The link between time orientation and religious orientation among American college students

The purpose of this study was to explore how an individual’s religion relates to their time orientation. Specifically, we hypothesised (a) intrinsic orientation would positively correlate with future orientation, (b) extrinsic orientation would positively correlate with present-hedonistic orientation, (c) quest orientation would positively correlate with present-hedonistic and future orientations, (d) orthodox orientation would positively correlate with past positive orientation, and (e) secularism would positively correlate with past negative orientation, present-fatalistic and future orientations. Participants (n?=?150) completed an online survey of time orientation and religious orientation. The results showed that perceptions of the past are strongly linked to religious orientation, with more positive perceptions being linked to the more traditional orientations, and less positive perceptions linked to the looser and secularist orientations.     

The role of social stressors and interpersonal orientation in explaining the longitudinal relation between externalizing and depressive symptoms

The authors examined the longitudinal association between externalizing and depressive symptoms using a sample of 185 young adolescents whose mothers had histories of depression. The relation between externalizing behaviors in 6th grade and depressive symptoms a year later was partially mediated by dependent social stressors. Moreover, consistent with the personality-event congruence hypothesis, this mediation model was particularly true for children with high levels of interpersonal orientation (Neediness and Connectedness). In contrast, social stressors that were judged to be independent of the children's behavior, as well as both dependent and independent nonsocial stressors, did not mediate the longitudinal relation between externalizing and depressive symptoms.     

Religious doubt,financial strain,and depressive symptoms among older Mexican Americans

A number of studies suggest that various positive aspects of religion help older people cope more effectively with stress. However, the literature further indicates that religion may have negative as well as positive influences in the stress process. This suggests that instead of enhancing coping efforts, religion may also exacerbate the effects of stress. The purpose of this study was to see if one negative aspect of religion (i.e., religious doubt) exacerbates the effects of financial strain on depressive symptoms among older Mexican Americans. A nationwide survey of 1005 older Mexican Americans was conducted. The findings suggest that the effects of financial strain on depressive symptoms are stronger for older Mexican Americans who have more doubts about religion. This study aims to contribute to the literature by assessing the negative aspects of religion with data provided by an ethnic group that has been largely overlooked in the literature.     

On the links between positive religious coping,satisfaction with life and depressive symptoms among a multinational sample of Muslims

This study tested the levels and consequences of positive religious coping among a multinational sample of Muslims. The sample consisted of 706 university students recruited in three Muslim countries: Israel/Palestine, Turkey and Malaysia. Participants' average age was 22.61, and 65% of them were females. This investigation applied a cross‐sectional comparative methodology. Measures used: demographics, positive religious coping, satisfaction with life and depressive symptoms. The findings indicated that (a) participants reported high levels of positive religious coping usage, and Malaysians scored significantly higher in this regard than both Palestinians and Turks; (b) positive religious coping correlated positively with satisfaction with life but was not linked to depressive symptoms and (c) the magnitude of correlation between positive and satisfaction with life was significantly higher among Malaysians than among both Palestinians and Turks. The findings suggest that to understand the implications of positive religious coping for the health and well‐being of Muslims, a detailed and nuanced analysis is needed.     

Relationship between religious characteristics and responses to vigilantism

Religious characteristics are often related to attitudes about legal issues (e.g., death penalty). This study investigated whether U.S. university students’ religious beliefs (i.e., fundamentalism, devotionalism, evangelism) and religious motivations (i.e., intrinsic, extrinsic religiosity) were associated with responses to vigilantism (i.e., whether the vigilante is justified, should be legally responsible, should receive a lighter sentence). Participants read three scenarios describing vigilantism in response to different crimes (murder, drug dealing, child molestation). More punitive responses to vigilantism were associated with being low in fundamentalism, extrinsic religiosity, and evangelism, and with being high in devotionalism and intrinsic religiosity. Motivations were more frequent predictors of responses to vigilantism than beliefs. Results are the first step in explaining relationships between religious characteristics and responses to vigilantism.     

Acculturation,stress, and depressive symptoms among Korean immigrants in the United States

A sample of 157 Korean immigrants responded to measures of acculturation level, stress from acculturation, and depressive symptoms. The authors hypothesized that adaptive acculturation would depend on assimilation regarding social interactions and the host culture's language as well as on retention of a core identity, including values and traditions of the culture of origin. Consistent with the mediation hypothesis, acculturation, based on a factor representing language use and social relationships, was related to lower acculturative stress and, in turn, lower depression. However, there was no direct support for the integrative, or bicultural, strategy of acculturation. Stress did not mediate the effect of a 2nd acculturation factor, identity and tradition-based acculturation. Rather, this measure of acculturation was directly related to higher depression (i.e., immigrants reporting abandonment of Korean identity, traditions, and values scored higher for depression).     

