Nonreligious Coping Research Articles

Religious coping and maternal work-conflict: uncovering the pathways to well-being

ABSTRACT Most studies examining work-family conflict have utilized quantitative methodologies, which do not provide sufficient narrative information about participants’ experiences. This qualitative descriptive study describes both the religious and non-religious coping strategies employed by Twelve (N = 12) Conservative Protestant Working Mothers with school-aged children to manage work-family conflict. The CPWM shared their experiences of how they found balance and well-being. Two research questions guided this study: How do Conservative Protestant Working Mothers with school-aged children describe their experiences of work-family conflict when transitioning between the work and home environments? How do Conservative Protestant Working Mothers with school-aged children describe the coping strategies they use to reduce or resolve work-family conflict? Prayer was found to be a coping strategy used by all of the mothers in this study, it helped to reduce their stress levels and enhance their emotional well-being.

Medicine for the soul: (Non)religious identity, coping, and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the threat and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic has become a significant source of distress, using religion to cope may be associated with more positive health. Given the severity and chronicity of the pandemic, religious individuals may also have relied on a variety of non-religious coping methods. Much of the existing COVID-19 research overlooks the role of religious group membership and beliefs in relation to coping responses and associated mental health, with an additional lack of such research within the Canadian context. Thus, this cross-sectional study investigated relations among religiosity, stressor appraisals, (both religious and non-religious) coping strategies, mental and physical health in a religiously-diverse Canadian community sample (N = 280) during the pandemic's 2nd wave from March to June 2021. Numerous differences were apparent in appraisal-coping methods and health across five (non)religious groups (i.e., Atheists, Agnostics, "Spiritual but not religious", Christians, and those considered to be religious "Minorities" in Canada). Religiosity was also associated with better mental health, appraisals of the pandemic as a challenge from which one might learn or grow, and a greater reliance on problem-focused, emotional-engagement, and religious coping. Moreover, both problem-focused and emotional-engagement coping mediated the relations between religiosity and health. Taken together, this research has implications for individual-level coping as well as informing culturally-sensitive public health messages promoting targeted self-care recommendations with integrated religious or spiritual elements during times of threat and uncertainty, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Psychometric Properties of the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale-Chinese Version (SCSS-C) for Adults in Taiwan.

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale-Chinese version (SCSS-C) in Taiwanese adults. A convenience sample of 232 participants in Taiwan completed an online survey, and 45 of the 232 participants completed the SCSS-C again over a 2 week interval. The content validity index of the SCSS-C was 0.97. Parallel analysis and exploratory factor analysis results revealed two factors (religious coping and non-religious coping). The internal consistency of the SCSS-C was satisfactory (α = 0.88 to 0.92). Test-retest reliability was satisfactory (r = 0.68 to 0.89). The psychometric properties of the SCSS-C were found to be acceptable for use in Taiwanese adults.

Spiritual coping strategies: Relationship with physical, anxiety, and depression symptoms of patients with cancer.

Spirituality is considered an important source against chronic diseases and can promote self-esteem, mental comfort, and hope in patients. Concerning its importance, the present study aims to investigate spiritual coping strategies and its relationship with physical, anxiety, and depression symptoms of patients with cancer who are referred to the oncologic ward. This was a descriptive-correlative study that 159 patients with cancer participated in the study. Information was collected using a four-part questionnaire including sociodemographic characteristics, Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale, physical symptoms as well as anxiety and depression symptoms. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation coefficient. Results of the study showed that the mean (±SD) of the application of methods of spiritual coping strategies was 35.69 ± 10.92 and for its subscales the mean (±SD) of the application of religious coping and nonreligious coping strategies were 16.92 ± 5.6 and 18.77 ± 6.24, respectively. Furthermore, physical symptoms perceived by patients were tiredness, drowsiness, and lack of appetite. There was no significant correlation between physical, anxiety, and depression symptoms and spiritual coping strategies (r = -0.12, P = 0.12; r = 0.07, P = 0.41; and r = -0.05, P = 0.5 respectively). Regarding no significant relationship between physical, anxiety and depression symptoms and spiritual (religious and nonreligious) coping strategies in this study, belief towards cancer and cultural aspects of patients may be more essential to their sense of wellness and help them to cope with negative aspects of illness or treatment. Therefore, more study needs to be done in this area.

