The Moderating Influence of Religiousness/Spirituality on COVID-19 Impact and Change in Psychotherapy

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a global surge in empirical research examining the influence of the pandemic on individuals’ mental health symptoms and well-being. Within this larger literature is a rapidly growing literature on the associations among religiousness/spirituality, COVID-19 impact, s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions (Basel, Switzerland ) Switzerland ), 2022-05, Vol.13 (6), p.488
Main Authors: Jankowski, Peter J., Sandage, Steven J., Crabtree, Sarah A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coping
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Females
Hypotheses
latent trajectory analysis
Medical research
Mental health
Pandemics
Psychotherapy
relational spirituality
Religion
religiousness
Spirituality
symptoms
well-being
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a global surge in empirical research examining the influence of the pandemic on individuals’ mental health symptoms and well-being. Within this larger literature is a rapidly growing literature on the associations among religiousness/spirituality, COVID-19 impact, symptoms and well-being. Largely absent from this literature is a specific research focus on psychotherapy clients, and the influence of religiousness/spirituality and COVID-19 impact on change during treatment. One prominent theory in the existing literature centers on the notion that religiousness/spirituality is a coping resource for individuals during times of adversity. Yet, existing empirical findings present mixed evidence for the religious/spiritual coping hypothesis. We expanded upon these emerging research trends to examine the influence of religious/spiritual struggles, religious/spiritual commitment, religious/spiritual exploration, and COVID-19 impact ratings on psychotherapy change in a sample of adult clients (N = 185; Mage = 38.06; SD = 15.78; range = 19–81; 61.1% female; 69.7% White). The results of latent trajectory analysis identified three subgroups that differed on initial levels of symptoms and well-being and the nature of change over three time points. The COVID-19 impact ratings predicted change trajectories. As more positive ratings of COVID-19 impact increased, membership in the no change trajectory was more likely relative to the deterioration trajectory at high levels of both religious/spiritual commitment and exploration. The implications emphasize the need for judicious assessment of religiousness/spirituality and COVID-19 impact before integrating religiousness/spirituality into treatment.
ISSN:2077-1444
2077-1444
DOI:10.3390/rel13060488