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Traumatic events, such as child sexual abuse (CSA) can negatively impact a child’s development across multiple biopsychosocial domains. Yet, many who experience CSA emerge resilient. Resilience involves multiple internal and external strengths that enhance a person’s ability to move beyond adversity and thrive. Research has pointed to the protective influence of spiritual and religious coping (R/S coping) among trauma survivors; however, there remains an absence of knowledge regarding the use of R/S coping in children. Therefore, I sought to fill the gap in the literature and capture the experiences of mental health practitioners who treat children who have experienced CSA, with the goal of understanding practitioners’ experience with resilience in their child clients, with a special emphasis on the use of R/S coping. Using qualitative phenomenological methodology, I conducted interviews with 15 mental health practitioners who work with sexually abused children. Important components of a child’s resilience included external assets such as nurturing and supportive caregivers, and community-based and supportive group activities. Internal child resilience resources included practicing problem-solving coping, leveraging interpersonal resources, emotion-regulation and meaning-making. Spiritual resilience behaviors children use included the connection between the mind and body, attunement outside of self, and engaging in compassionate behaviors. Religious coping practices included spiritual connection with God, family and others; finding support from prayer, religious music and writings, and forgiveness; and meaning-making. Children did experience some spiritual struggle as a result of dismissive or invalidating religious statements, judgement, and CSA connected to the religious community, but many were able to successfully resolve these spiritual struggles. Practitioners reported being careful to assess, explore, and integrate a child’s religious and spiritual beliefs as appropriate. Practitioners incorporated religious coping during relaxation or regulation practice, during cognitive processing of the trauma, and through creative methods with young clients. Insights from this study confirm and add to current understanding about CSA and resilience in children. Themes discovered from the exploration of R/S coping in children reveal aspects of positive and negative religious coping that can enhance or reduce resilience. Additionally, this study exposes important insights regarding practitioners’ assessment and incorporation of R/S coping in work with sexually abused children.

The intention of this study was to examine whether positive religious coping buffered the mental health effects of vicarious trauma and moral injuries in canine comfort handlers. By examining whether positive religious coping would reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a better understanding of the mental, emotional, and spiritual effects of volunteer handlers was discovered. Handlers work throughout their communities and deploy to crisis events such as mass shootings and natural disasters. By partnering with highly trained canines, they provide support and comfort to those in need. During these interactions, handlers are often exposed to traumatic situations and may experience moral injuries. A sample of 83 participants were recruited from two canine comfort organizations, LCC Comfort Dog Ministry and HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response. Both programs have established handlers across the nation. A quantitative survey study was conducted using a multiple regression method. The survey included four different instruments that assessed vicarious trauma, moral injury, religious coping, and symptoms of PTSD. The data were analyzed utilizing Qualtrics and IBM SPSS Statistics 29. The results indicated that the buffering effect of positive religious coping fell short of statistical significance between vicarious trauma and PTSD as well as moral injury and PTSD. Additional findings suggest that canine comfort handlers can experience symptoms associated with vicarious trauma and moral injuries related to their volunteer work. Further examination of the mental health effects within this population is warranted.

Life is filled with a myriad of stressors individuals must navigate to maintain physical and emotional wellness. Some life stressors can be more devastating than others, such as natural disasters. Specific regions, including the Bahamas, have experienced destructive natural disasters such as hurricanes and record-breaking superstorms in the last few decades. Consequently, citizens are exposed to significant amounts of distress due to the devastation caused by these natural disasters. How one copes and one’s level of resilience plays an integral role in managing such turbulent times. Religion can be a valuable resource for those facing traumatic circumstances. The focus of this study is to explore how Bahamians experience the burden of natural disasters, their resiliency, and the role religion plays in coping with the aftermath of such disasters. This study’s mixed-methods approach combines quantitative correlational and qualitative-phenomenological research designs gathering data from 140 participants through a trauma survey, a resilience scale, and brief Religious Coping scale (brief RCOPE). Phenomenological analysis was used to build the lived experiences of 13 participants who have experienced a natural disaster within the last five years to gain a more in-depth understanding of these variables. Based on the findings, individuals who engage in positive religious coping possessed lower levels of traumatic stress. Individuals who engaged in negative religious coping possessed higher levels of traumatic stress. Furthermore, individuals who scored high in religiosity also showed high levels of resilience during and after experiencing a natural disaster. These findings imply that efforts should be taken by clinicians, related professionals, and the church to promote positive religious coping and religiosity, which can result in the promotion of resilience and discourage negative religious coping, possibly resulting in a reduction of traumatic stress of individuals who experience natural disasters.

Men are subject to a variety of physical, mental, and social challenges (Garside & Klimes-Dougan, 2002; Lawson et al., 2015; O’Neil, 1981; Pleck, 1995, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have also been a major predictor of negative health outcomes (Felitti et al., 1998, p. 251). While many studies have observed the correlation of masculinity and these negative health outcomes, few have sought to understand the relationship between masculine presentation and ACEs. Religious coping has been seen to reduce distress and contribute to posttraumatic response (Pargament et al., 2000; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Fallot & Heckman, 2005). This study utilized a survey approach to gather data on masculine trait presentation, ACEs, and positive and negative religious coping styles among college-age men at a private, Christian university. Results indicated a relationship between some subscales of masculine traits and ACEs and supported evidence of a relationship between religious coping style and masculine trait presentation among men who endorsed ACEs.

The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of grief, coping, and spiritual crisis in the lives of women who faced perinatal loss. The theory guiding this study was Pargament’s Theory of Religious Coping, as it explains the role of religious coping in the potential development of complicated grief and complicated spiritual grief. One central research question guided this study: how do women with religious/spiritual beliefs describe their lived experience of grief from perinatal loss? The sample size for the study was eight women with religious/spiritual beliefs who experienced perinatal loss. Data were collected using an unstructured, open-ended interview in an online setting using the Zoom videoconference platform. Data were analyzed using an eidetic analysis method. The findings of this study described the common experience of grief after perinatal loss in women with religious/spiritual beliefs. The data analysis revealed thirteen constituents that comprise the essential structure of grief related to perinatal loss in women with religious/spiritual beliefs. This study is significant to community counseling and mental health professionals as it informs those working with women who experienced perinatal loss concerning their loss and grief experiences. Additionally, this study contributes to the gap in the literature on the grief associated with perinatal loss in women with religious/spiritual beliefs.

African Americans face many stressors in their daily lives, including financial difficulties, crime and safety issues, perceived racism or discrimination, and physical health issues. Many African Americans use prayer to cope with stress. This study explored African American adults' belief in the efficacy of prayer, frequency of prayer, prayer types (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, and reception), and their association with stress levels. The theoretical frameworks used for this study were Pargament’s theory of religious coping, cognitive stress theory, and Vroom’s expectancy theory. This quantitative study used a cross-sectional survey design intending to provide counselors with information regarding prayer as a coping strategy for African Americans and how the belief in prayer is associated with stress levels when mediated by frequency of prayer and moderated by prayer types. Anonymous survey responses were analyzed using a simple mediation analysis and a moderated mediation analysis. Findings showed that belief in the efficacy of prayer has an inverse relationship with stress levels when mediated by the frequency of prayer. It was also found that none of the prayer types acted as a moderator for indirect relationship between belief in prayer and stress levels when the frequency of prayer was the mediator. However, thanksgiving, reception, and adoration prayers acted as a moderator for the direct relationship between belief in prayer and stress levels. Based on the results, belief in prayer is an effective coping mechanism for African Americans, and those who pray more frequently tend to have lower stress levels. It is also concluded that thanksgiving, reception, and adoration prayer reduce stress when combined with the belief in the efficacy of prayer.

