Kenneth I. Pargament

The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory Research Practice

An Introduction to the Psychology of Religion and Coping. Part I: A Perspective on Religion. The Sacred and the Search for Significance. Religious Pathways and Religious Destinations. Part II: A Perspective on Coping. An Introduction to the Concept of Coping. The Flow of Coping. Part III: The Religion and Coping Connection. When People Turn to Religion. When They Turn Away. The Many Faces of Religion in Coping. Religion and the Mechanisms of Coping - The Transformation of Significance. Part IV: Evaluative and Practical Implications. Does it Work? Religion and the Outcomes of Coping. When Religion Fails - Problems of Integration in the Process of Coping. Putting Religion into Practice.

Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality: Implications for physical and mental health research.

Empirical studies have identified significant links between religion and spirituality and health. The reasons for these associations, however, are unclear. Typically, religion and spirituality have been measured by global indices (e.g., frequency of church attendance, self-rated religiousness and spirituality) that do not specify how or why religion and spirituality affect health. The authors highlight recent advances in the delineation of religion and spirituality concepts and measures theoretically and functionally connected to health. They also point to areas for areas for growth in religion and spirituality conceptualization and measurement. Through measures of religion and spirituality more conceptually related to physical and mental health (e.g., closeness to God, religious orientation and motivation, religious support, religious struggle), psychologists are discovering more about the distinctive contributions of religiousness and spirituality to health and well-being.

Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors : Symposium on religion, health, and well-being

This study attempted to identify positive and negative patterns of religious coping methods, develop a brief measure of these religious coping patterns, and examine their implications for health and adjustment. Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, positive and negative religious coping patterns were identified in samples of people coping with the Oklahoma City bombing, college students coping with major life stressors, and elderly hospitalized patients coping with serious medical illnesses. A 14-item measure of positive and negative patterns of religious coping methods (Brief RCOPE) was constructed. The positive pattern consisted of religious forgiveness, seeking spiritual support, collaborative religious coping, spiritual connection, religious purification, and benevolent religious reappraisal. The negative pattern was defined by spiritual discontent, punishing God reappraisals, interpersonal religious discontent, demonic reap praisal, and reappraisal of Gods powers. As predicted, people made more use of the positive than the negative religious coping methods. Furthermore, the two patterns had different implications for health and adjustment. The Brief RCOPE offers an efficient, theoretically meaningful way to integrate religious dimensions into models and studies of stress, coping, and health.

The many methods of religious coping: Development and initial validation of the RCOPE

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a new theoretically based measure that would assess the full range of religious coping methods, including potentially helpful and harmful religious expressions. The RCOPE was tested on a large sample of college students who were coping with a significant negative life event. Factor analysis of the RCOPE in the college sample yielded factors largely consistent with the conceptualization and construction of the subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis of the RCOPE in a large sample of hospitalized elderly patients was moderately supportive of the initial factor structure. Results of regression analyses showed that religious coping accounted for significant unique variance in measures of adjustment (stress-related growth, religious outcome, physical health, mental health, and emotional distress) after controlling for the effects of demographics and global religious measures (frequency of prayer, church attendance, and religious salience). Better adjustment was related to a number of coping methods, such as benevolent religious reappraisals, religious forgiveness/purification, and seeking religious support. Poorer adjustment was associated with reappraisals of Gods powers, spiritual discontent, and punishing God reappraisals. The results suggest that the RCOPE may be useful to researchers and practitioners interested in a comprehensive assessment of religious coping and in a more complete integration of religious and spiritual dimensions in the process of counseling.

Religion and the Problem-Solving Process: Three Styles of Coping

Three styles of problem-solving were proposed, each involving a different reported relationship between the individual and God. Scales were developed to measure these problem-solving styles and were administered to 197 church members. These three styles were clearly identifiable through factor analysis. Further, as predicted, the three styles of problem-solving related differently to measures of religiousness and competence. The report of a problem-solving style involving active personal exchange with God (Collaborative) appears to be part of an internalized committed form of religion, one holding positive implications for the competence of the individual. A problem-solving style in which the individual waits for solutions from God (Deferring) seems to be part of an externally-oriented religion providing answers to questions the individual is less able to resolve. This style was associated with lower levels of competence. A Self-Directing style emphasizes the freedom God gives people to direct their own lives. This approach appears to be an active coping orientation which stresses personal agency, involves lower levels of traditional religious involvement, and is part of a generally effective style of functioning. This study points to the important diverse roles religion plays in the problem-solving process.