Local knowledge and practice in disaster relief: A worldwide cross-cultural comparison of coping mechanisms

There is a growing interest and urgency in understanding and incorporating local knowledge and strategies into sustainable climate change adaptation. This is particularly important because as populations age and new technologies come on the scene, much local knowledge is lost to newer generations. For this reason, we have systematically examined 90 societies from the ethnographic record to explore and document the strategies that people in the past have implemented in response to serious natural hazards. Our review reveals a rich diversity of coping mechanisms and contingency plans used by societies around the world in response to different hazards, particularly floods and droughts. We collect, classify, and compare different types of coping mechanisms, focusing on four major types: technological, subsistence, economic and religious. We find that most societies employ multiple types of coping mechanisms, although our data suggest that technological coping mechanisms are the most common coping mechanisms in response to fast-onset hazards, whereas religious coping mechanisms are the most common mechanism used in response to slow-onset hazards. We also find that religious and nonreligious coping strategies are not antithetical to each other. In fact, an increased number of religious coping mechanisms is associated with an increased number of “practical”, nonreligious coping mechanisms.

Coping Orientation of Academic Community in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Multi-Country Survey Study.

In this paper, we have mapped the coping methods used to address the coronavirus pandemic by members of the academic community. We conducted an anonymous survey of a convenient sample of 674 faculty/staff members and students from September to December 2020. A modified version of the RCOPE scale was used for data collection. The results indicate that both religious and existential coping methods were used by respondents. The study also indicates that even though 71% of informants believed in God or another religious figure, 61% reported that they had tried to gain control of the situation directly without the help of God or another religious figure. The ranking of the coping strategies used indicates that the first five methods used by informants were all non-religious coping methods (i.e., secular existential coping methods): regarding life as a part of a greater whole, regarding nature as an important resource, listening to the sound of surrounding nature, being alone and contemplating, and walking/engaging in any activities outdoors giving a spiritual feeling. Our results contribute to the new area of research on academic community's coping with pandemic-related stress and challenges.

Religiosity and Ways of Coping With Sport Injuries Among Christian Athletes

Although research evidence supports religiosity’s predominantly positive mental and physical health benefits to patients coping with varied health problems, there are few studies exploring the influence of religiosity on coping with sport injuries among athletes identifying with specific religions. This study examined the relationships between religiosity and the use of religious and non-religious ways of coping with sport injuries by athletes affiliated with diverse Christian denominations. Within a concurrent mixed methods design, adult athletes (N = 88) responded to an online survey asking about several religiosity factors, their most serious or challenging sport injuries, and their ways of coping with those injuries. Quantitative results showed that religious commitment correlated with specific religious beliefs and behaviors, positive religious ways of coping predominated over negative, and religious commitment fully mediated the relationship between athletes’ Christian denominations and their use of positive, but not negative, religious ways of coping with sport injuries. Thematic template analysis of qualitative data similarly revealed that religious ways of coping with sport injuries were predominantly positive in valence and benefitted physical and mental rehabilitation and recovery processes. Christian athletes relied on both religious and non-religious coping sources during their sport injury recoveries, and their ways of coping centered on their personal and religious identities. These results support that holistic care models encompassing sport psychology, sports medicine, and sports ministry should adapt intervention and treatment plans to accommodate personal religiosity and build on positive and adaptive religious ways of coping with sport injuries when working with religiously committed Christian athletes.

Trauma coping of mothers and children among poor people in Haiti: Mixed methods study of community-level research.

