https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/5/110/206.full.pdf

The american psychological association.

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

Many of the links of religiousness with health, well-being, and social behavior may be due to religion's influences on self-control or self-regulation. Using Carver and Scheier's (1998) theory of self-regulation as a framework for organizing the empirical research, the authors review evidence relevant to 6 propositions: (a) that religion can promote self-control; (b) that religion influences how goals are selected, pursued, and organized; (c) that religion facilitates self-monitoring; (d) that religion fosters the development of self-regulatory strength; (e) that religion prescribes and fosters proficiency in a suite of self-regulatory behaviors; and (f) that some of religion's influences on health, well-being, and social behavior may result from religion's influences on self-control and self-regulation. The authors conclude with suggestions for future research.

Religion, self-regulation, and self-control: Associations, explanations, and implications.

Many clients highly value religious and spiritual (R/S) commitments, and many psychotherapists have accommodated secular treatments to R/S perspectives. We meta-analyzed 51 samples from 46 studies (N = 3,290) that examined the outcomes of religious accommodative therapies and nonreligious spirituality therapies. Comparisons on psychological and spiritual outcomes were made to a control condition, an alternate treatment, or a subset of those studies that used a dismantling design (similar in theory and duration of treatment, but including religious contents). Patients in R/S psychotherapies showed greater improvement than those in alternate secular psychotherapies both on psychological (d =.26) and on spiritual (d = .41) outcomes. Religiously accommodated treatments outperformed dismantling-design alternative treatments on spiritual (d = .33) but not on psychological outcomes. Clinical examples are provided and therapeutic practices are recommended.

Religion and spirituality.

Meaning in life has been identified as a potential mediator of the link between religiousness and psychological health. The authors tested this hypothesis in 2 studies, using multiple methods and measures of religiousness and well-being. In the studies, meaning in life mediated the relation between religiousness and life satisfaction (Study 1A), as well as self-esteem and optimism (Study 1B). In addition, using an experience sampling method, the authors found that meaning in life also mediated the relation between daily religious behaviors and well-being (Study 2). The authors discuss these findings and suggest that meaning in life may be an effective conduit through which counselors and clients can discuss “ultimate” matters, even when they do not share similar perspectives on religion.

/pdf/meaning-in-life-one-link-in-the-chain-from-religiousness-to-48wp2jqo6e.pdf

Meaning in Life: One Link in the Chain From Religiousness to Well-Being

The authors report the development of the Religious Commitment Inventory-10 (RCI-10), used in 6 studies. Sample sizes were 155, 132, and 150 college students; 240 Christian church-attending married adults; 468 undergraduates including (among others) Buddhists (n = 52), Muslims (n = 12), Hindus (n = 10), and nonreligious (n = 117); and 217 clients and 52 counselors in a secular or 1 of 6 religious counseling agencies. Scores on the RCI-10 had strong estimated internal consistency, 3-week and 5-month test-retest reliability, construct validity, and discriminant validity. Exploratory (Study 1) and confirmatory (Studies 4 and 6) factor analyses identified 2 highly correlated factors, suggesting a 1-factor structure as most parsimonious. Religious commitment predicted response to an imagined robbery (Study 2), marriage (Study 4), and counseling (Study 6).

The Religious Commitment Inventory--10: Development, Refinement, and Validation of a Brief Scale for Research and Counseling.

Religious Commitment Inventory—10

vii Chapter 1 – Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Literature Review 7 Chapter 3 – Method 57 Chapter 4 – Results 82 Chapter 5 – Discussion 119 References 133 Appendices A. Consent Form 151 B. Attendance and Toxicology Reporting Form 154 C. Social Support Questionnaire 156 D. Important People and Activities Instrument 159 E. Unsupportive Social Interactions Inventory 162 F. Cognitive appraisal questionnaire 165 G. Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale 167 H. Situational Confidence Questionnaire 169 I. Demographic questionnaire 172 v LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1 Categorical Demographic Characteristics of Participants 59 Table 2 Quantitative Demographic Characteristics of Participants 64 Table 3 Participants’ Reported History of Substance Abuse Treatment 69 Table 4 Comparison Between Fulton County Sample Sub-groupings on Categorical Demographic Variables 83 Table 5 Comparisons Between Fulton County Sub-groupings on Continuous Demographic Variables 89 Table 6 Comparison Between Richmond and Fulton County Groups on Categorical Demographic Variables 92 Table 7 Comparison Between Richmond and Fulton County Groups on Continuous Demographic Variables 97 Table 8 Internal Consistency Estimates for Dependent and Independent Variables ...100 Table 9 Means, Standard Deviations and Ranges of the Dependent and Independent Variables 102 Table 10 Selected Item Means from the Unsupportive Social Interactions Inventory 104 Table 11 Correlations Among the Measured Variables 107 Table 12 Statistical Tests of the Association Between Outcome Variables and Potential Co-variates 111 Table 13 Hierarchical Regression Equations for the Prediction of Self-Efficacy of Recovery, Depression, Treatment Attendance, and Abstinence from Stress of Recovery, Positive Social Support, and Unsupportive Social Interactions ..113 Table 14 Hierarchical Regression Equations for the Prediction of Self-Efficacy of Recovery and Depression Stress of Recovery and Unsupportive Social Interactions 117 vi LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1 Conceptual Model 54 Figure 2 Participants’ Substance(s) of Choice 66 Figure 3 Participants’ Acknowledgement of Substances Tried 67 vii ABSTRACT RECOVERY FROM SUBSTANCE ABUSE: THE ROLE OF UNSUPPORTIVE SOCIAL INTERATIONS By Michelle M. Schmitt, M.A., M.S. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2003 Major Director: Kathleen M. Ingram, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology It has been estimated that over 20 million individuals struggle with substance abuse and/or dependence each year. Theories of addiction and recovery have long incorporated the notion of social support and helping relationships to facilitate adjustment. However, the literature investigating the role of social support is fraught with contradictions. In addition, in substance abusing populations, researchers have just begun to investigate social support as having negative, as well as positive implications. Historically with these populations, interpersonal conflict and loss of relationships were investigated as negative life events, rather than types of unsupportive social interactions. This study was designed to explore how positive and negative social relationships are associated with adjustment among individuals struggling with addiction. Ninety-seven individuals, who were currently participants in two Drug Court programs, completed measures of global positive social support (the 6-item Social viii Support Questionnaire), recovery-specific positive social support (Important People & Activities Instrument, brief version), recovery-specific unsupportive social interactions (Unsupportive Social Interactions Inventory), recovery-specific cognitive threat appraisals, and well-being (Situational Confidence Questionnaire and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale). Information regarding treatment attendance and positive urine toxicology reports was gleaned from treatment records. Results suggested that global positive social support accounted for the greatest proportion of variance in the well-being outcomes of self-efficacy for recovery and depression. Global positive social support eclipsed the role of recovery-specific unsupportive social interactions in relation to well-being. However, recovery-specific unsupportive social interactions were found pertinent to this population. None of the survey variables were significantly related to treatment attendance, and only self-efficacy for recovery was related to continued drug use (urine toxicology screenings). Implications for future research and interventions to enhance the well-being of individuals in recovery are discussed.

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1660&context=etd

Michelle M. Schmitt

Papers

The Religious Commitment Inventory--10: Development, Refinement, and Validation of a Brief Scale for Research and Counseling.

Religious Commitment Inventory—10

Recovery from Substance Abuse: The Role of Unsupportive Social Interactions