The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice

Borderline Conditions and Pathological Narcissism

Previous research has established how childhood attachment extends into adult romantic attachment and attachment to God. Other research has shown that individuals' styles of attachment to God are differentially associated with three types of spiritual coping methods, self-directing, deferring, and collaborative. Hernandez, Salerno, & Bottoms (2010) sought to extend this body of research by investigating the relationship between God attachment, spiritual coping, and alcohol use. A "novel link" was established between God attachment and alcohol use (p. 106). Research on spiritual coping methods has identified three spiritual coping styles associated with people's relational state with God: self-directing, a self-reliant coping and problem-solving style that works independently of God; deferring, where the responsibility of problem-solving rests on God alone; and collaborative, a problem-solving style that views God and person as cooperative partners in coping and problem-solving. Moreover, a person's God attachment has been differentially associated with these coping methods. Hernandez, Salerno, & Bottoms (2010) sought to extend research on attachment and coping by being the first to study "the effects of God attachment and spiritual coping on alcohol use" (p. 99). They hypothesized that spiritual coping styles would mediate the effect of God attachment on alcohol use. Specifically, they predicted that insecure God attachment style, compared to secure God attachment style, would use "collaborative and deferring style coping styles less and self-directing coping style more," which would then result in increased alcohol use (p. 100). For the study, 429 undergraduate Introductory Psychology students from the University of Illinois at Chicago participated for course credit. The sample's (60% female) religious orientation was 46% Catholic, 43% Christian, 6% Hindu, 3% Muslim, 2% Jewish, 0.4% Greek Orthodox, and 0.4% Sikh. Five measures were utilized to test their hypotheses. The Attachment to God Scale was used to measure participants' "perceived emotional attachment to God" (p. 101). The Religious Problem-Solving Scale was used to measure participants' "religious problem solving tendencies," broken down into three spiritual coping styles: self-directing, deferring, and collaborative (p. 101). The Alcohol-Related Coping Scale was used to measure participants' "social, coping, and enhancement motives for drinking alcohol" (p. 101). The Alcohol Frequency Scale was used to measure participants' general alcohol use. Finally, participants' religious characteristics, such as religious orientation and level of religious involvement, were measured. To test the data, the researchers first implemented a series of one-way between-subjects ANOVA with God attachment style as the independent variable and spiritual coping styles, alcohol-related coping, and general alcohol use as dependent variables. This was followed by mediation analyses to test if the "effect of God attachment on alcohol use and alcohol coping was mediated by spiritual coping styles" (p. 102). Related to spiritual coping, there was a significant main effect of God attachment on spiritual coping, F(2,226) = 26.88, p

International Journal for the Psychology of Religion

The self-conscious emotions (SCE) of guilt, shame, pride, and embarrassment are moral emotions, which motivate adherence to social norms and personal standards and emerge in early childhood following the development of self-awareness. Gender stereotypes of emotion maintain that women experience more guilt, shame, and embarrassment but that men experience more pride. To estimate the magnitude of gender differences in SCE experience and to determine the circumstances under which these gender differences vary, we meta-analyzed 697 effect sizes representing 236,304 individual ratings of SCE states and traits from 382 journal articles, dissertations, and unpublished data sets. Guilt (d = -0.27) and shame (d = -0.29) displayed small gender differences, whereas embarrassment (d = -0.08), authentic pride (d = -0.01), and hubristic pride (d = 0.09) showed gender similarities. Similar to previous findings of ethnic variations in gender differences in other psychological variables, gender differences in shame and guilt were significant only for White samples or samples with unspecified ethnicity. We found larger gender gaps in shame with trait (vs. state) scales, and in guilt and shame with situation- and scenario-based (vs. adjective- and statement-based) items, consistent with predictions that such scales and items tend to tap into global, nonspecific assessments of the self and thus reflect self-stereotyping and gender role assimilative effects. Gender differences in SCE about domains such as the body, sex, and food or eating tended to be larger than gender differences in SCE about other domains. These findings contribute to the literature demonstrating that blanket stereotypes about women's greater emotionality are inaccurate.

