Mental Health Correlates of Sharing Private Problems in Congregations during the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Jacobi, Christopher Justin; Vaidyanathan, Brandon; Andronicou, Maria

doi:10.1111/jssr.12780

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…According to our analyses of group differences, this relation appeared to be driven largely by those who identified as belonging to a religious group that is considered a "Minority" in Canada (i.e., Baha ´'ı ´, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh). Although emotional-engagement styles of coping have previously been associated with higher levels of well-being [69,73,77,78] our study revealed that emotionalengagement coping was instead associated with more negative mental and physical health outcomes. Although our emotional-engagement factor included strategies such as emotionalexpression and social support-seeking, which could have beneficial actions [54,77,78], it also included rumination, other-blame, and wishful thinking-strategies that are generally considered to be less "adaptive" in coping with stress [79,80].…”

Section: Plos Onecontrasting

confidence: 77%

“…Although emotional-engagement styles of coping have previously been associated with higher levels of well-being [69,73,77,78] our study revealed that emotionalengagement coping was instead associated with more negative mental and physical health outcomes. Although our emotional-engagement factor included strategies such as emotionalexpression and social support-seeking, which could have beneficial actions [54,77,78], it also included rumination, other-blame, and wishful thinking-strategies that are generally considered to be less "adaptive" in coping with stress [79,80]. In fact, rumination itself has been associated with diverse psychological disturbances and predicted the later development of depression [81].…”

Section: Plos Onecontrasting

confidence: 77%

“…In addition to problem-focused coping, religiosity was associated with greater use of emotional-engagement coping in the present study, which can include strategies such as emotional expression and emotional social support-seeking [ 77 , 78 ]. According to our analyses of group differences, this relation appeared to be driven largely by those who identified as belonging to a religious group that is considered a “Minority” in Canada (i.e., Baháʼí, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Peneycad,

Ysseldyk,

Tippins

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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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.

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Section: Plos Onecontrasting

confidence: 77%

Section: Plos Onecontrasting

confidence: 77%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

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

Peneycad,

Ysseldyk,

Tippins

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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Remote Possibilities: Sermons as Religious Support during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Bankier-Karp,

Cooper,

Southcott

2024

Cont Jewry

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Psychological and sociological studies have reported that highly religious people have better mental health overall, which was also confirmed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little investigation has been undertaken to understand the actual enablers of religious coping that contextualize these mental health results. Australian pulpit rabbis were invited to submit sermons delivered on the eve of the first Sabbath of the pandemic. These sermons were conceived as “artifacts” of religious support and Nancy Ammerman’s (2021) multidimensional model of lived religion—in particular, the narrative, embodied and moral dimensions—served as the conceptual framework for analysis. Religious support was evident in the sermons in the ways sacred texts and values were deployed to encourage shifts in conceptions associated with congregational gatherings and agency in private religious beliefs and behavior. By tapping in on faith in God, familiar religious concepts, and values, congregants were encouraged to abide by health directives, endure them, and sustain hope for a redemptive future. The contribution of this qualitative study lies in its identification of a dimension of religious support and how it assists people of faith during difficult times.

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“Electronic Church” 2.0: Are Virtual and In-Person Attendance Associated with Mental and Physical Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Upenieks

Hill

Acevedo

et al. 2023

Sociology of Religion

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Over the past four decades, studies have consistently shown that regular attendance at religious services is associated with better mental and physical health. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many congregations paused in-person religious services and moved their worship rituals online. The ways that churches have responded to the threat of infectious disease require new conceptualizations and operationalizations of religious attendance and novel comparisons of the causes and consequences of virtual and in-person attendance. Analyses of data collected from a national probability sample of Americans (n = 1,717) show that while in-person religious attendance is associated with better mental and physical health, virtual attendance is unrelated to both outcomes in fully adjusted models. Taken together, these findings suggest that the association between religious attendance and health during a global pandemic may be contingent on physical proximity and the nature of the social and experiential aspects of religious worship.

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Mental Health Correlates of Sharing Private Problems in Congregations during the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Cited by 3 publications

References 25 publications

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

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

Remote Possibilities: Sermons as Religious Support during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“Electronic Church” 2.0: Are Virtual and In-Person Attendance Associated with Mental and Physical Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

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