Spiritual stress and coping model of divorce: A longitudinal study.

Abstract

This study represents the first longitudinal effort to use a spiritual stress and coping model to predict adults' psychosocial adjustment following divorce. A community sample of 89 participants completed measures at the time of their divorce and 1 year later. Though the sample endorsed slightly lower levels of religiosity than the general U.S. population, most reported spiritual appraisals and positive and negative religious coping tied to divorce. Hierarchical regression analyses controlling general religiousness and nonreligious forms of coping indicated that (a) appraising divorce as a sacred loss or desecration at the time it occurred predicted more depressive symptoms and dysfunctional conflict tactics with the ex-spouse 1 year later; (b) positive religious coping reported about the year following divorce predicted greater posttraumatic growth 1 year after divorce; and (c) negative religious coping reported about the year following divorce predicted more depressive symptoms 1 year after the divorce. Bootstrapping mediation analyses indicated that negative religious coping fully mediated links between appraising the divorce as a sacred loss or desecration at the time it occurred and depressive symptoms 1 year later. In addition, moderation analyses revealed that negative religious coping is more strongly associated with depressive symptoms among those who form high versus low appraisals of their divorce as a sacred loss or desecration. These findings are relevant to divorce education and intervention provided by professionals in legal, family, mental health, and clerical roles. Implications are discussed for clinical and counseling psychology and religious communities.

Effect of Infidelity, Initiator Status, and Spiritual Well-Being on Men’s Divorce Adjustment

“…Terms & who divorce, as compared with individuals who are married (Amato, 2000;Hughes & Waite, 2009). Research supported that spousal infidelity (Blow & Harnett, 2005;Ortman, 2005), initiator status (Locker, McIntosh, Hackney, Wilson, & Wiegand, 2010;Sweeny & Horwitz, 2001), and spiritual well-being (Krumrei, Mahoney, & Pargament, 2011;Steiner, Suarez, Sells, & Wykes, 2011) can affect how an individual adjusts to divorce. Divorce-related research conducted to understand how men versus women adjust has shown that the effects on mental health for either gender have appeared to be comparable (Amato, 2010).…”

“…The activities associated with positive spiritual coping are varied, such as (a) seeking control or relief by working together with God to manage the divorce; (b) engaging in prayer, private rituals, or public worship to overcome negative feelings; (c) seeking spiritual purification for wrongdoings that contributed to the divorce; and (d) searching for comfort through the love, care, or spiritual intimacy with congregation members, clergy, or both. Furthermore, divorced people might develop negative spiritual coping (viewing the divorce as a punishment from God and tension within one's own religious community), which might lead to more difficulties in adjusting to the divorce and a higher level of depression (Krumrei et al, 2011). Depending on how a person views divorce in the context of their religious beliefs, positive spiritual or religious coping can help the individual to overcome the negative effects of divorce.…”

“…Depending on how a person views divorce in the context of their religious beliefs, positive spiritual or religious coping can help the individual to overcome the negative effects of divorce. Meanwhile, negative religious coping might prevent one from Downloaded by [New York University] at 20:52 26 May 2015 moving forward, and as a result, the individual could experience mental health issues (Krumrei et al, 2011). Furthermore, research found that people with religious faith and spiritual convictions not only have more resources for coping, but they are generally happier and healthier than those for whom such convictions were of less importance (Ellison & Fan 2008;Patrick & Kinney, 2003;Levin & Chatters, 1998;Myers & Diener, 1995, as cited in Jackson & Bergeman, 2011.…”

Perdão conjugal: uma explicação a partir dos valores humanos

“…Tal fato pode ter ocorrido em decorrência da utilização de apenas um único item (Gouveia et al, 2009), semelhante ao empregado na presente pesquisa. Entretanto, era esperado que as pessoas com maior nível de religiosidade seriam mais propensas a concederem o perdão, tendo em vista sua crença no casamento como algo sagrado e sua dissolução como um ato de desrespeito a ordem divina (Krumrei, Mahoney, & Pargament, 2011).…”

Marital Forgiveness: An Explanation Based on Human Values

“…This may be a result of using only a single item (Gouveia et al, 2009), similar to that employed in the present study. However, it was expected that people with higher levels of religiosity would be more likely to grant forgiveness, considering they believe that marriage is sacred and its dissolution is an act of disrespect toward divine order (Krumrei, Mahoney, & Pargament, 2011).…”