A qualitative interview is sensitive to social complexities and personal subjectivities, whereas quantitative assessment relies on preexisting frameworks to place responses in hierarchical frequencies and counts individual experiences as an additive aggregate. Using both enquiries, a mixed methods sequential exploratory design studied mothers' focus groups and their children's trauma assessment in 3 poor communities in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The authors partnered with a free primary care clinic where they serve as U.S. behavioral health psychologists. The study enquired how Haitian children are socialized by their mothers'/caregivers' religious and nonreligious coping in the context of continuous trauma. Focus group questions for mothers (n = 27), the House-Tree-Person (HTP) drawing test for their children (n = 42), and their directions were translated, back-translated, and administered in Haitian Créole by trained Haitian staff members. Religious, African humanism, and shame stigma themes emerged from the focus groups. Correlations and multiple regressions examined relationships of the frequencies of the mothers' coping themes and with their children's scores on 2 factorial dimensions, Resilience-Vulnerability Integrated and Person Feeling Unloved. These conceptual factors were derived from culturally adapted ratings of children's HTP drawings in previous studies in the same communities (Roysircar, Colvin, Afolayan, Thompson, & Robertson, 2017; Roysircar, Geisinger, & Thompson, 2019). Significant negative relationships of religious and African humanism coping with shame stigma coping and their respective significant negative and positive relationships with children's trauma adjustment scores are integrated in a mixed methods design, related to the African diaspora literature, and approached with transnational feminist theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Quality of Life and the Predictive Roles of Religiosity and Spiritual Coping Among Nursing Students: A Multi-country Study.

There has been high interest in religious and spirituality practices among college students due to positive benefits to university life. However, no studies have been conducted examining nursing students' religiosity and use of spiritual coping and its impact on their QOL. This cross-sectional, descriptive study measured the QOL and examined the predictive roles of religiosity and spiritual coping among nursing students from four countries. Nursing students reported high overall QOL and health. Significant differences were revealed on the religiosity and spiritual coping of students in terms of demographic characteristics. Findings show frequent attendance to organized and non-organized religious activities lead to better physical and environmental domains, and using non-organized religious activities frequently lead to improved psychological health. More frequent use of non-religious coping strategies was associated with better physical, psychological, and environmental health, and improved social relationships.

When Meaning Matters: Coping Mediates the Relationship of Religiosity and Illness Appraisal with Well-Being in Older Cancer Patients

ABSTRACTWhen individuals face serious, traumatic illnesses such as cancer, religion can contribute to their coping processes and psychosocial adjustment. In the current study, we examined the relationship between religiosity conceptualized as the religious meaning system, illness appraisal, and psychological well-being with religious and nonreligious coping as potential mediators of this relationship among older cancer patients. In a cross-sectional design, 215 older Polish patients (60–83 years of age; 80% Catholic, 9% Protestant) with gastrointestinal cancer completed measures of religiosity, illness appraisal, religious coping, nonreligious coping, and psychological well-being. Using structural equation modeling analysis, we found support for our model depicting a mediated relationship between religiosity, illness appraisal, and psychological well-being. Three forms of coping—negative religious, problem focused, and meaning focused—were key mechanisms in the relationship between the religious meaning system, positive and negative illness appraisal, and psychological well-being. These findings suggest that both religious factors (religiosity and religious coping) and nonreligious factors (illness appraisal and nonreligious coping) can operate together in influencing older cancer patients’ well-being.

Posttraumatic Growth in Case of Internal Displacement

Most of the empirical research in trauma psychology focuses on posttraumatic reactions, rather than on positive outcomes besides increased attention to contributing factors to the concept of posttraumatic growth. The study presented in this paper investigates the role of religious commitment on the one hand and religious and nonreligious coping on the other as contributing factors to posttraumatic growth among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) in Georgia. Based on data from N = 190 IDPS, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to understand posttraumatic growth and the role of religiosity as a coping resource and strategy. Results indicate that religious commitment is not directly related to areas of posttraumatic growth but it has a positive impact on posttraumatic growth when it fosters religious and non-religious ways of coping. Each and every component has shown to have unique contribution to the outcome variable. Finally, implications of the practical value and for the field in general are discussed.

Influence of religiosity and spiritual coping on health-related quality of life in Saudi haemodialysis patients.