Gender Differences in Self-Conscious Emotional Experience: A Meta-Analysis

Handbook of Mentalizing in Mental Health Practice

Positive and Negative Religiousness and Search for Meaning: impact on Treatment of Substance Abuse after Six Months

Background. Religious and spiritual (R/S) struggles may impact mental health treatment and recovery processes. The current study investigates how R/S struggles play a role in mental illness and what approaches are experienced as helpful. Methods. Thirty-five semi-structured interviews with clinical mental health patients in a Christian (N = 15) and a secular (N = 20) mental health clinic were narratively analyzed. Results. R/S struggles are common in people who suffer from mental illness and often coexist together with R/S support, mostly fluctuating over time. In summary, patients experience R/S struggles as negative feelings (e.g., loneliness, shame, mistrust) and the absence of positive feelings (e.g., hope and peace). These are influenced by someone’s R/S background and beliefs, as well as by the illness and other events. All participants appreciated a receptive approach (1) and many preferred an active approach (2) by mental health professionals. Some patients reported benefits from a directive approach (3). Conclusions. R/S struggles are tightly connected with other aspects that play a role in patients with mental illness. Mental health professionals are recommended to listen to patients’ narratives and carefully consider whether or not further interventions, in order to enhance R/S support and reduce R/S struggles, might be appropriate.

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‘Why Does This Happen to Me?’ Religious and Spiritual Struggles among Psychiatric Inpatients in The Netherlands: A Narrative Analysis

This case study focuses on the treatment of a 44-year-old Dutch man presenting with an anxious God representation and religious struggles according to DSM-5 criteria. Having received prior treatment for a panic disorder and alcohol use disorder, the patient was given a 60-day treatment in which the Jesus Prayer intervention was used to address his religious and spiritual problems. To our knowledge, this is the first case study involving the Jesus Prayer in the treatment of a patient. The intervention had positive effects on the patient’s religious and spiritual problems concerning an anxious God representation, religious struggles, stress levels and surrender to God. The intervention may also play a supporting role in decreasing symptoms of depression and anxiety and in promoting global mental health, as reliable change index analyses revealed symptom reduction between baseline levels and at post-assessment levels for all measured symptoms, with a semi-gradual decrease over the course of treatment. These improvements were continued in a 3-month follow-up assessment, suggesting promise for the Jesus Prayer as an effective treatment method for religious and spiritual problems. Recommendations regarding the importance of assessing the religious life of patients and implementing spiritual interventions are discussed, as well as the relevance of the therapist’s own assumptions when treating a religious or spiritual problem.

Without Your Therapist: Contemplative Prayer During Treatment as a Religious Exposure Intervention to Reduce Religious Struggle and Anxious God Representation

This article argues how the clinical psychology of religion can support mental health and mental health care. The starting point is an ecological–existential approach to mental health, that stresses the interactions between person and environment, with an emphasis on the existential dimension of interactions. This approach will be related to religion and spirituality (R/S) and the study of R/S and mental health. To show the added value of an ecological–existential approach, the emotion of shame will be discussed as an illustrative case. Finally, implications for clinical psychology of religion and mental health care will be outlined and a clinical case report will be presented.

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How Clinical Psychology of Religion Can Support Mental Health: An Ecological–Existential View, Illustrated by the Case of Shame

The Experience Sampling Method: A New Way of Assessing Variability of the Emotional Dimensions of Religiosity and Spirituality in a Dutch Psychiatric Population.

Hanneke Schaap-Jonker

Papers

Positive and Negative Religiousness and Search for Meaning: impact on Treatment of Substance Abuse after Six Months

‘Why Does This Happen to Me?’ Religious and Spiritual Struggles among Psychiatric Inpatients in The Netherlands: A Narrative Analysis

Without Your Therapist: Contemplative Prayer During Treatment as a Religious Exposure Intervention to Reduce Religious Struggle and Anxious God Representation

How Clinical Psychology of Religion Can Support Mental Health: An Ecological–Existential View, Illustrated by the Case of Shame

The Experience Sampling Method: A New Way of Assessing Variability of the Emotional Dimensions of Religiosity and Spirituality in a Dutch Psychiatric Population.