Religious coping measurement in the context of long-term care.

Abstract

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.