Patients undergoing haemodialysis (HD) are frequently troubled by psychiatric disorders and coping problems, which can pose a serious threat to their physical and mental well-being. Using religious and spiritual interventions as a means of coping with physical and mental challenges is widely recognized. Although this topic has been well studied, in the Middle East regions, where Islam is the dominant religion, studies are limited. Thus, this study was performed to explore the influence of religiosity and spiritual coping (SC) on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of Saudi patients receiving HD. A total of 168 HD patients from three hospitals in Saudi Arabia formed a convenient sample for this descriptive, cross-sectional hospital-based study. Data collection was done via questionnaire-guided interviews using the Muslim Religious Index as well as the Arabic Versions of the Spiritual Coping Strategies scale and Quality of LifeIndex Dialysis. Regression analysis enabled identification of the factors influencing HRQoL. Older patients were found to reveal higher levels of religiosity, whereas the younger ones expressed a lesser degree of religious and nonreligious coping. Unemployed patients reported greater involvement in religious practices (RP) and more frequently used religious coping than those employed. The latter showed lower intrinsic religiosity and nonreligious coping usage than the unemployed. The respondents reported the greatest satisfaction scores on their psychological/spiritual dimension and the least scores on the social and economic dimension. Therefore, the factors that could influence the HRQoL of the respondents were identified as involvement in RP, intrinsic religious beliefs, religious coping usage and age. This study revealed significant findings regarding the importance of religiosity and SC on the HRQoL of the Saudi HD patients. Therefore, it has been highly recommended to integrate religiosity into the health-care process for such patients to facilitate the achievement of overall optimum health levels.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale Arabic Version for Saudi Nursing Students.

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Coping Strategies scale Arabic version (SCS-A) in a sample of nursing students in Saudi Arabia. This study had a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 100 nursing students in Saudi Arabia. Using the SCS-A and the Muslim Religiosity Scale for data collection, data were analyzed to establish the reliability and validity of the SCS-A. Good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α > .70) and stability reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient > .80) were observed. Two dominant factors were extracted from the scale items, the nonreligious coping strategies and religious coping strategies, which accounted for 35.5% and 32.7% of the variance, respectively. The religious coping subscale exhibited a strong positive correlation with the religious practices subscale of the Muslim Religious Involvement Scale ( r = .45, p < .001) and total religiosity score ( r = .48, p < .001) as well as a weak positive correlation with the intrinsic religious beliefs subscale ( r = .25, p < .05). No significant relationship was found between nonreligious coping subscale and the Muslim Religious Involvement Scale. The SCS-A exhibited an acceptable validity and reliability, supporting its sound psychometric properties with respect to the responses from Saudi nursing students.

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE SPIRITUAL COPING STRATEGIES SCALE ARABIC VERSION IN SAUDI PATIENTS UNDERGOING HAEMODIALYSIS.

Patients often resort to religious and spiritual activities to cope with physical and mental challenges. The effect of spiritual coping on overall health, adaptation and health-related quality of life among patients undergoing haemodialysis (HD) is well documented. Thus, it is essential to establish a valid and reliable instrument that can assess both the religious and non-religious coping methods in patients undergoing HD. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale Arabic version (SCS-A) in Saudi patients undergoing HD. A convenience sample of 60 Saudi patients undergoing HD was recruited for this descriptive, cross-sectional study. Data were collected between May and June 2015. Forward-backward translation was used to formulate the SCS-A. The SCS-A, Muslim Religiosity Scale and the Quality of Life Index Dialysis Version III were used to procure the data. Internal consistency reliability, stability reliability, factor analysis and construct validity tests were performed. Analyses were set at the 0.05 level of significance. The SCS-A showed an acceptable internal consistency and strong stability reliability over time. The EFA produced two factors (non-religious and religious coping). Satisfactory construct validity was established by the convergent and divergent validity and known-groups method. The SCS-A is a reliable and valid tool that can be used to measure the religious and non-religious coping strategies of patients undergoing HD in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim and Arabic-speaking countries.