The association between depressive symptoms and smoking in pregnant adolescents

There have been no studies that have specifically examined the relationship between smoking and depressive symptoms in Australian pregnant adolescents. Eighty one pregnant adolescents completed an adapted version of Lawson's (1994) Smoking Questionnaire and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Smoking status (smokers vs. non-smokers) and depressive symptoms remained stable during pregnancy. However, comparisons of depressive symptoms across smoking categories revealed that pregnant adolescent smokers were more likely to be depressed than pregnant adolescent lifetime non-smokers, particularly in the later stages of pregnancy. There was a weak association between the number of cigarettes smoked and depressive symptoms, but only in the third trimester. Recommendations include further examination of the association between depression or depressive symptoms and smoking, and investigation of how change in smoking status during pregnancy may effect depression.     

Psychosocial factors in outcomes of heart surgery: the impact of religious involvement and depressive symptoms.

This article reports a prospective study of religiousness and recovery from heart surgery. Religiousness and other psychosocial factors were assessed in 142 patients about a week prior to surgery. Those with stronger religious beliefs subsequently had fewer complications and shorter hospital stays, the former effect mediating the latter. Attendance at religious services was unrelated to complications but predicted longer hospitalizations. Prayer was not related to recovery. Depressive symptoms were associated with longer hospital stays. Dispositional optimism, trait hostility, and social support were unrelated to outcomes. Effects of religious beliefs and attendance were stronger among women than men and were independent of biomedical and other psychosocial predictors. These findings encourage further examination of differential health effects of the various elements of religiousness.     

The relationship between Quest religious orientation,forgiveness, and mental health

Little is known about how religious orientation, specifically Quest, relates to forgiveness. In addition, research on the relationship between Quest and psychological distress has yielded conflicting findings, possibly because previous studies have conceptualised Quest as a unidimensional construct. This study investigated how Quest and its recently recognised dimensions related to forgiveness and psychological distress. Participants (N?=?242) were undergraduates from a Midwestern Catholic university. They completed measures of Quest, forgiveness, and psychological distress. Results suggested that certain dimensions of Quest were better predictors of forgiveness (e.g., Tentativeness, Exploration, and Moralistic Interpretation) and distress (e.g., Change, Religious Angst, and Existential Motives). Importantly, results revealed that the same dimensions that were positively related to distress were negatively related to forgiveness. Further, the relationship between Quest and forgiveness was moderated by the perceived tolerance/open-mindedness level of the offender; it seems that individuals with a questing nature are less forgiving when the offender is perceived as less tolerant.     

Sex-role orientation and depressive symptomatology

Sex Roles - The incidence of depressive disorders among women in our society is considerably higher than it is for men. Several investigators have suggested that this is due to traditional sex...     

Intrinsic-extrinsic religious orientation and individual coping style

The relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation and the use of specific coping strategies was investigated among 58 volunteers who ranged in age from 17 to 57 years and who reported experiencing either high or low stress. Dependent upon the amount of stress, age interacted with religious orientation to influence the use of two coping strategies, turning against an object and turning against self.     

Religious experience,religious orientation and schizotypy

The present study examined the relationship between religious orientation and schizotypy, with the prediction that intrinsic religiosity would be negatively associated with schizotypy, and religious experience and extrinsic religiosity would be positively associated with schizotypy. A total of 308 UK adults (132 men; 176 women) completed measures of religious experience, intrinsic orientation towards religion, extrinsic orientation towards religion, schizotypal personality traits and borderline personality. Though the present findings also suggest that the significant relationships between religiosity and schizotypy traits are fragmented, particularly by sex, the findings are consistent with theory that an intrinsic orientation towards religion is associated with lower levels of schizotypy, and religious experience and an extrinsic orientation towards religion is associated with higher levels of schizotypy.     