The Emerging Meanings of Religiousness and Spirituality: Problems and Prospects

This article examines traditional and modern psychological characterizations of religiousness and spirituality. Three ways in which religiousness and spirituality are polarized by contemporary theorists are examined: organized religion versus personal spirituality; substantive religion versus functional spirituality; and negative religiousness versus positive spirituality. An alternative approach to understanding religiousness and spirituality is presented that integrates rather than polarizes these constructs, and sets boundaries to the discipline while acknowledging the diversity of religious and spiritual expressions. Directions for future investigations of these two constructs are presented.

Religious coping methods as predictors of psychological, physical and spiritual outcomes among medically ill elderly patients: A two-year longitudinal study

A total of 268 medically ill, elderly, hospitalized patients responded to measures of religious coping and spiritual, psychological and physical functioning at baseline and follow-up two years later. After controlling for relevant variables, religious coping was significantly predictive of spiritual outcome, and changes in mental and physical health. Generally, positive methods of religious coping (e.g. seeking spiritual support, benevolent religious reappraisals) were associated with improvements in health. Negative methods of religious coping (e.g. punishing God reappraisal, interpersonal religious discontent) were predictive of declines in health. Patients who continue to struggle with religious issues over time may be particularly at risk for health-related problems.

Measuring multiple dimensions of religion and spirituality for health research: Conceptual background and findings from the 1998 general social survey

Progress in studying the relationship between religion and health has been hampered by the absence of an adequate measure of religiousness and spirituality. This article reports on the conceptual and empirical development of an instrument to measure religiousness and spirituality, intended explicitly for studies of health. It is multidimensional to allow investigation of multiple possible mechanisms of effect, brief enough to be included in clinical or epidemiological surveys, inclusive of both traditional religiousness and noninstitutionally based spirituality, and appropriate for diverse Judeo-Christian populations. The measure may be particularly useful for studies of health in elderly populations in which religious involvement is higher. The measure was tested in the nationally representative 1998 General Social Survey (N = 1,445). Nine dimensions have indices with moderate-to-good internal consistency, and there are three single-item domains. Analysis by age and sex shows that elderly respondents report higher levels of religiousness in virtually every domain of the measure.

Red flags and religious coping: Identifying some religious warning signs among people in crisis

This study attempts to identify some of the signs of ineffective religious involvement in coping. Drawing from a process/integration model of efficacious coping, three broad types of religious warning signs were defined and 11 subscales were developed. These subscales were administered to a group of Roman Catholic church members and two groups of college undergraduates who had experienced different types of negative life events in the past two years. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between these subscales and measures of general mental health and event specific outcome. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are considered.

Religion and the sanctification of family relationships

Despite ample evidence that global indexes of religiousness are linked to family functioning, the mechanisms by which religion uniquely influences family dynamics are not well understood or empirically documented. To advance the scientific study of religion role in families, we delineate how the construct of sanctification applies to marital and parent-child relationships as well as to the entire family systems according to diverse religious traditions. We define sanctification as a psychological process in which aspects of life are perceived as having spiritual character and significance. We summarize the psychotmetric properties of two sets of measures that we have developed to assess the sanctification of marriage, parent-child relationships, and sexuality: Manifestation of God and Sacred Qualities scales. We hypothesize that sanctification has desirable implications for family life, supporting this assertion with initial empirical findings from our program of research. We also highlight the potential harm that may result from the sanctification of family relationships and discuss circumstances that may present particular risks (unavoidable challenges, violations by family members, loss. conflict, and intrapsychic and institutional barriers). Finally, we discuss future research directions to study more closely the influence of religion and sanctification on family life.