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J Clin Psychol. 2021 Aug 16; doi: 10.1002/jclp.23232. Epub 2021 Aug 16.

Religious/spiritual struggles and psychological distress: A test of three models in a longitudinal study of adults with chronic health conditions.

Journal of clinical psychology

Richard G Cowden, Kenneth I Pargament, Zhuo J Chen, Edward B Davis, Austin W Lemke, Kevin J Glowiak, Sandra Y Rueger, Everett L Worthington

Affiliations

  1. Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
  2. Psychology Department, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA.
  3. Department of Psychology, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA.
  4. School of Psychology, Counseling, and Family Therapy, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, USA.
  5. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.

PMID: 34398979 DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23232

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study tested three conceptual explanatory models that have been theorized to account for the linkages between religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles and psychological distress: the primary model (i.e., R/S struggles lead to psychological distress), the secondary model (i.e., psychological distress leads to R/S struggles), and the complex model (i.e., R/S struggles and psychological distress reciprocally exacerbate each other).

METHODS: Using prospective data from a sample of US adults living with chronic health conditions (n = 302), we performed a cross-lagged panel analysis with three timepoints to test for evidence of potential causal relations between R/S struggles and psychological distress.

RESULTS: Consistent with the complex conceptual model of R/S struggles, we found evidence of positive reciprocal associations between R/S struggles and psychological distress.

CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the importance of attending to the dynamic interplay between R/S struggles and psychological distress when working with adults who have chronic health conditions.

© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Keywords: mental health; psychological well-being; religion/spirituality; religious/spiritual coping

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