The concepts of moral injury and religious coping are inherently entwined, based on the common reaction of many to turn to religion when faced with stressors. Specifically, Koch (2010) suggests religion is a common means by which individuals, including police officers, may try and cope with their occupational stress. In consideration of the current focus on police mental health and wellness, examining the literature related to moral injury, religious coping and American law enforcement officers serves as a viable first step in conducting further research. Furthermore, based on the extremely limited body of literature on the aforementioned subject(s) independently, and to an even more limited degree when considered together, the instant research sought to contribute to the base knowledge of the prevalence of moral injury in American law enforcement officers and how specific variables (such as years of service, position, rank, religious affiliation, etc.) may have effect on the existence of moral injury and, additionally, how religious coping may be related to those levels of moral injury. In empirically examining the prevalence and characteristics of moral injury in law enforcement officers, the instant study positions itself within the primary research centered around moral injury and law enforcement officers and satisfies the recommendations of those who have conducted prior research on the topics, building on the slim foundation now existing and contributes to positive progress related to law enforcement mental health and wellness, which can impact a variety of outcomes (including officer self-harm/suicide, job performance, use of force, etc.). Furthermore, a foundation is be laid for future research on religiosity of American police officers, especially regarding how religious coping may be utilized to counter moral injury.

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the variables that influence the sexual identity within romantic relationships and how the sexual identity among women of color reflected in their body image, psychological wellness, and religious identity. This researcher will attempt to address these influences in the lives of women of color through the concept referred to as subjective openness (Moustakas, 1994). Originated by Edmund Husserl, a pioneer in the use of self-presence, Moustakas (1994) describes subjective openness as a process where the “reflective powers of self” are used when attempting to integrate oneself into the world of another and simultaneously retaining one’s separateness (pp. 25-26). The theoretical framework for this study provides an approach that is client-centered and identity-focused referred to as sexual identity therapy (SIT) where the sexually confused client is provided a safe space to wrestle between the tension of their sexual attractions and their Evangelical belief system (Tan & Yarhouse, 2010). Additionally, a biblically-based and compassionate approach is integrated into the theoretical framework from an Evangelical perspective (Dallas & Heche, 2010; Hubner, 2019). The methodology for this study includes a semi-structured interview where each participant will be presented 11 questions with the 4 central questions addressing the sexual identity within romantic relationships among women of color as a result of participating in a Christian-based discipleship program. The significance of this study will be to offer the Christian evangelical academic community and the Evangelical church a biblically based and compassionate perspective when encountering those persons wrestling between their sexual identity and faith-based beliefs.

As a consideration based in the psychology of religion and hope theory, correlations between religious coping and faith maturity are explored with particular focus on identifying hope as a moderating factor. With hypotheses that religious coping predicts faith maturity as moderated by hope, Snyder’s trait hope and state hope scales along with the Pargament’s Brief RCOPE and Piedmont and Nelson’s Faith Maturity Scale-Short Form, developed from Benson, Donahue, and Erickson’s larger Faith Maturity Scale, are employed via survey of an adult Christian convenience sample. The study is informed largely by Pargament’s work with use of religion, unique in comparison to spirituality, as a valid form of coping, both negative and positive, with stress response as well as Snyder’s progressive theories on hope, as distinct from other positive psychology postulations regarding optimism and religiously-based theories of eschatological or theological hope. A review of many often divergent conceptual constructs based on empirically-validated scales with statistically significant findings contributing to a robust but still growing and specialized domain of biopsychosocial research is undertaken with implications for client health and practitioner standards for care.

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between loss of resources and posttraumatic growth when moderated by positive and negative religious coping in a sample of West Grand Bahamians who experienced Hurricane Matthew in 2016. It was hypothesized that religious coping would moderate this relationship and contribute to the development of posttraumatic growth and that the relationship would be influenced by the type of religious coping used. Only individuals who experienced resource loss as a result of the storm, who self-identify as a Christian, and who were residents of the community both during the storm and during the research period were used in the study. Participants were administered the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, the Brief Religious Coping scale, and the Conservation of Resources Evaluation. Study findings suggest that participants endorsing a positive religious coping style, and who were employed or married with a higher annual income, were more likely to experience posttraumatic growth. Loss of resources shared a small to moderate, positive association with posttraumatic growth but was not a strong predictor of the experience. The study’s implications, limitations, and areas for future research are discussed.

Research on the various effects of mobile phones did not begin to be published until after they had already been integrated into society. To date, the results of various studies looking into the relationship between mobile phone use and mental health demonstrate that phones, if used in problematic ways, have negative effects on mental health. Even so, there are no studies looking into problematic mobile phone use and how it correlates with spirituality and positive religious coping as well as mental health. Due to this gap in the research, this anonymous online study was designed to look into correlations between problematic cell phone use, positive religious coping, and mental health. The Adapted Cell Phone Addiction Test (ACPAT) was used to assess problematic cell phone use, the Religious Coping Activities Scales (RCOPE) were used to assess positive religious coping, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-42) were used to assess mental health.

The purpose of this study was to explore how God attachment may impact surrender to God and how mindfulness relates to the relationship between surrender and God attachment. Additionally, this study explores how surrender, God attachment and mindfulness might work together to impact symptoms of depression and anxiety. This study comprised 82 participants from a large Christian university that was enrolled in the university’s online doctoral counseling program. Using a quantitative survey research design, participants completed the following self-report measures online: Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, Surrender Scale, Attachment to God Inventory, and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21. Bivariate and multiple regression analyses were conducted, and the results of the study indicate that mindfulness partially mediates the significant relationship between surrender to God and God attachment. Furthermore, results suggest that God attachment completely mediates the relationship between surrender to God and depression. Additionally, no mediating or moderating effect between surrender to God, God attachment and anxiety was found. Recommendations for further research include exploring how mindfulness can be used to improve God attachment and surrender, as an avenue to help mitigate symptoms of depression.

This dissertation explores the reliability and validity of religious coping measures in long-term care settings. The paper begins with a discussion of general coping and religious coping theory, coping measurement, and a review of religious coping in elderly long-term care residents. Next, a modified model of coping and resilience in older adults is introduced. The latter part of the paper describes a study that examines the reliability and validity of two specific religious coping measures in nursing home, assisted living, and personal care residents. The study utilizes a cross-sectional design by interviewing a convenience sample of nursing home, assisted living, and personal care residents. The findings suggest at least one of the specific religious coping measures assesses a unique construct that is distinct from other religious measures, and both religious coping measures were used to effectively measure clinically relevant constructs in long-term care settings. In sum, this dissertation asserts that the construct of religious coping should be explored in more depth because of the implications for understanding more about resilience processes in the context of mental health and aging.