Dispositional mindfulness moderates the relation between neuroticism and depressive symptoms

Negative emotional reactivity as measured by neuroticism has been shown to be an important risk factor for the development of depressive symptoms. This study investigated whether the ability to be mindful can protect against the negative effects of this temperamental vulnerability. An English community sample of N = 144 individuals who had completed a neuroticism questionnaire six years previously were assessed for current depressive symptoms and dispositional levels of mindfulness at points of assessment approximately one year apart. Dispositional mindfulness moderated the relation between neuroticism and current depressive symptoms: Neuroticism was significantly related to depression in those with low to medium levels of dispositional mindfulness but not in those with relatively high levels of mindfulness. Further analyzes focusing on particular mindfulness skills indicated that this effect was carried mostly by the ability to describe inner experience. The results suggest that dispositional mindfulness and particularly the ability to describe inner experience are helpful in dealing with negative emotional reactivity in a way that reduces the likelihood of depressive symptoms to develop.     

Disentangling the prospective relations between maladaptive cognitions and depressive symptoms

In a four-wave, cohort-longitudinal design with a community sample of 515 children and adolescents (grades 2 through 9), this study examined the longitudinal structure of and prospective interrelations between maladaptive cognitions and depressive symptoms. Multigroup structural equation modeling generated four major findings. First, the longitudinal structures of maladaptive cognitions and depressive symptoms consist of a single time-invariant factor and a series of time-varying factors. Second, evidence supported a model in which depressive symptoms predicted negative cognitions but not the reverse. Third, the time-invariant components of cognition and depression were highly correlated. Fourth, the strength of the depression-to-cognition relation increased with age. Implications regarding the mechanisms underlying clinical interventions with depressed children are discussed.     

Dispositional mindfulness moderates the relation between neuroticism and depressive symptoms

Negative emotional reactivity as measured by neuroticism has been shown to be an important risk factor for the development of depressive symptoms. This study investigated whether the ability to be mindful can protect against the negative effects of this temperamental vulnerability. An English community sample of N = 144 individuals who had completed a neuroticism questionnaire six years previously were assessed for current depressive symptoms and dispositional levels of mindfulness at points of assessment approximately one year apart. Dispositional mindfulness moderated the relation between neuroticism and current depressive symptoms: Neuroticism was significantly related to depression in those with low to medium levels of dispositional mindfulness but not in those with relatively high levels of mindfulness. Further analyzes focusing on particular mindfulness skills indicated that this effect was carried mostly by the ability to describe inner experience. The results suggest that dispositional mindfulness and particularly the ability to describe inner experience are helpful in dealing with negative emotional reactivity in a way that reduces the likelihood of depressive symptoms to develop.     

Cultural orientation and psychological well-being in Chinese Americans

Examined cultural orientation in the domains of language proficiency, cultural activity, and social relationship, and its relationship with psychological well-being in a group of 143 Chinese Americans in San Francisco. Four indicators of psychological well-being were utilized, two assessing the experience of distress (depression level and negative affect) and two assessing positive well-being (positive affect and life satisfaction). Domain-specific cultural orientations were found to hold differential relationships with psychological well-being. For instance, bicultural activity orientation predicted the best psychological well-being (regardless as to how it was assessed), but socially separatist individuals experienced less negative affect than assimilated and bicultural respondents. Findings were discussed in the context of the multicultural setting of San Francisco. It is suggested that future research retain separate assessments of domain-specific cultural orientation, examine the contribution of the community's ethnic/cultural composition to its members' cultural orientations (i.e., address the role of person-environment fit) and study their impact on psychological well-being. The data reported here were collected as part of the author's doctoral dissertation. Ricardo F. Munoz and Guillermo Bernal guided and supported the implementation of this study; Sunwoo Lee assisted with the data analysis; and Edison J. Trickett and the anonymous reviewers offered helpful suggestions.     

The relationship between religious orientation and happiness: the mediating role of purpose in life

Studies have demonstrated a positive association between religiosity and happiness and that other variables including purpose in life may account for this relationship. Few studies have examined the relationship between religious orientation and happiness, therefore the present study investigated whether purpose in life mediates the relationship between religious orientation and happiness. Three hundred and forty-two university students (men?=?117 and women?=?225) from Australia participated in the study. The results indicate that for women, purpose in life mediates the relationship between intrinsic religious orientation and happiness and for men, purpose in life mediates the relationship between extrinsic social religious orientation and happiness. The results are unexpected as intrinsic religious orientation negatively predicted happiness, whereas extrinsic social religious orientation positively predicted happiness. These findings suggest that further studies are needed to advance the understanding of these complex relationships.