Exploring the Relationship Between Religious Coping and Spirituality Among Three Types of Collegiate Substance Abuse

Association between religiosity/spirituality and substance use among homeless individuals

BACKGROUND

Alcohol and illicit drug use are prevalent among homeless people. Religiosity and spirituality (RS) have been widely associated with lower consumption of substances. However, evidence of this relationship among homeless people is still scarce.

AIMS

To evaluate the associations between RS and alcohol and illicit drug consumption among homeless people in a large Brazilian urban center.

METHOD

This cross-sectional study was carried out in São Paulo city, Brazil. Aspects such as spirituality (FACIT-Sp12), religiosity (DUREL), spiritual-religious coping (Brief-RCOPE), and self-report questions concerning the current substance use (alcohol and illicit substances) were evaluated. Adjusted logistic regression models were used to assess the impact of RS beliefs on alcohol and illicit drug consumption.

RESULTS

A total of 456 homeless people were included, of an average age of 44.5 (SD = 12.6) years. More than half of the participants consumed alcohol (55.7%) weekly and 34.2% used illicit drugs weekly. Adjusted logistic regression models identified that aspects of RS were associated with lower likelihood factors for alcohol and illicit drug use; conversely, negative spiritual religious coping (SRC) strategies were associated with a higher likelihood to use both.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of alcohol and illicit drug use among participants was high. RS and positive SRC were important protective factors for lower consumption of these substances. Conversely, negative SRC strategies were associated with risk factors.

What's your religious coping profile? Differences in religious orientation and subjective sleep among religious coping groups in the United States

OBJECTIVES

To determine various profiles/subgroups of religious copers based on indices of positive and negative religious coping; and to determine whether religious copers differ in their religious orientations, subjective sleep characteristics, and strategies used to cope with sleep problems.

METHOD

Six hundred and ninety-five adults (77.3% female, 70.4% White) in the United States completed a 20-minute online questionnaire in January 2020.

RESULTS

Results of a latent profile analysis, based on 8 indicators of positive and negative religious coping, indicated a 5-class solution: (i) "Absent" (n = 101, 14.5%); (ii) "Anxious" (n = 122, 17.6%); (iii) "Ambivalent" (n = 101, 14.5%); (iv) "Secure" (n = 200, 28.8%); and (v) "Conflicted" copers (n = 171, 24.6%). Results of MANOVA tests indicated that Secure copers reported the least religious doubt and highest religious-based social support. Conflicted and Anxious copers had the worst sleep quality, while Secure, Ambivalent, and Absent copers had healthier sleep profiles. In terms of strategies used to cope with sleep problems, Secure and Conflicted copers reported the greatest use of prayer and meditation, while the use of technology was most prevalent among Conflicted and Anxious copers.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals differ in their combined use of positive and negative religious coping, which is related to differences in their religious orientation, sleep characteristics, and strategies used to cope with sleep problems. Religious leaders should be mindful of the diverse ways in which religious coping strategies are harnessed to effectively cater to the unique religious and sleep needs of their members.

Religious coping, care burden and psychological distress among informal caregivers of COVID-19 patients: Results of a cross-sectional survey in Pakistan

BACKGROUND

There is a complex relationship between health and religiosity. People may use religion to cope with difficulties and uncertainties in their life - such as induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIMS

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between religious coping, care burden and psychological distress among caregivers during COVID-19 in Pakistan.

METHOD

We conducted a cross-sectional survey in Pakistan. We used the Religious Coping Scale (RCOPE), Care Burden Scale (CB), and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) to measure psychological stress from 303 caregivers. Data were analyzed using a hierarchical linear regression model for each of the three outcome variables, which are depression, anxiety, and stress. This analysis allows to investigate whether adding variables significantly improves a model's ability to predict the criterion variable.

RESULTS

The findings reveal that emotional care burden, physical care burden, negative religious coping, and social care burden explain a significant amount of the variance of three components of psychological distress among caregivers.

CONCLUSIONS

Health experts, psychologists, and policymakers can make better strategies to combat pandemics like COVID-19 by incorporating religious coping methods.

The Effect of Baseline Patterns of Spiritual Coping, Forgiveness, and Gratitude on the Completion of an Alcohol Addiction Treatment Program

The purpose of this study was to identify distinct profiles of persons beginning alcohol addiction therapy with similar baseline configurations of spiritual coping, forgiveness, and gratitude. The associations between latent profile membership and the completion of therapy were also examined. The sample was composed of 358 alcohol-dependent persons receiving an outpatient treatment program. The Spiritual Coping Questionnaire, the Forgiveness Scale, and the Gratitude Questionnaire were used to assess the baseline levels of spirituality-related variables. Using latent profile analysis, five profiles were identified: (1) both moderately positive and negative dimensions of spirituality (33.2%), (2) moderately positive dimensions of spirituality (21.0%), (3) predominantly negative dimensions of spirituality (20.2%), (4) mixed dimensions of spirituality with the lowest positive religious coping (14.0%), and (5) highly positive dimensions of spirituality (11.6%). Notably, the latent profiles differed in terms of the treatment completion rates. The results suggest the need to carry out a multidimensional assessment of spiritual functioning of persons beginning alcohol addiction therapy to provide treatment that is adjusted to patients' spiritual potential and deficits.