Pornography use is wide-spread, and its detrimental effects are clearly outlined in the literature. In contrast to the abundance of literature related to male use and its influence on the user, female partners, and relationships, there is a dearth of empirical findings addressing racial differences and various coping mechanisms potentially moderating the link between pornography use, mental health outcomes, and relationship satisfaction. To this end, the present study examined the mental health outcomes of female partners, as moderated by religious coping and the strong Black woman (SBW) stereotypy, and the subsequent effect on relationship satisfaction. Participants in the study completed assessments to evaluate the degree to which they embody characteristics consistent with the SBW stereotypy, levels of religious coping, presence and level of depression and anxiety, and overall relationship satisfaction. Two-hundred and seventy-five female participants, obtained via Qualtrics, were all in committed relationships with partners who use pornography, and did not use pornography with their partner. The results of this quantitative study indicated partner pornography use is predictive of less relationship satisfaction for European American women, depression is predictive of less relationship satisfaction for European and African American women, and neither SBW stereotypy nor religious coping are statistically significant moderators for mental health or relationship satisfaction for female partners of pornography users.

This study used a single-case research design analysis to investigate the efficacy and effectiveness of the Duke University Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health (Duke Center)’s religious cognitive behavior therapy (RCBT) with four deeply religious Christians reporting moderate to severe depression. Literature suggests that religious individuals prefer interventions that reflect their religiosity and experience at least equal recovery rates compared to the use of conventional cognitive behavior therapy (CBT); however, they may not have access to effective religious treatments in customary religious venues, and there is a lack of understanding of why such individuals respond to religious treatments. The four participants received the Duke Center RCBT in a Christian clinical setting from a licensed counselor and were measured for depression, attachment to God, religious coping, and the perceived usefulness of the therapeutic materials. Results indicate that the protocol is transportable to a nonmedical Christian setting, as all participants responded to treatment and three of the four scored within the normal range on the Beck Depression Inventory II at the end of treatment. Attachment to God and religious coping improved in concert with reduced depression, suggesting a correlation between attachment and coping as mediatory features of change. It appears that all participants reported reduced depression due to cognitive and behavioral components of the RCBT material. Further studies may indicate how the Duke therapy may be used in other religious settings and how religion functions as a mechanism of change in treating depression. This study contributes to positive social change by helping clinicians to better understand and treat depression in religious people and expanding the availability of useful treatments for religious people.

“Meaning” and “religion” appear as deeply interlinked concepts in modern thought. Theology has often discovered religious faith as a “source of meaning” and philosophy of religion has tried to better describe that link to show how religion provides meaning, or is built through structures of meaning, or is a form of “meaning‑construction”. Cognitive approach may add new perspectives to better explain this implication. Recent attempts combine scientific methods and philosophical analysis to show how meaning is built and works, and how religion provides a specific sort of meaning, distinct from other forms in which meaning displays itself. Describing religion in terms of “meaning building” helps to better understand its specific role and function in the human mind, and offers a more balanced view on its cognitive dimensions. Different attempts to connect religion and meaning are reviewed in this paper in order to offer a complement to the new scientific study of religion.

This thesis covers two studies. Part 1 will begin with a survey of the literature on religious coping, depression, and burnout as well as where the concept of resiliency factors into this discussion. Then this section will address original research conducted with Hospice of Hope and studies hospice workers over a two-year period. The first year included 59 respondents, and the second year had 36 persons who participated, and 22 participated in both Year 1 and Year 2 data to provide longitudinal data. The survey measured depression (CES-D), religious coping (Brief-RCOPE), resiliency (BRS), self-esteem (RSES), various coping questions (COPE), and death attitudes (DAP-R); the researchers also included some additional questions regarding tobacco use. Then the data will be compared and discussed with how this relates to public health. The psychosocial and spiritual cost of working amidst death and dying is also applicable not only to hospice but also emergent care settings, such as the ICU and emergency medicine.Part 2 is a meta-analysis surveying the literature and comparing those studies which used both depression scales and the Religious COPE (whether the Brief-RCOPE, the full RCOPE, or another version of it like the JCOPE). The meta-analysis found that the Positive RCOPE was not significantly correlated in the diverse set of studies selected. However, the meta-analysis confirmed that spiritual struggle (measured by the Negative RCOPE) was highly correlated with Depression.This Thesis studies the public health issues which those employees around acute death settings interconnect with spiritual struggle, depression, resiliency, and explore possible future sources of study.

To my knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study to examine how college students’ use of religious/spiritual strategies to cope with being the target of verbal aggression by a romantic partner may change the frequency of verbal aggression by both partners over the following year and contribute to whether the couple split up or stayed together. Predictor variables included religious/spiritual resources to cope effectively with partner aggression as well as religious/spiritual struggles in response to being the target of verbal hostility by a partner. The sample was comprised of 60 college students who indicated at Time 1 (T1) that that they were in a current romantic relationship were they had been the target of at least once incident of verbal aggression from a romantic partner in the prior year and who then completed measures one year later at Time 2 (T2; 21% retention rate of eligible participants). At both T1 and T2, participants reported the frequency of verbal aggression by both partners and whether the relationship was intact. Correlational analyses did not yield any significant links between religious/spiritual strategies to cope with verbal aggression by the partner at T1 and subsequent verbal aggression by either partner or relationship status. Possible reasons for the non-significant results could be the very low base rates of verbal aggression among couples in this sample and low levels of religious coping. Follow-up analyses indicated that subjects who participated in both waves of data collection reported attending more religious services and praying more often, but utilizing collaborative R/S coping mechanisms less often at T1 to deal with verbal aggression from their partner compared to T1 subjects who did not participate in T2 data collection .

Introduction: Although cancer risk assessment for high-risk individuals and families can offer life-saving information and options for cancer risk management, Latinas have historically underutilized cancer prevention services. Much needed is a better understanding of what encourages and discourages engagement in cancer risk assessment services among Latino populations. Religiosity/spirituality is potentially relevant to such engagement given religion has often been a central coping resource for Latina cancer survivors. Aim: This study explored the potential impact of religiosity/spirituality and psychological processes on how Latinas and non-Latinas approach decisions regarding preventative health behaviors. Methods: As a small subset of a larger research project, a total of 49 women participated in a mixed-methods, two-part study. Participants were all females who had a personal history of breast cancer, were at increased risk for hereditary breast cancer, but had not received any cancer risk assessment counseling or genetic testing. In the first phase of this larger study, focus group participants (n = 13) offered their thoughts on how religion/spirituality impacts decisions to get cancer risk assessment. In the second phase, a different group of participants (n = 36) who were about to receive a pilot intervention to promote cancer risk assessment were asked about their religiosity, cancer worry, perceptions of cancer risk, and intentions for cancer risk assessment in a baseline survey conducted over the phone. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed. Results: Religion was significantly more salient for Latina women than for non-Latina women. Controlling for religious salience, Latina women had significantly lower intentions for cancer risk assessment. For Latina women, religious salience was negatively associated with intentions for cancer risk assessment, while for non-Latina women, it was positively associated, although this contrast was non-significant statistically. For women considering themselves at low risk for hereditary breast cancer, religious salience was negatively associated with intentions for cancer risk assessment, but for women considering themselves at high risk, religious salience was positively associated with intentions. However, this contrast was also non-significant. Conclusion: This study offers mixed-methods evidence for the relevance and potential impact of religiosity on coping with cancer risk among Latina and non-Latina women, which can inform public health interventions. For those who consider religiosity/spirituality a salient and defining influence in their lives, encouraging positive and active religious coping to frame risk perceptions and to cope with cancer risk could be a promising approach to increase motivation for cancer risk assessment.

