Perceptions of Divine Forgiveness, Religious Comfort, and Depression in Psychiatric Inpatients: A Mixed Methods Study

Understanding how forgiveness relates to mental health outcomes may improve clinical care. This study assessed 248 adult psychiatric inpatients, testing associations of forgiveness, religious comfort (RC), religious strain (RS), and changes in depressive symptomatology from admission to discharge. Experiencing divine forgiveness and self-forgiveness was both directly associated with RC and inversely associated with RS. Using structural equation modeling, the path from divine forgiveness to depression through RC was significant, β =  - .106, SE = .046, z =  - 2.290, p = .022, bootstrapped 95% CI =  - .196 to - .015. Qualitative findings illustrated patients' changed perspectives on divine forgiveness during hospitalization.

God imagery and affective outcomes in a spiritually integrative inpatient program

Religion and/or spirituality (R/S) can play a vital, multifaceted role in mental health. While beliefs about God represent the core of many psychiatric patients' meaning systems, research has not examined how internalized images of the divine might contribute to outcomes in treatment programs/settings that emphasize multicultural sensitivity with R/S. Drawing on a combination of qualitative and quantitative information with a religiously heterogeneous sample of 241 adults who completed a spiritually integrative inpatient program over a two-year period, this study tested direct/indirect associations between imagery of how God views oneself, religious comforts and strains, and affective outcomes (positive and negative). When accounting for patients' demographic and religious backgrounds, structural equation modeling results revealed: (1) overall effects for God imagery at pre-treatment on post-treatment levels of both positive and negative affect; and (2) religious comforts and strains fully mediated these links. Secondary analyses also revealed that patients' generally experienced reductions in negative emotion in God imagery over the course of their admission. These findings support attachment models of the R/S-mental health link and suggest that religious comforts and strains represent distinct pathways to positive and negative domains of affect for psychiatric patients with varying experiences of God.

Exposure to violence, support needs, adjustment, and motivators among Guatemalan humanitarian aid workers

Indigenous aid workers carry out the majority of humanitarian aid work, yet there is little empirical information available on their support needs in different contexts. Focus groups (N = 26: Study 1) and a survey (N = 137; Study 2) were conducted with Guatemalan aid workers to explore their exposure to violence, posttraumatic stress symptoms, burnout, support needs, and motivators. Participants reported experiencing an average of 13 events of community violence and 17% reported symptoms consistent with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Direct community violence exposure and levels of emotional exhaustion were positively related to PTSD symptoms, while levels of personal accomplishment were inversely related to PTSD symptoms. Expressed support needs, motivators and rewards for aid work in the face of adversity are also reported as potential protective factors for further exploration. Implications for training and support of aid workers in similar contexts are also suggested.