Trauma history in African-American women living with HIV: effects on psychiatric symptom severity and religious coping

Women living with HIV (WLHIV) have rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) up to 5 times higher than the general population. Individuals living with HIV and a concurrent diagnosis of PTSD have poorer HIV-related outcomes; however, the prevalence and impact of PTSD on African-American WLHIV seeking mental health treatment is unknown. The aim of this study is to examine the associations between PTSD symptoms with psychiatric symptom severity and psychological/religious coping strategies in African-American WLHIV who are seeking mental health treatment. This is a cross-sectional study of 235 African-American WLHIV attending an urban community mental health clinic. Bivariate analyses were conducted to evaluate associations between a PTSD symptoms scale (PSS ≥ 21 versus PSS < 21) and (1) psychiatric severity, (2) coping strategies, and (3) religious coping strategies. Thirty-six percent reported symptoms consistent with PTSD (PSS ≥ 21). These women were significantly more likely to have worse mental health symptoms and were more likely to employ negative psychological and religious coping strategies. On the contrary, women with a PSS < 21 reported relatively low levels of mental health symptoms and were more likely to rely on positive psychological and religious coping strategies. Over one-third of African-American WLHIV attending an outpatient mental health clinic had symptoms associated with PTSD. These symptoms were associated with worse mental health symptoms and utilization of dysfunctional religious and nonreligious coping strategies. Untreated PTSD in WLHIV predicts poorer HIV-related health outcomes and may negatively impact comorbid mental health outcomes. Screening for PTSD in WLHIV could identify a subset that would benefit from evidence-based PTSD-specific therapies in addition to mental health interventions already in place. PTSD-specific interventions for WLHIV with PTSD may improve outcomes, improve coping strategies, and allow for more effective treatment of comorbid mental health disorders.

Religious/spiritual coping resources and their relationship with adjustment in patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK

Religious/spiritual resources may serve multiple functions in adjustment to cancer. However, there is very little evidence of the importance of religious/spiritual variables outside the USA. This paper reports the cross-sectional data of a longitudinal study examining the beneficial and harmful effects of religious/spiritual coping resources on adjustment in the first year after a breast cancer diagnosis. One hundred and fifty-five patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer were assessed after surgery. Several aspects of religiousness/spirituality in relation to anxiety and depression were examined: religiosity/spirituality, strength of faith, belief in God, private and public practices, spiritual involvement, perceived spiritual support and positive and negative religious coping strategies. Non-religious coping, social support and optimism were also assessed. 'Feeling punished and abandoned by God' significantly explained 5% of the variance in increased levels of anxiety but was partially mediated by denial coping. It was also partially mediated by acceptance coping, lowering levels of anxiety. Feeling punished and abandoned by God was a significant independent predictor of depressed mood, explaining 4% of the variance. Using religious/spiritual resources in the coping process during the early stages of breast cancer may play an important role in the adjustment process in patients with breast cancer. Patients may benefit from having their spiritual needs addressed as experiencing some form of religious/spiritual struggle may serve as a barrier to illness adjustment. Implications for research and clinical practices are discussed.

Validation de la version française d’une échelle abrégée de coping religieux : Brief-RCOPE

