• DOI:10.1002/JCLP.20325
• Corpus ID: 3913964

Examining the links between spiritual struggles and symptoms of psychopathology in a national sample.

@article{McConnell2006ExaminingTL,
  title={Examining the links between spiritual struggles and symptoms of psychopathology in a national sample.},
  author={Kelly M. McConnell and Kenneth I. Pargament and Christopher G. Ellison and Kevin J. Flannelly},
  journal={Journal of clinical psychology},
  year={2006},
  volume={62 12},
  pages={
          1469-84
        }
}

• K. M. McConnell, K. Pargament, +1 author K. Flannelly
• Published 1 December 2006
• Psychology
• Journal of clinical psychology

The present study investigated the relationship between spiritual struggles and various types of psychopathology symptoms in individuals who had and had not suffered from a recent illness. Participants completed self-report measures of religious variables and symptoms of psychopathology. Spiritual struggles were assessed by a measure of negative religious coping. As predicted, negative religious coping was significantly linked to various forms of psychopathology, including anxiety, phobic anxiety, depression, paranoid ideation, obsessive-compulsiveness, and somatization, after controlling for demographic and religious variables. In addition, the relationship between negative religious coping and anxiety and phobic anxiety was stronger for individuals who had experienced a recent illness. These results have implications for assessments and interventions targeting spiritual struggles, especially in medical settings.