Abstract
Positive religious coping has frequently been associated with better mental health outcomes when dealing with stressful life events (e.g., natural disasters, domestic abuse, divorce). The COVID-19 pandemic, and the associated infection prevention and control measures (curfew, quarantine, restricted travel, social distancing), represent a society-wide stressor. This study explored positive religious coping among the Muslim and Christian residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the early stages of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (N = 543) completed an online survey assessing religious coping in response to the pandemic, along with symptom measures of depression, anxiety and history of psychological disorder. Muslims (N = 339) reported significantly higher levels of positive religious coping compared to their Christian counterparts (N = 204). Across the whole sample, positive religious coping was inversely related to having a history of psychological disorders. Among the Muslim cohort, positive religious coping was inversely related to depressive symptoms and having a history of psychological disorders. Positive religious coping during infectious disease outbreaks may help some individuals reduce their risk of depressive illness. National pandemic preparedness plans may benefit from including a focus on religion and religious coping.
Highlights
Religiosity is a valued sense of belonging to a religious creed, which elicits commitment to related practices—for example, praying, fasting, and reading holy scriptures (Miller et al 2012)
This study looked at the levels of COVID-19-related stress among 419 American Orthodox Jews, finding that positive religious coping was associated with lower stress levels (Pirutinsky et al 2020)
This study explored positive religious coping and mental health among Christians and Muslims resident in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the early stages of the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic (6 April to 17 April 2020)
Summary
Religiosity is a valued sense of belonging to a religious creed, which elicits commitment to related practices—for example, praying, fasting, and reading holy scriptures (Miller et al 2012). The demographic covariates and strength of the relationship between depression and religiosity differ across studies but the general finding is the same. This inverse relationship is limited to European and North American samples. Miller et al (2012) followed 114 adults over ten years and observed a seemingly protective effect of religiosity. Compared to their less-religious counterparts, participants initially categorized as high in religiosity had one-fourth the risk of experiencing a major depressive episode over the 10-year study period
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