title: Examining the links between spiritual struggles and symptoms of psychopathology in a national sample.
abstract: The present study investigated the relationship between spiritual struggles and various types of psychopathology symptoms in individuals who had and had not suffered from a recent illness. Participants completed self-report measures of religious variables and symptoms of psychopathology. Spiritual struggles were assessed by a measure of negative religious coping. As predicted, negative religious coping was significantly linked to various forms of psychopathology, including anxiety, phobic anxiety, depression, paranoid ideation, obsessive-compulsiveness, and somatization, after controlling for demographic and religious variables. In addition, the relationship between negative religious coping and anxiety and phobic anxiety was stronger for individuals who had experienced a recent illness. These results have implications for assessments and interventions targeting spiritual struggles, especially in medical settings.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA. mcconkm@bgsu.edu
authors.forename: Kelly M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: McConnell
authors.forename: Kenneth I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Pargament
authors.forename: Christopher G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Ellison
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Flannelly
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010259:Paranoid Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support; D029181:Spirituality; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology