Premium
Examining the links between spiritual struggles and symptoms of psychopathology in a national sample
Author(s) -
McConnell Kelly M.,
Pargament Kenneth I.,
Ellison Christopher G.,
Flannelly Kevin J.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.20325
Subject(s) - psychopathology , somatization , psychology , anxiety , coping (psychology) , clinical psychology , psychological intervention , psychotherapist , psychiatry
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. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 62: 1469–1484, 2006.