A growing body of research has illustrated the prevalence of religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles among adults in the U.S. In response to this new line of research, there is now a growing interest in examining those factors that might predispose one to experience r/s struggles, One such factor is psychological entitlement, which has emerged as a robust predictor of certain struggles. The present work sought to build upon this finding, examining how spiritual entitlement, a domain specific manifestation of psychological entitlement, predicted a variety of religious and spiritual struggles. Using a large, cross-sectional sample of adults (N = 747), the structure of the Spiritual Entitlement Scale was tested using both confirmatory factor analyses and item response theory, revealing two dimensions of spiritual entitlement. The first dimension—Positive Expectations— reflected an optimistic attitude toward one’s spiritual life and was wholly unrelated to r/s struggle when psychological entitlement was held constant statistically. The second dimension — Maladaptive Spiritual Entitlement— reflected demanding attitudes toward deity and a sense of unmerited deservingness in one’s spiritual life. This second dimension was robustly predictive of r/s struggles with the divine, but not with any other r/s struggles. The implications of these findings are discussed.

This study examined the relationship between religious and meaning-focused coping, their influence of post-traumatic growth and the impact of acculturation on these relationships for Latina women who have experienced sexual assault. Utilizing a descriptive field design, participants were recruited through the online platform, Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk) to complete an online-based web survey. One hundred and two participants completed the survey. All participants were female, identified in some way as Latina, Chicana or Hispanic and endorsed experiencing a completed or attempted sexual assault in their lifetimes. Regression analyses revealed that meaning-focused coping, though not religious coping, significantly predicted post-traumatic growth when entered together into the regression. The results suggest the importance of meaning-focused coping when creating interventions for this population. Moderation analysis showed that acculturation did not significantly influence the relationship between religious coping and post-traumatic growth. A second moderation analysis revealed that the Anglo Orientation Scale (AOS), measuring an aspect of acculturation, had a significant main effect and the interaction between AOS and meaning-focused coping was also significant in predicting growth. Additionally, exploratory correlation and regression analyses were employed to determine if any subscales of the meaning-focused coping questionnaire were associated with and predictive of post-traumatic growth. Rational Use of Resources, Long-Term Prevention Strategies, and Goals were significant predictors of growth. Implications from the findings are discussed and suggest a need for future research to explore the role that meaning-focused coping, acculturation and religious coping have on post-traumatic growth.

This study examined the relationship between insecure parental attachment, religious coping, and self-esteem with Korean-American adolescents, investigating the mediation effect of self-esteem on the relationship between insecure attachment and negative religious coping. Two hundred sixty-one Korean-American adolescents aged 12 to 18 from Korean immigrant churches in seven states completed the survey questionnaire to assess their attachment relationship with their mother and father, religious coping strategies, and self-esteem. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations among the variables, and multiple regression analyses were used to detect the unique variance of father attachment in negative religious coping and the mediation effect of self-esteem on the relationship between insecure parental attachment and negative religious coping. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that insecure father attachment did not account for a unique variance in negative religious coping after controlling for insecure mother attachment and self-esteem. Multiple regression analyses detected the mediation effect of self-esteem, but found no gender difference in the relationship between parental attachment and negative religious coping.

This cross-sectional survey design study examined the relationships between attachment style, stress perception and religious coping in a sample of 267 cross-cultural, evangelical missionaries. No significance for effect for attachment style on perceived stress was found. However, both age and gender demonstrated significant effects on perceived stress. There was also a significant association between perception of stress and religious coping, independent of attachment style. Religious coping accounted for a small amount of the variance in perception of stress. The vast majority of the sample reported patterns of positive religious coping, which was not influenced by attachment style. A new tool for measuring missionary stress was also developed and shows good psychometric qualities. Implications for member care services and recommendations for future research are discussed.

This study was conducted to explore the relationship Mindfulness has on Religious Coping and Emotion Regulation. Three hundred and fifty-seven participants attending an evangelical Christian university were studied using self-report measures of Mindful Awareness, Religious Coping style, and Emotion Regulation. A statistical mediation analysis was used to compare the relationship between these variables. The results indicate that although the relationship between Collaborative Religious Coping and the reappraisal function of Emotion Regulation was slight, Mindfulness mediated this relationship. The results and implications, as well as recommendations for further research, are discussed.

Prior studies indicate that religion is very important in the lives of Caribbean Black immigrants. This study (N= 146) explored the role of religion in the process of coping and adjustment among Caribbean Blacks as they adjust to life in the United States. More specifically, this study explored the relationship among stress (including acculturative stress), religious coping, and psychological outcomes among Caribbean immigrants. The result showed that religion and spirituality remain important for Caribbean Blacks living in the United States as they were while living in the Caribbean. Religious coping (both positive and negative methods) global stress, and acculturative stress were significant predictors of psychological outcomes. Religious coping moderated the relationship between stress and depression: as expected, negative religious coping exacerbated the effects of acculturative stress on depression. However, a surprisingly similar effect was found for positive religious coping. Implications for mental health service providers as well as limitations of the study are discussed.

One area of workplace spirituality ripe for investigation is use of religion and spirituality (R/S) to cope with job insecurity. Pertinent literature on transactional coping, R/S coping, sanctification of work, workplace spirituality, and job insecurity is reviewed. Using Mechanical Turk, 467 individuals from the United States who were experiencing some type of job insecurity in their full-time jobs participated in this study. Participants had worked at their respective companies for approximately 4.31 years. The sample was 52.9% male, 77.5% Caucasian, with a mean age of 30.22 years. Approximately 38.5% of the participants stated they never attended R/S services and 35.5% denied having any R/S affiliation. Positive R/S coping moderated the relationship between an individual's organizational commitment and job satisfaction. There was a stronger positive relationship between organizational commitment and job satisfaction for people who use less positive R/S coping relative to greater use of positive R/S coping. Negative R/S coping separately moderated the relationships between total job insecurity and cognitive/affective job insecurity with psychological distress and health respectively. For those individuals who reported greater use of negative R/S coping, the relationship between either form of job insecurity with psychological distress was more strongly positive than for people who used lower levels of negative R/S coping. For those who reported greater use of negative R/S coping, the connection between either form of job insecurity and poorer health was stronger.Sanctification of work moderated the relationships between organizational commitment and health, organizational support and psychological distress, as well as organizational support and health. In each of these cases, greater use of sanctification was tied to stronger relationships between the organizational and adjustment related variable: positive relationships between organizational variables and better health and negative relationships between organizational variables and increased psychological distress. Implications of these findings include the stress mobilization of positive R/S coping, the deleterious relationships involving use of negative R/S coping, and the importance of fit of sanctification of work with an individual's commitment and support from his or her organization. R/S appear to be double-edged swords that contribute to a worker's well-being and are also connected to occupational struggles.

