Exploration of psychological distress in gay, bisexual, and heterosexual Roman Catholic priests.

Abstract

An online survey (N = 103) of secular/diocesan and religious Roman Catholic priests was conducted to assess contributions to psychological distress from sexual identity, stress, social support, and fear of compassion from others. Differences in psychological distress across sexual identity and role (religious, secular/diocesan) were also assessed. Results indicated psychological distress was predicted by stress, fear of compassion from others, and gay identity as compared with heterosexual identity. Gay-identified priests were significantly more distressed when compared with those heterosexually identified. Qualitative analyses revealed gay priests’ stress was related to the cognitive dissonance of current social acceptance of sexual minority identity juxtaposed with negative Church teaching, and perceived constraints to receiving compassion from others. Heterosexual and gay/bisexual priests all expressed profound satisfaction in their vocations, but with additional themes of loneliness, negative relationships with Church hierarchy, workload demands, unrealistic expectations, concern about the future, and ageing. Counseling and policy implications are discussed.

Occupational Stress and Catholic Priests: A Scoping Review of the Literature

“…The personnel manager of the dioceses informed them of the study with a letter from the authors inviting them to participate. Answers, anonymous, were given through either a pencil and or an online version Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) (Cohen et al, 1983 ) Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) (Franke, 1997 , 2000 ; Franke et al, 2011 ) Spiritual Dryness Scale (SDS) (Büssing et al, 2013 ) Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) (Underwood and Teresi, 2002 ; Underwood, 2011 ) General Self-Efficacy Scale (SES) (Schwarzer and Jerusalem, 1995 ) Diener’s Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener et al, 1985 ) Correlational Female–male comparison: + Women had lower depression scores than men (2.43–2.63), higher self-efficacy expectation (28.66–28.28) and higher life satisfaction (5.45–53.9) - But higher perceived stress (15.79–15.26) and anxiety (2.90–2.72) Age comparison : + Older persons had the lowest scores for anxiety (2.26), depression (2.19), stress perception (14.23) and the highest life satisfaction scores (5.60) - But also, the lowest self-efficacy scores (27.66) and the highest somatization (2.58) Profession comparison : Priests had the worst scores in depression (2.88), somatization (2.42), stress perception (15.80), self-efficacy expectation (27.65), life satisfaction (5.30) and spiritual dryness (2.21) Significant correlations ( p < .001): Anxiety with depression ( r = .645), with somatization ( r = .608), with stress perception ( r = 552) Depression with somatization ( r = .511), with stress perception ( r = .511), with life satisfaction ( r = − .50) Daily spiritual experience with spiritual dryness ( r = − .55) 12 Greene et al ( 2017 ) 103 Catholic diocesan priests USA Mean age 58 years old 3500 priests living in the USA were randomly selected from all listings in The Official Catholic Directory and e-mailed a request to participate in an online study of Roman Catholic clergy on psychological distress that included sexual identity as one study variable. Of those contacted, 135 responded, with 103 surveys completed (3% of the overall sample) K6 (Kessler et al, 2003 ): measure non-specific psychological distress (6 items) Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) (Cohen et al, 1983 ) Perceived Social Support Scale (Walen and Lachman, 2000 ) Fear of Compassion Scale—From Others Subscale (FCS-O) ...…”

“…Parish expert workers were mostly women (78%), while priests and deacons were exclusively men (100%). Pastoral assistants were both men (54%) and women (46%) Not reported [−]− 12 Greene et al ( 2017 ) 103 Catholic diocesan priests from the USA Ranging from 35 to 82. M = 58 ( SD = 11.26) Not reported Not reported Of the 46 religious and 57 secular/diocesan clergy, 66 self-identified as heterosexual, 31 self-identified as gay, and 6 self-identified as bisexual Ethnic: racial identity was predominantly non-Hispanic White (86%), with 2% Asian American, 2% American Native or Alaskan Native, 3% Black or African American, 6% Hispanic or Latino/a, 1% other identified Present assignment included 88% who were positioned in parishes and 12% in schools 13 Isacco et al ( 2014 ) 15 Catholic Priests from the USA Ranging from 29 to 76.…”

“…Another aspect is loneliness, which particularly affects diocesan priests who often live and work alone. Loneliness has frequently been associated with major symptoms of depression and burnout (Greene et al, 2017 ; Raj & Dean, 2005 ).…”

“…For instance, in a sample of 1,288 clergy from different Christian denominations (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Baptist) in the USA, the authors found strong correlations between high scores for occupational stress and high blood pressure (33.5%), high cholesterol (29%), type 2 diabetes (10.4%), heart disease (6.8%), lung disease (2.3%), arthritis (15.4%), chronic stress disorder (0.5%), hours worked per week (mean of 46.1 h) and a sedentary lifestyle (mean of 6 h sitting a day) (Webb & Chase, 2019 ). Other problems associated with work-related stress are: increased anxiety and depression among priests, isolation, sleep disorders, medical issues and feeling angry all the time (Greene et al, 2017 ; Webb & Chase, 2019 ).…”

Intersectionality and Identity Configurations: A Qualitative Study Exploring Sexual Identity Development Among Emerging Adults Within the United States

“…Sexual minority emerging adults have communicated the costs and benefits of negotiating sexual and religious identity (Gold & Stewart, 2011). Some LGBTQ+ individuals report strong feelings of dissonance between their religious and sexual identities, which contributes to psychological distress (Crowell et al, 2015; Greene et al, 2017). However, sexual minority emerging adults have also reported maintaining a positive religious identity by reframing heterosexist and oppressive church teachings or values in order to allow both identities to thrive (Dahl & Galliher, 2012a; Kubicek et al, 2009).…”