The Relationship of Spirituality Development and Addiction Potential Among Students of Qom University of Medical Sciences

Drug abuse is one of the problems of the world which due to the specific characteristics of individual, social and personality causes irreparable difficult. The aim of this study was the investigation of the relationship between the spirituality development and addiction potential among students of Qom University of Medical Sciences, Iran. This cross-sectional study was performed in Qom University of Medical Sciences, Iran, from February 2015 to July 2016 which accommodates 250 subjects that were selected through systematic random sampling. Data collection tools were demographic, spiritual attitude and addiction potential questionnaire. Data were analyzed, using frequency, percent, Pearson correlation and linear regression analysis in SPSS 20 software. The mean age was 22.26 ± 4.8; 189 (75.6%) of them were women, 207 (82.8%) were single, 239 (95.6%) of them were Iranian, and the others were non-Iranian. The Pearson correlation coefficient between spiritual attitude and addiction potential (R = - 0.25) at the level of p < 0.001 and between spiritual ability and addiction (R = - 0.16) at the level of p < 0/009 was reversed and meaningful, and between spiritual attitude and spiritual ability (R = 0/76) is directly and statistically significant at the level of p < 0/001. Increasing spiritual attitude and spiritual ability is associated with decreasing addiction potential among students. Information this article can be use to planning spirituality development among students that can be a kind of obstacle against addiction during stressful events.

Spiritual belief and its link with potentially addictive behaviors in a youth sample in Switzerland

BACKGROUND

Earlier studies suggested a positive impact of spirituality on addictive disorders, but this effect has rarely been studied in a large adolescent and young adult population.

AIM

To examine the association between spiritual beliefs (general belief, the supporting role of spiritual belief, the critical role of spiritual belief) and potentially addictive behaviors (tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and other illegal drugs, excessive Internet use and gambling).

METHODS

Data were collected using online self-report questionnaires among a sample of 5179 adolescents and young adults aged 15-24 years in post-mandatory education in Switzerland. Statistical analysis at bivariate and multivariate level was performed.

RESULTS

At the bivariate level, spiritual beliefs were linked to a lower risk of tobacco smoking, alcohol misuse and cannabis use as well as an increased risk of Internet overuse and gambling. However, at the multivariate level, controlling for age, gender, language and place of birth, significant associations were found only for alcohol misuse, Internet overuse and gambling.

CONCLUSION

The study provides evidence that spiritual belief could protect youth from the risk of alcohol misuse but could also increase the risk of excessive Internet use and gambling. The role of spiritual beliefs in preventing or motivating these problematic behaviors is of great interest for adolescent health care providers and should be considered in the light of the separation-individuation process and transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Differences in Emotion Dysregulation and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety among Illicit Substance Users and Nonusers

BACKGROUND

Illicit substance users may rely on mind-altering substances to regulate affect, especially when mental health symptoms are present.

OBJECTIVES

In light of the prevalence of illicit substance use and symptoms of depression and anxiety among college students, as well as the affect regulation properties of illicit substances, we sought to examine whether differences in emotion dysregulation, depression, anxiety, and stress exist between illicit substance users and non-users.

METHODS

At a large Southwestern U.S. university, we examined differences in emotion dysregulation, depression, anxiety, and stress among college students who used illicit substances in the past 30 days (n = 92, 34.5%) and those who did not (n = 175, 65.5%). Data were collected in 2016 using two measures: the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995).

RESULTS

Results from the Descriptive Discriminate Analysis (DDA) indicated that significant differences existed between the two groups. Anxiety, difficulty clarifying emotions, difficulty employing goal-directed behaviors, and stress accounted the most for the group differences. Conclusion/Importance: Mental health differences between illicit substance users and nonusers exist. Specifically, illicit substance users reported more anxiety, stress, and difficulties with emotion regulation.

Compounding risk: An examination of associations between spirituality/religiosity, drinking motives, and alcohol-related ambivalence among heavy drinking young adults

OBJECTIVES

The present study assessed combinations of spirituality/religiosity (S/R), a known protective factor against heavy drinking, with drinking motives, and alcohol-related ambivalence to better understand how these factors interrelate and are associated with drinking and alcohol-related problems.

METHODS

Participants were 241 heavy drinking undergraduate students (81.74% female; Mage=23.48years; SD=5.50) who completed study questionnaires online.

RESULTS

Coping, enhancement, and conformity drinking motives were associated with greater alcohol use and problems, however there were no main effects of either ambivalence or S/R on alcohol outcomes. S/R interacted with ambivalence with respect to drinking and problems. S/R also interacted with conformity drinking motives with respect to drinking and problems. Further, ambivalence interacted with conformity drinking motives regarding problems. Three-way interactions emerged between ambivalence, S/R, and drinking motives (social, coping, and enhancement motives) regarding drinking and problems. Results show that individuals at highest risk for problematic drinking are those who more strongly endorse drinking motives, are low in S/R, and high in ambivalence.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings supported hypotheses and provide support for clusters of individual difference factors that put heavy drinking college students at higher risk for problematic drinking. These examinations have practical utility and may inform development and implementation of interventions and programs targeting alcohol misuse among heavy drinking undergraduate students.