This study examined associations among romantic attachment anxiety and avoidance, positive and negative religious coping, and marital adjustment in a community sample of 81 heterosexual couples. Both spouses completed the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR), a brief measure of religious coping (Brief RCOPE), the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), and a demographic questionnaire as part of a larger study. Multilevel modeling (MLM) for the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) was used. Attachment avoidance was inversely related to positive religious coping. In contrast, attachment anxiety was directly related to negative religious coping. Positive religious coping buffered the relationship between attachment avoidance and marital adjustment. In contrast, attachment anxiety was detrimental to marital adjustment regardless of positive religious coping, and positive religious coping was related to higher marital adjustment only in the context of low attachment anxiety. Surprisingly, the spouse's attachment anxiety was inversely related to the respondent's marital adjustment only when the respondent reported low levels of negative religious coping, whereas in the context of high negative religious coping, the partner's attachment anxiety was related to higher marital adjustment. Results support using attachment theory to conceptualize religious coping and the consideration of both attachment and religious coping constructs in counseling.

This study was designed to learn about what is helpful to people who have lost a loved one as a result of some unlawful act (for example, murder or manslaughter). Those affected by the loss of a loved one due to violent crime are called survivors. Of particular interest in this study was the survivor's decision to use or not to use Ohio’s restorative justice program known as Victim Offender Dialogue (VOD), a carefully structured procedure that allows the survivor to meet with the offender to ask questions and share information. To provide the context for this qualitative research, literature on forgiveness as a mental health intervention, restorative justice procedures and forgiveness, moral development with its connection to forgiveness, religious coping, and after death communications was reviewed. In this study, survivors’ views about forgiveness were explored with attention to ideas about and experiences of forgiveness for survivors who did participate in VOD and for those who did not. Participants also were asked generally what helped them after the loss and specifically what role spirituality played in their response to the crime. In addition, participants were invited to tell if they had a sense of presence of the deceased or some communication with the deceased loved one. Research participants included: eight survivors who completed VOD and were recruited through the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Office of Victim Services; seven survivors who have not gone through a VOD process that were recruited through various support groups in Ohio; six VOD facilitators; and key informant Ken Czillinger, one of the founders of Parents of Murdered Children. Data were gathered by conducting an individual in-person semi-structured interview designed to encourage each participant to tell her own story about the crime and how she coped. Also, VOD facilitators participated in an individual in-person interview and VOD files were reviewed. Each participant was available for a brief follow-up phone contact as well. Narrative methods were used to analyze the data. While most survivors remained acutely aware of the absence of the lost loved one, many also reported a return to a day-to-day good emotional functioning. Positive emotional functioning was associated with achieving emotional detachment from the offender. Survivors arrived at this state by various means such as forgiveness, positive religious coping, and refusing to allow the offender to take their lives, too. Differences in the approach to healing were observed between the two survivor groups with five VOD Survivors stating that they forgave the offender and no Support Group Survivors claiming definitive forgiveness. With regard to communication from the deceased, overall ten participants indicated that either they or a family member had a sense of having some kind of communication or unusual experience that they connected to the deceased, mostly of a helpful nature. Finally, details of the paths to healing with an eye toward fairness thinking and empathy for the offender are highlighted along with suggestions for possible helping interventions based on the experiences of these exemplar participants.

The purpose of this study is to investigate 2 research questions: Do pre-deployment religiosity among combat military service members and level of combat exposure predict posttraumatic growth? And, do the level of combat exposure and changes in religiosity predict posttraumatic growth in combat military service members? The sample was obtained from an archival data set (Orton, 2012) was a group of male National Guard infantry deployed to the war in Iraq (N = 75). Participants were given pre- and post-deployment measures 1 month before and 6 months after returning from the Iraq war. Four regression equations were used to predict posttraumatic growth. The predictor variables were religious behavior (DUREL scale), religious coping (Brief RCOPE scale), spiritual wellbeing (Brief Spiritual Wellbeing scale), and combat exposure (CES). The 2 criterion variables were measured by the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and the PTGI Plus (3 additional spiritual change items). All 4 multiple regression analyses found no significant results: The first set of religiosity predictor variables were not related to posttraumatic growth (PTG), as measured by the PTGI, F (7, 65) = 1.89, p = .09, and no relationship was found when the same predictor variables were entered with PTGI Plus, F (7, 65) = 1.95, p= .08. The second set of predictor variables were the religious change scores, which were not related to PTG as measured by the PTGI, F (7, 62) = .67, p = .70, nor were religious change scores related to PTG, as measured by the PTGI Plus, F (7, 62) .71, p = .66. No support was found for the research hypothesis that pre-deployment and post deployment changes in religiosity would predict post-traumatic growth. Possible explanations for these unexpected results included low combat exposure scores, insufficient elapsed time to process war experiences, and a high rate of participants who identified as non-religious. Another possibility is that individuals high in religiosity may hold somewhat different assumptive worldviews that pre

Religious coping and spiritual well-being were found to be culturally important resilience factors for African American women suffering from abuse and depressive symptoms. This investigation aimed to investigate whether: (1) spiritual well-being and its two components of existential and religious well-being mediate the Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)-Depressive Symptoms (DS) link; (2) positive and negative religious coping moderate the IPV-DS association; and (3) the mediating effect of spiritual well-being in the IPV-DS link is moderated by level of religious coping (i.e., moderated mediation). The study utilized data from 208 low income, suicidal and abused African American women, ages 18-55. Only the existential component of spiritual well-being was found to fully mediate the IPV-DS link. This indirect effect weakened at higher levels of negative religious coping. As predicted, higher levels of negative religious coping were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Surprisingly, higher levels of negative religious coping were also associated with increases in existential well-being which, in turn, led to decrease in depressive symptoms. The findings underscore the importance of addressing existential well-being and religious coping in clinical interventions and in training for mental health professionals. Clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed and future directions recommended.

The central purpose of this study was to use structural equation modeling techniques on a newly developed measure of religious coping, the Assessment of Beliefs and Behaviors in Coping (ABC), in order to confirm the factor structure previously established through exploratory factor analysis. The ABC is a two-part, 40-item measure (each part containing 20 items) that measures attitudes about the helpfulness of religious coping as well as use of religious coping behaviors. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to determine whether the established factor structure is the same across religious groups. Participants were 885 undergraduate students from the Department of Educational Psychology subject pool. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess the fit of the hypothesized structure as well as explore the fit of competing models. The factor structure of the attitude portion of the measure was confirmed independently of the behavior portion of the measure. Both scales demonstrated the initially theorized four-factor model. Multi-group analyses were then conducted on each portion of the ABC, again, independently. Partial scalar invariance was demonstrated for the ABC – Attitudes (across three groups, Christians, Non-Christians, and Non-Believers). Partial scalar invariance was also demonstrated for the ABC – Behaviors, but only for the Christian and Non-Christian groups. Finally, participants’ scores on the ABC were compared to their scores on existing measures of similar constructs to assess for convergent validity. Reliability of the instrument was also evaluated. By better understanding the role religion plays in coping with stressful life events, the objective is to aid mental health professionals in addressing religion, when applicable, with their clients. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for counseling psychology are also discussed.