The involvement of religious beliefs and practices in the way of coping with stressful events is coined by the term of religious coping. It is commonly distinguished the positive from the negative patterns of religious coping (i.e., a secure and a less secure relationship with God respectively) as assessed by the Brief RCOPE. The interest for the religious coping patterns lies in their predictive value for the quality of the adjustment to stress. After controlling for the effects of sociodemographic variables, and nonreligious coping measures, the positive pattern is a significant predictor of well-being while the negative pattern promotes a poorer physical and mental health. This study was designed to validate the French version of the Brief RCOPE. MethodParticipants. Our sample (N=250) included students in psychology and community dwelling people. Assessments. Religious coping (Brief-RCOPE), coping strategies (Brief COPE), personality (TCI-56), social support (SSQ), perceived stress (PSS), depression (HADS), life-events (SRRS), religious outcomes and global religious scales. Statistical analyses. We performed an Exploratory Factorial Analysis (EFA) with Oblimin rotation (structural validity) and correlations (Pearson’r) between the two Brief RCOPE scales and the other measures included in this study (criterion validity). The Cronbach alpha (internal consistency) and the ICC correlations (test–retest) were calculated to estimate the reliability of the two dimensions of the Brief RCOPE. ResultsValidity. The EFA provides a two-factor solution differentiating the negative items (negative pattern) and the positive items (positive pattern). Convergent and criterion validity: Positive religious coping was positively associated with the social support satisfaction dimension, global religious measure, religious outcomes, the Brief COPE's religious dimension and the self transcendence scale. It was not associated with the disponibility dimension of social support and with the life events score. Negative religious coping was positively associated with perceived stress, depression, life events, global religious measure and religious outcomes. It was not associated with the social support dimensions. This results support the criterion validity of the scale. Reliability. Internal consistency and temporal stability are satisfactory. DiscussionThe French translation of the Brief RCOPE consists of a valid and easy-to-use method to assess the positive and negative patterns of religious coping. Our results confirm the positive pattern predicts a better adjustment to strains and the limits of this study are discussed.

Nonreligious coping and religious coping as predictors of expressed emotion in relatives of patients with schizophrenia

Expressed emotion (EE) is a measure of the amount of criticism and emotional over involvement expressed by a key relative towards a relative with a disorder or illness. Research has established that living in a high EE environment, which is characterised by increased levels of critical and emotionally exaggerated communication, leads to a poorer prognosis for patients with a mental illness when compared to low EE environments. Despite evidence that EE is a strong predictor of the course of the illness, there continue to be questions concerning why some family members express excessive levels of high EE attitudes about their mentally ill relatives while others do not. Based on indirect evidence from previous research, the current study tested whether religious and nonreligious coping serve as predictors of EE. A sample of 72 family members of patients with schizophrenia completed an EE interview, along with questionnaires assessing situational nonreligious coping and religious coping. In line with the hypotheses, results indicated that nonreligious coping predicted EE. Specifically, less use of adaptive emotion-focused coping predicted high EE. Also consistent with predictions, maladaptive religious coping predicted high EE above and beyond nonreligious coping.

Religious coping strategies in patients diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK

The use of religious/spiritual coping strategies may be particularly prevalent when dealing with the stress of a cancer diagnosis. There has, however, been very little research conducted on this topic outside the USA. Existing measures of coping largely ignore the complexity of religious/spiritual coping and its potential to be adaptive as well as maladaptive. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of various religious coping strategies in a UK cancer sample. A longitudinal design assessed religious coping strategies in patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer at the time of surgery and at 3 and 12 months post surgery. We recruited 202 patients of which, at 12 months, 160 remained. A non-religious coping measure was included for comparison. The use of religious coping strategies was overall common; up to 73% of patients used positive religious coping to some degree at surgery and up to 53% experienced various religious/spiritual struggles. The use of some religious coping strategies showed differing patterns of change across time while others remained stable. Using religious/spiritual resources in the coping process during the early stages of breast cancer appears common in the UK. Patients may benefit from having their spiritual needs addressed as experiencing some form of religious/spiritual struggle may serve as a barrier to illness adjustment. Health-care professionals should also be aware that some religious coping strategies may be more prevalent at different times during the first year of illness.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Spanish and English Versions of the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale

The Spiritual Coping Strategies (SCS) Scale measures how frequently religious and nonreligious (spiritual) coping strategies are used to cope with a stressful experience. This study's purpose is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the newly translated Spanish version of the SCS. A total of 51 bilingual adults completed the SCS in Spanish and English, with 25 completing them again 2-3 weeks later. Internal consistency reliability for the Spanish (r = 0.83) and English (r = 0.82) versions of the SCS in the total sample were good. Test-retest reliability was .84 for the Spanish and .80 for the English version. Spanish and English responses to the SCS items and the resulting score for the subscales and the total scale were not significantly different. Scores on the English and Spanish versions were correlated as expected with time since the stressful event and happiness with family and with spouse or partner, supporting the validity of the Spanish SCS. Study findings support the reliability and validity of the newly translated Spanish SCS.