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Religious Coping Amidst a Pandemic: Impact on COVID-19-Related Anxiety
Tommy DeRossett1, Donna J LaVoie2, Destiny Brooks2
1Department of Psychology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 63108, USA. Thomas.derossett@slu.edu.
Journal of Religion and Health
|August 18, 2021
Summary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, negative religious coping strategies were strongly linked to increased anxiety. Positive religious coping showed a weaker, negative association with anxiety, suggesting its protective effects may be limited.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Public Health
- Sociology
Background:
- Religious coping is a strategy for managing stressors.
- Positive religious coping is linked to better health outcomes.
- Negative religious coping is associated with increased stress and anxiety.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine religious coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To investigate the relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and religious coping.
Main Methods:
- A national sample of 970 US adults recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk.
- Data collected between September 12–25, 2020.
- Moderated multiple regression analysis used to examine relationships.
Main Results:
- Negative religious coping was most strongly associated with COVID-19 anxiety.
- Higher levels of negative religious coping positively correlated with anxiety.
- Positive religious coping showed a weak, negative association with anxiety when controlling for other factors.
Conclusions:
- Negative religious coping demonstrates a significant association with COVID-19 anxiety.
- The disruption of religious engagement due to social distancing may impact coping mechanisms.
- Findings highlight the differential impact of positive versus negative religious coping on pandemic-related anxiety.
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