious comfort, and religious strain), posttraumatic growth (PTG), and physical and mental health among a sample of Mississippi university students soon after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast in 2005. Resource loss was negatively associated with health, but positively associated with PTG. Religious comfort was associated with positive outcomes, and religious strain was associated with negative outcomes. Religious comfort buffered the negative effects of resource loss on emotional health. Ancillary analyses indicated that associations between resource loss and health were mediated by religious strain. Implications of this research are described for mental health practitioners engaged in disaster recovery work.     

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.     

Discrimination, acculturation, acculturative stress, and Latino psychological distress: a moderated mediational model

Prior research has found that perceived discrimination is associated with adverse mental health outcomes among Latinos. However, the process by which this relationship occurs remains an understudied area. The present study investigated the role of acculturative stress in underlying the relationship between perceived discrimination and Latino psychological distress. Also examined was the ability of acculturation to serve as a moderator between perceived discrimination and acculturative stress. Among a sample of Latino adults (N = 669), moderated mediational analyses revealed that acculturative stress mediated the perceived discrimination-psychological distress relationship, and that the link between perceived discrimination and acculturative stress was moderated by Anglo behavioral orientation but not Latino behavioral orientation. The findings are discussed within a stress and coping perspective that identifies the psychological consequences associated with perceived discrimination and acculturative stress.     

Predictors of hazardous drinking and internet gaming severity among a military sample

Researchers have placed a necessary focus on the mental health and substance use needs of U.S. military populations. In the present study, we examined a sequential regression model in which psychological, emotional, and spiritual factors predicted hazardous drinking and internet gaming severity in a national sample of 207 with military identities. Results indicated that posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, shame, and negative religious coping predicted hazardous alcohol use. Additionally, religious and spiritual struggles predicted higher internet gaming severity. Future research is needed to better contextualize combat era demographics and mental health risk and protective factors associated with alcohol use and internet gaming among military populations.     

Religiosity and attitudes towards professional mental health services: analysing religious coping as a mediator among Mexican origin Latinas/os in the southwest United States

In this study, we examined the relationship between religiosity and attitudes towards professional mental health services. We further examined whether internal religious coping and external religious coping mediated both relationships. Results indicated a significant association with religiosity and negative attitudes towards mental health services, as well as external religious coping and internal religious coping. Results also showed a nonsignificant association with both religious coping and negative attitudes towards mental health services. Finally, external religious coping mediated the relationship between religiosity and negative attitudes towards mental health services for men but not for women.     

Working Together with God: Religious Coping,Perceived Discrimination,and Hypertension

This study examined the relationships of perceived discrimination and religious coping with hypertension in a sample of Black and White Seventh-day Adventists. Data come from a community-based sample of 6128 White American, 2253 African American and 927 Caribbean American adults (67% women; mean age = 62.9 years). Results indicate lifetime unfair treatment was significantly associated with hypertension regardless of race/ethnicity. Positive religious coping was associated with lower odds of hypertension and did not interact with unfair treatment. Both positive and negative religious coping were indirectly associated with increased hypertension risk through an increase in perceived discrimination.

     

流动儿童歧视知觉与心理健康关系的元分析

本研究基于心理健康双因素模型,通过运用元分析技术探讨流动儿童歧视知觉与各项心理健康指标的关系,以及调节变量对二者关系的影响,以期为提升流动儿童心理健康提供有效借鉴。经过文献检索和筛选,共纳入原始文献3篇,含49个独立样本,被试总数达到40351名。根据同质性检验结果,选择随机效应模型分析发现,流动儿童歧视知觉与积极心理健康指标存在中等程度的负相关(r=-0.323,95%CI为[-0.378,-0.266]),与消极心理健康指标存在中等程度的正相关(r = 0.41, 95%CI为[0.36,0.458])。流动儿童歧视知觉测量工具、学龄段对流动儿童歧视知觉与积极心理健康的关系存在显著的调节效应,而对流动儿童歧视知觉与消极心理健康的关系不存在显著的调节效应。同时,元回归分析结果发现,性别对二者的关系不存在显著的调节效应。后续研究应该进一步探索流动儿童歧视知觉与心理健康间的调节变量,结合中国流动儿童心理发展特点, 探索提升流动儿童心理健康水平的新路径。     

Negative affectivity,perceived occupational stress,and health during organisational restructuring: A follow-up study

Abstract

This paper presents a survey of the relationships among multiple indicators of perceived occupational stress, trait negative affectivity, and later mental and physical health symptoms, among 157 Australian public servants during organisational restructuring. It was hypothesised that individual differences in negative affectivity would inflate the relationships between perceived stress and later strain as assessed by health symptoms in the follow-up phase. The possible role of negative affectivity in moderating the stress-strain relationships was also investigated. Multiple regression analyses conducted with depressive and physical health outcomes separately indicate that the only significant predictors of depressive symptoms were negative affectivity and role insufficiency, whereas the significant predictors of physical health symptoms were role ambiguity, physical environment, and negative affectivity. None of the interaction terms involving occupational stress and negative affectivity was found to be significant Implications of the findings are discussed in the context of the research literature on work stress, particularly the role of negative affectivity in inflating the stress-strain relationship and indications for future research.