Despite an increasing interest in Buddhism in the West, the topic of Buddhist coping has been mostly neglected. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the frequency of Buddhist coping strategies, as well as the relationship between Buddhist coping practices and psychological functioning and well-being among end-of-life caregivers. Ninety-two caregivers were recruited primarily through contemplative end-of-life caregiver training programs to assess the relationships between Buddhist methods of coping and psychological outcomes. Subjects completed measures of spiritual well-being, burnout, depression and post-traumatic growth, as well as demographic questions. As hypothesized, end-of-life caregivers who made more use of positive Buddhist coping methods reported lower levels of negative outcomes such as depression and burnout and higher levels of positive outcomes such as spiritual well-being and stress-related growth. On the other hand, caregivers who made more use of negative Buddhist coping methods reported higher levels of negative outcomes and lower levels of positive outcomes. In addition, Buddhist coping methods were able to be categorized into positive and negative Buddhist coping subscales, which were also related to psychological outcomes in the hypothesized direction. The findings of this study add support to the initial validity of the BCOPE as a measure of Buddhist coping. The current study also provides support for the distinction between positive and negative styles of Buddhist coping, which differentially predict psychological outcomes. In addition, this study provides initial evidence for the benefits of specific Buddhist practices and ideas, specifically those that influence the ways in which Buddhists cope with stress. These findings suggest that coping theory, heavily researched in other religious traditions, is also a valuable concept which applies to Buddhism as well. Future research should further assess the differences between the outcomes of positive and negative styles of Buddhist coping, particularly among various sub-groups of Buddhist practitioners, as well as among other Buddhist populations besides end-of-life caregivers.

The present study investigates the psychometric properties and factor structures of two religious instruments, the Attachment to God Inventory (AGI) and the Brief Religious Coping Scale (Brief RCOPE), when applied to a sample of Christians living in the collectivist culture of Taiwan, and the usefulness of these two instruments for this sample. Translation, back-translation, and a pilot study were conducted on the two instruments, and needed adaptations were made. Three hundred and thirty-five subjects were recruited from eleven Protestant and Catholic churches in Taipei and a series of statistical analyses was conducted on the collected data. The results were compared with data from the American samples. Correlations between the results of these two instruments and measures of depression and quality of life were also examined. Findings of the study support the usage of the Brief RCOPE (with modification) for Taiwanese Christians while results for the AGI question its factor structure and hence its utility. The findings indicated the possibility of a four-subscale AGI for the Taiwanese Christians. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to examine outcomes of this study.

This study examined whether religious coping moderated the effects of thin-ideal images on body satisfaction among college women. Religious (N = 178) participants met for a pre-test to complete religiosity measures. A week later, the participants reconvened and were assigned to one of two conditions: before (n = 83) or after (n = 95). Within each of these two groups, participants were randomly assigned to read a list of statements: positive religious statements, positive nonreligious statements, negative religious statements, positive body neutral religious statements, and neutral statements. Each participant was exposed to a task that included 10 images of thin-ideal models, read her list of statements, and completed the Body Dissatisfaction Scale of the EDI-3. The results revealed no significant main effect of placement, type of statement and no significant Placement X Statement Type interaction. However, when religious statements were collapsed and a subsequent 2 (Placement) X 3 (Statement type) analysis was conducted the results indicated a significant main effect for type of statement. Reading religious statements resulted in less body dissatisfaction than non-religious statements. There was no main effect for placement and no Placement X Statement Type interaction. Ethnic differences in religiosity were noted (all p’s

Despite American Muslims’ growing numbers in the United States, their frequent encounters with prejudice, and their increased self-reports of emotional stress, little research has been geared toward understanding American Muslims’ attitudes toward mental health, specifically those born and raised in the United States. On the basis of current demographic trends, it is reasonable to suggest that American-born Muslims represent the future of Islam in the United States. This study examined the mental health attitudes of American-born Muslim college students (N = 184). A primarily quantitative survey approach was employed to address several research hypotheses and questions on the topic of young adult American Muslims’ attitudes toward mental health. Additional comments by participants to an open-ended survey question richly described how some of the study’s foci manifest themselves in real life situations. Participants indicated the presence in their community of concerning levels of depression, anxiety, social pressures, stress, and family conflict. Participants reported flexible general coping strategies and positive reactions to seeking professional mental health treatment. While religiousness was strongly associated with religious coping, neither was correlated with help-seeking attitudes; perhaps the process of seeking external help is different from seeking guidance from within the meanings of one’s faith. Therefore, even highly religious Muslims in the survey who were apt to utilize religious coping strategies were just as willing to seek professional help as young adult American Muslims who were less religious, and this finding held true for both men and women. A preference was expressed for individual therapy above all other treatment modalities. The professional characteristics most desired in treatment providers were multicultural competence and an understanding of developmental issues associated with young adulthood. Participants expressed concerns about the perceived lack of multicultural competence in the mental health field and the lack of Muslim treatment providers. It is hoped that this study’s results will provide mental health practitioners and other stakeholders, such as community leaders and policy makers, with a strong understanding of the beliefs and needs of American-born Muslims with regard to mental health care.

This study tested the effect of a manualized group treatment protocol on God image and attachment to God in a sample of college students attending a Christian college. Thirty undergraduate students from a homogenous population were tested with one measure of God attachment, two measures of God image, one measure of religious coping, and one measure of spiritual outcomes. It was hypothesized that significant God image and attachment to God change would occur among the treatment group participants. In addition, it was hypothesized that significant religious coping and spiritual outcome change would occur among the treatment group and comparable group participants. The results indicated significant spiritual outcome change and some God image change. In particular, the strongest finding of this study was the treatment group and comparable group participants reported increased love of God, others, and self after participating in a manualized group treatment protocol.

Research suggests that depressive symptoms and financial stress are both associated with increased levels of cigarette smoking, yet not every individual who experiences depressive symptoms or financial stress smokes. The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether positive and negative religious coping moderated the influence of depressive symptoms and financial stress on current (past 30-day) cigarette smoking over and above the contributions of demographic covariates and nonreligious problem- and emotion-focused coping. Participants were drawn from a larger study comprised of a convenience sample of 1,120 post-secondary vocational/technical school students enrolled in programs such as welding, air-conditioning, and vocational nursing at two different two-year public colleges in Texas. These students are training to work in blue-collar occupations, which have higher smoking rates compared to white-collar occupations. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. Depressive symptoms and financial stress increased the likelihood of smoking for female students, whereas financial stress decreased the likelihood of smoking for male students. Positive religious coping decreased the likelihood of smoking for females only. Consistent with religious coping theory and as expected, negative religious coping moderated the depressive symptoms-smoking relationship such that negative religious coping exacerbated the impact of depressive symptoms on cigarette smoking among females. Positive religious coping also moderated the depressive symptoms-cigarette smoking relationship for females. Contrary to expectations, positive religious coping exacerbated the likelihood of cigarette smoking among females with high levels of depressive symptoms. Negative religious coping moderated the financial stress-cigarette smoking relationship such that males who reported low financial stress and high levels of negative religious coping had the highest likelihood of smoking in the past month. For females, religious coping was associated with current cigarette use, but did not moderate the association between financial stress and smoking. Even after controlling for demographic covariates and nonreligious coping, positive and negative religious coping influenced the smoking behaviors of vocational students experiencing depressive symptoms and financial stress, and these outcomes varied by gender. Study limitations, implications, and suggestions for future directions in research are discussed.

