title: Sense of Coherence (SOC) in Christian Orthodox Monks and Nuns in Greece.
abstract: This paper aims to investigate the stress management skills of Christian Orthodox monks and nuns, as measured by Antonovsky's scale sense of coherence (SOC). A case-control study was designed to test the hypotheses whether monks and nuns have higher SOC than secular people. The study population consisted of 193 individuals, 96 monks and nuns (study group) and 97 secular men and women (control group). SOC score was higher in monks and nuns as compared to the secular population (p = 0.002), men as compared to women (p = 0.012) and persons of older age (p = 0.004) as compared to younger individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, National School of Public Health, 196, Alexandras Ave., 11521, Athens, Greece. kmerakou@esdy.edu.gr.|General Hospital of Drama, Macedonia, Greece. kmerakou@esdy.edu.gr.
authors.forename: Kyriakoula
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Merakou
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, National School of Public Health, 196, Alexandras Ave., 11521, Athens, Greece.|General Hospital of Drama, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Stavroula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taki
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, National School of Public Health, 196, Alexandras Ave., 11521, Athens, Greece.|General Hospital of Drama, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barbouni
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, National School of Public Health, 196, Alexandras Ave., 11521, Athens, Greece.|General Hospital of Drama, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Antoniadou
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, National School of Public Health, 196, Alexandras Ave., 11521, Athens, Greece.|General Hospital of Drama, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Theodoridis
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, National School of Public Health, 196, Alexandras Ave., 11521, Athens, Greece.|General Hospital of Drama, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Karageorgos
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, National School of Public Health, 196, Alexandras Ave., 11521, Athens, Greece.|General Hospital of Drama, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: Jeny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kourea-Kremastinou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002835:Christianity / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D065830:Monks / Q000523:psychology*; D065831:Nuns / Q000523:psychology*; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D060685:Sense of Coherence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Monks; Nuns; SOC; Spirituality