Research has demonstrated that spiritual struggles are related to deleterious effects on psychological well-being, and can lead to a wide range of addictive behavior in college students (Bryant & Astin, 2008; Pargament et al., 1998; Exline, Yali & Sanderson, 2000; Johnson, Sheets & Kristeller, 2006; Astin & Astin, 2004; Faigin & Pargament, 2008). Some promising studies have found that small-group interventions can diminish the negative effects of spiritual struggles (Oemig et al., 2008; Tarakeshwar, Pearce, and Sikkema, 2005; Avants et al., 2005; Murray-Swank & Pargament, 2005); while computer-based psychoeducation interventions have proven effective in addressing other psychological or behavioral problems (Braithwaite & Fincham, 2007; Orbach, Lindsay, & Grey, 2007; Low et al., 2006). The current project is the first of its kind to assess the impact of a computer-based psychoeducation intervention for spiritual struggles that can be applied to a large group of people. Findings indicate that a spiritually sensitive intervention does not appear to protect students from the negative effects of spiritual struggles (e.g., psychological distress, addictive behavior, stigma related to spiritual struggles) more than a secular (stress reduction) intervention or no intervention. These results indicate that this one-time, computer-based psychoeducation intervention does not protect freshmen college students from negative outcomes associated with spiritual struggles. However, there is reason to believe that changes in the administration and intervention design could prove effective in future studies. Suggestions for future research are provided; limitations and practical implications are discussed.

Pregnancy is a time of heightened stress for husbands and wives undergoing the transition to parenthood for the first time. Working with a sample of 178 married couples, the present research examined how husbands'and wives'use of positive and negative religious coping strategies predicted pregnancy, psychological, and marital related adjustment variables. After controlling for demographic variables and secular coping methods in separate analyses for husbands and wives, hierarchical linear regression revealed that positive religious coping predicted positive outcomes such as increased stress related growth and spiritual emotions, while negative religious coping predicted negative outcomes such as increased depression, anxiety, and ambivalence in marriage for both husbands and wives. Pregnancy stressors moderated the relationship between positive religious coping and love in marriage for wives but not for any other outcomes for either husbands or wives.

A significant body of research has identified the deleterious effects of stress on psychological well-being (e.g., Tataro, Luecken, & Gunn, 2004). Religiosity and religious coping have been identified as variables that may impact a person’s experience with stress (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2005). Aukst-Margetic and Margetic (2005) suggest that the connection between stress, religious variables, and well-being can be understood through the frame of psychoimmunodocrinological research, which examines the relationship between neurohormonal functioning (e.g., cortisol level) with psychological factors that may impact health. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether acute stress reactivity, as measured by changes in cortisol levels in response to a laboratory stressor, is related to religiosity, religious coping, and psychological well-being such as depression and anxiety. Another purpose of this study was to attempt to replicate and extend Tataro, Luecken, & Gunn (2005), which found evidence that higher religiosity and composite religiosity/spirituality was associated with lower cortisol level after exposure to acute stress. Results indicated that cortisol level was not significantly related to gender, self-rated religiousness, spirituality, frequency of prayer, or forgiveness. In addition, cortisol reactivity was not significantly related to measures of psychological well-being, although negative religious coping significantly predicted depression, and state and trait forms of anxiety. Limitations, practical implications, as well suggestions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of the proposed study is to examine the relationships among the strength of college students’ religious faith and positive coping behaviors (religious and non-religious) and their subsequent effects on physical and psychological well-being, perceived stress, and life satisfaction. Research has shown strength of faith to be positively associated with both mental health and life satisfaction, which in turn, are often related to better health (Larson et al., 1992; Ellison, 1991). Positive religious and non-religious coping behaviors have also been shown to have similar relationships with the aforementioned outcomes (Koenig et al., 2001). The potential mediating relationships between the variables will be tested with the multiple regression methods outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986).

According to the Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity—A Supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (DHHS, 1999; 2001) formal mental health services are underused by all Americans. Ethnic minorities, however, are less likely to utilize mental health services, specifically outpatient services, than White Americans (DHHS, 2001). Wells, Klap, Koike, and Sherbourne (2001) found that among Americans with perceived or actual clinical needs, Whites were more likely to be receiving active treatment than both Hispanics and African Americans. Underutilization by minorities is particularly evident among minority groups from rural areas (New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003). This disparity in treatment utilization has become a focus of mental health policy and research. To better understand the underlying factors that influence the decision of rural African Americans to utilize or not utilize mental health treatment, this mixed method study was designed to elucidate the relationship between religious coping, religious beliefs, religious attitudes and mental health utilization behavior and beliefs. Investigating the association between the influence of religious behaviors and attitudes and mental health service behavior and attitudes is important for three reasons; 1) this association may inform observed patterns of underutlization of mental health services among rural African Americans, 2) this association may, in part, explain the evidence for mental health resilience among African Americans (Breslau et al., 2005; Williams, et al., 2007) and 3) this association could help to inform interventions designed to increase appropriate utilization of mental health services. Employing qualitative and quantitative methods, data were collected from 110 African Americans living in rural communities. Qualitative results revealed that perceptions and attitudes regarding the necessity and usefulness of mental health treatment were linked to religious beliefs within the rural African American community. Quantitative survey findings revealed significant relationships between mental health service attitudes and intent to utilize services. Further, analyses revealed relationships between several religious indices (i.e. collaborative religious coping and Acceptance God Image) and mental health service attitudes, but no direct relationship between religious indices and intent to utilize. Possible interpretations of findings and future study directions are discussed.

Psychological research has demonstrated links between religion and physical health and well-being. Although religion is generally beneficial for individuals, spiritual struggles can be detrimental for physical health. Studies have linked spiritual struggles with poor physical health, such as declines in somatic recovery (Fitchett, Rybarczyk, DeMarco, and Nicholas, 1999) and increased risk of mortality (Pargament, Koenig, Tarakeshwar, and Hahn, 2001). Given that spiritual struggles have been tied to harmful health consequences, it is important to understand the biological mechanisms underlying this relationship. Research has demonstrated that life stress causes cardiovascular reactivity, which in turn, is related to cardiovascular problems. The present study explored whether the same mechanism holds true for spiritual struggles and health problems; specifically, whether spiritual struggles were associated with increased cardiovascular reactivity. In addition, the study investigated whether the experiences of spiritual and life struggles were associated with different levels of cardiovascular distress.Undergraduate students experiencing both spiritual and life struggles were identified. Using a counter-balanced experimental design, participants (n = 80) were prompted to talk about neutral topics, spiritual struggles, and life struggles. Cardiovascular distress, heart rate and blood pressure, were monitored continuously during the study while mood and subjective distress were assessed after each condition. The results partially supported the hypotheses, though significant order effects made it difficult to interpret the differences between spiritual struggles and life struggles. Nevertheless, the results suggest that spiritual struggles were related to increased cardiovascular reactivity, particularly blood pressure, when compared to baseline functioning. Implications for future studies and limitations of this study are discussed.

Utilizing religious coping theory, this study examined the impact of religion and spirituality on documented risk factors for the future divorce of adult children of divorce. Consistent with previous research, approximately one third of the 158 college students whose parents had divorced since they were 13 years old, viewed the divorce as the loss or desecration of something sacred at the time it happened, one fourth struggled spiritually in response to this divorce at the time it happened, and just under one third reported engaging in adaptive spiritual coping at the time of the divorce. After controlling for global religiousness, relevant demographics and non-spiritual struggle and coping, several links between these religious and spiritual constructs and risk factors for future divorce emerged. Specifically, significant relationships existed between the following variables: greater retrospective spiritual struggles and both lower current conflict resolution skills and greater current spiritual decline; higher current appraisals of marriage as sacred and current lower risky attitudes towards cohabitation and sexual intercourse, marriage and divorce as well as greater current spiritual growth; greater retrospective adaptive spiritual coping and greater current conflict resolution skills. Participants’ pattern of spiritual struggle across time was also related to some risk factors for future divorce and spiritual decline. Implications of these findings are discussed as well as other expected links that did not emerge.

Emotion regulation is an essential component of individual development, enabling a person to experience, recognize, express and modulate his emotions. There are a number of factors which influence the development of emotion regulation, including family context, biology, and primary caregiver interaction. Attachment theory provides a theoretical framework for describing these developmental influences and the resulting emotion regulation strategies an individual employs. Primary emotion regulation strategies are developed and utilized when an individual has established a secure attachment with his primary caregiver. When these secure attachments do not develop in the primary caregiver relationship, the resulting insecure attachment relationship leads the individual to develop and rely upon secondary emotion regulation strategies. While attachment beliefs influence the ways in which a person responds to distress, coping strategies also play a significant role in emotion regulation. In particular, personal faith and religion provide individuals with a range of coping strategies which can be categorized into general positive and negative constructs, based in part on typical outcomes. What determines whether or not an individual will turn to religion in the coping process, and specifically which religious coping strategies will be employed? Attachment theory provides some direction. Research indicates that individual attachment beliefs not only shape perceptions of God as a resource in times of stress, they also influence the ways in which religion may be used to manage emotions. However, the connections between specific religious coping strategies and individual attachment beliefs are only marginally supported, due to the limited number of studies examining this relationship. The purpose of this study was to extend current research in this area by investigating the relationship between religious coping strategies, attachment beliefs, and emotion regulation in a mixed sample of college students attending an evangelical university. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following two research questions. First, does religious coping correlate with adult attachment, God attachment, and emotion regulation? Second, does religious coping account for unique variance in emotion regulation after accounting for variance attributed to God attachment and adult attachment? The study used a cross sectional correlation research design, where college students were administered measures of adult attachment, God attachment, religious coping, and emotion regulation. The first question was addressed using a series of zero-order correlations arranged in a correlation matrix examining the relationships between the subscales of Religious Coping, Attachment, and Emotion Regulation. The second question was addressed using a series of hierarchical multiple regressions which examined whether Religious Coping accounted for unique variance in Emotion Regulation after accounting for Attachment. The study revealed that Religious Coping was significantly correlated with both Attachment and Emotion Regulation, and these correlations supported the researcher's hypotheses in most instances. Likewise, the multiple regression analyses revealed that Religious Coping did account for unique variance in Emotion Regulation after controlling for God Attachment and Adult Attachment. However there were some unexpected findings where correlations were statistically opposite than those hypothesized. These findings require additional consideration regarding the nature of Religious Coping and Attachment beliefs for the direction of future research.

This study longitudinally examined the role of religious appraisals and religious coping for adults' psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual adjustment to divorce. Eighty-nine participants completed measures within six months of filing for divorce and one year later. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that participants' religious appraisals of divorce and religious coping methods predicted change in some measures of participants' psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual adjustment. In addition, regression analyses indicated that positive and negative religious coping methods offered some unique benefit and risk, respectively, to individuals' post-divorce adjustment over time, above similar non-religious coping methods. Finally, mediational analyses indicated that positive and negative religious coping methods mediated links between religious appraisals of divorce and post-divorce adjustment. This study is the first of its kind to provide longitudinal support that religion and spirituality are relevant to adults' adjustment to divorce.

This study examined the effects of daily hassles and positive and negative religious coping on alcohol use and depressive symptomatology among 423 students at a religiously-affiliated college. This study also tested a conceptual model in which positive religious coping moderated the relationship between daily hassles and alcohol use and the relationship between daily hassles and depressive symptomatology. The moderation hypotheses were tested via hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Although a statistically significant, negative relationship was found between positive religious coping and the study’s alcohol use variables (r = -.23 to -.26, p < .01), positive religious coping was not found to moderate the relationship between daily hassles and alcohol use in the students in this study, nor was it found to moderate the relationship between daily hassles and depressive symptomatology. The study did find high rates of depressive symptomatology in the students surveyed (55.5% were above the CESD-10 cut point for the presence of depressive symptomatology) and a strong, statistically significant, positive correlation (r = .62, p < .01) between daily hassles and depressive symptomatology. The findings of the study suggest that current conceptualizations of positive and negative religious coping may need to be re-examined, as no statistically significant relationship was found between these variables, nor did the variables relate to the study’s dependent variables as expected. Implications for policy, practice, theory, and research are discussed.

Research has provided robust evidence that religious/spiritual variables can serve as protective factors against developing addictive behaviors, such as substance-related abuse (see review by Booth and Martin, 1998). However, there is a dearth of empirical data investigating religious/spiritual variables as risk factors in the development of addictive behaviors. One such variable, spiritual struggles, is receiving increased attention and has been linked empirically to various negative psychological and physical outcomes (see review by Ano and Vasconcelles, 2005). Additionally, the majority of addiction research has focused on substance-related abuse and has largely overlooked other behavioral expressions of addiction (e.g., addictions to shopping, sex, gambling, etc.). The current study longitudinally examined spiritual struggles as a predictor in the development of addictive behaviors among a sample of freshmen college students. Findings indicate that spiritual struggles predicted a statistically significant increase in 11 of 15 measures of addictive behavior. Additionally, specific domains of spiritual struggle (e.g., divine, interpersonal, and intrapersonal) were shown to predict change in addictive behavior over time. These results suggest that spiritual struggles may be a risk factor in the development of a wide range of addictive behaviors for first-year college students. Limitations and practical implications are discussed.

The current study examined the victimization experiences of LGB older adolescents, their utilization of psycho-spiritual responses (i.e., religious coping and struggle, forgiveness), and the implication of these processes for their adjustment. An Internet sample of 276 LGB adolescents (18-24) completed measures of victimization, psycho-spiritual responses to victimization, and adjustment. Results indicate that victimization and psycho-spiritual responses had low to high prevalence. Victimization experiences were associated with higher sexual identity development, and religious victimization was associated with psychological distress. Religious struggle partially mediated the relation between religious victimization and psychological distress such that greater victimization was associated with greater spiritual struggles, which in turn was associated with greater psychological distress. Letting go forgiveness, religious coping, and religious struggle were significant moderators in the relation between aspects of minority stress and adjustment. These results suggest that LGB adolescents experience minority stress, that they generally do not turn to religion in response to minority stress and that they experience religious struggles that are associated with distress. Finally, letting go forgiveness is a process that might have promising implications for LGB adolescents who experience minority stress.