Abstract
The present study explored the relationships among stress, general and religious coping, and mental health in a sample of urban adolescents. The participants included 587 9th- through 12th-grade students attending two Catholic high schools in the New York City area. They completed a set of self-report measures assessing perceived stress, religious coping, general coping, clinical symptomology, positive and negative affect, and life satisfaction. Correlation and regression analyses were used to describe relationships among variables. Perceived stress, negative religious coping, and avoidant coping were significantly associated with indicators of psychological distress. Conversely, positive religious coping and active/engagement coping were significantly associated with indicators of psychological adjustment. Negative religious coping also was found to moderate the relationship between perceived stress and positive affect. Finally, partial correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between religious coping and mental health indicators, even after controlling for the contributions of general coping. Implications of the findings for research and clinical practice with adolescent populations are considered.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albano, A. M., & Kendall, P. C. (2002). Cognitive behavioral therapy for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders: Clinical research advances. International Review of Psychiatry, 14, 129–134.
Ano, G. G., & Vasconcelles, E. B. (2005). Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61, 461–480.
Atienza, F. L., Balaguer, I., & GarcÃa-Merita, M. L. (2003). Satisfaction with Life Scale: Analysis of factorial invariance across sexes. Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 1255–1260.
Benhorin, S., & McMahon, S. D. (2008). Exposure to violence and aggression: Protective roles of social support among urban African American youth. Journal of Community Psychology, 36, 723–743.
Brady, S. S., Dolcini, M. M., Harper, G. W., & Pollack, L. M. (2009). Supportive friendships moderate the association between stressful life events and sexual risk taking among African American adolescents. Health Psychology, 28, 238–248.
Brodzinsky, D. M., Elias, M. J., Steiger, C., Simon, J., Gill, M., & Hitt, J. C. (1992). Coping Scale for Children and Youth: Scale development and validation. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 13, 195–214.
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385–396.
Compas, B. E., Boyer, M. C., Stanger, M., Colletti, R. B., Thomsen, A. H., Dufton, L. M., et al. (2006). Latent variable analysis of coping, anxiety/depression, and somatic symptoms in adolescents with chronic pain. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 1132–1142.
Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J. K., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A. H., & Wadsworth, M. E. (2001). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 87–127.
Costello, E. J., Keeler, G. P., & Angold, A. (2001). Poverty, race/ethnicity, and psychiatric disorder: A study of rural children. American Journal of Public Health, 91, 1494–1498.
Cunningham, D. L. (2005). Emotional and behavioral resilience in economically disadvantaged adolescents [Abstract]. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 65, 4823.
Derogatis, L. R. (2000). Brief Symptom Inventory 18: Administration, scoring, and procedures manual. Minneapolis, MN: NCS Pearson, Inc.
Desrosiers, A., & Miller, L. (2007). Relational spirituality and depression in adolescent girls. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63, 1021–1037.
Dupre, E. P. (2009). The impact of religious forms of coping for low-income African American middle school children. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 69, 6409.
Eliassen, A. H., Taylor, J., & Lloyd, D. A. (2005). Subjective religiosity and depression in the transition to adulthood. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 44, 187–199.
Ezop, S. J. (2002). Religious and spiritual coping in children with chronic illness [Abstract]. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 63, 2580.
Fabricatore, A. N., Handal, P. J., Rubio, D. H., & Gilner, F. H. (2004). Stress, religion, and mental health: Religious coping in mediating and moderating roles. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 14, 91–108.
Fickova, E. (1998). Coping scales for children and adolescents: Psychometric relationships. Studia Psychologica, 40, 291–296.
Finkelstein, D. M., Kubzansky, L. D., Capitman, J., & Goodman, E. (2007). Socioeconomic differences in adolescent stress: The role of psychological resources. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40, 127–134.
Franko, D. L., Thompson, D., Affenito, S. G., Barton, B. A., & Striegel-Moore, R. H. (2008). What mediates the relationship between family meals and adolescent health issues? Health Psychology, 27, S109–S117.
Grant, K. E., O’Koon, J. H., Davis, T. H., Roache, N. A., Poindexter, L. M., Armstrong, M. L., et al. (2000). Protective factors affecting low-income urban African American youth exposed to stress. Journal of Early Adolescence, 20, 388–417.
Gray, E. (2005). Religious involvement, religious coping and suicidogenic factors in African-American high school students [Abstract]. Dissertation Abstracts International, 66(1-B), 552.
Harrison, M. O., Koenig, H. G., Hays, J. C., Eme-Akwari, A. G., & Pargament, K. I. (2001). The epidemiology of religious coping: A review of recent literature. International Review of Psychiatry, 13, 86–93.
Hollingshead, A. B. (1957). Two factor index of social position. New Haven, CT: Yale University.
Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four factor index of social status. New Haven, CT: Yale University.
Jacques, H. A. K., & Mash, E. J. (2004). A test of the tripartite model of anxiety and depression in elementary and high school boys and girls. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32, 13–24.
Keyes, C. L. M. (2007). Promoting and protecting mental health as flourishing: A complementary strategy for improving national mental health. American Psychologist, 62, 95–108.
Konishi, C., & Hymel, S. (2009). Bullying and stress in early adolescence: The role of coping and social support. Journal of Early Adolescence, 29, 333–356.
Kort-Butler, L. A. (2009). Coping styles and sex differences in depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38, 122–136.
Landis, D., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Malinowski, S. L., Grant, K. E., Carleton, R. A., & Ford, R. E. (2007). Urban adolescent stress and hopelessness. Journal of Adolescence, 30, 1051–1070.
Laurent, J., Catanzaro, S. J., Joiner, T. E., Rudolph, K. D., Potter, K. I., Lambert, S., et al. (1999). A measure of positive and negative affect for children: Scale development and preliminary validation. Psychological Assessment, 11, 326–338.
Miller, L., & Kelley, B. S. (2005). Relationships of religiosity and spirituality with mental health and psychopathology. In R. Paloutzian & C. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (pp. 460–478). New York: Guilford.
Molock, S. D., Puri, R., Matlin, S., & Barksdale, C. (2006). Relationship between religious coping and suicidal behaviors among African American adolescents. Journal of Black Psychology, 32, 366–389.
Nápoles-Springer, A. M., Grumbach, K., Alexander, M., Moreno-John, G., Forté, D., Rangel-Lugo, M., et al. (2000). Clinical research with older African Americans and Latinos: Perspectives from the community. Research on Aging, 22, 668–691.
Pakenham, K. I., Bursnall, S., Chiu, J., Cannon, T., & Okochi, M. (2006). The psychosocial impact of caregiving on young people who have a parent with an illness or disability: Comparisons between young caregivers and noncaregivers. Rehabilitation Psychology, 51, 113–126.
Pargament, K. I. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping. New York: Guilford.
Pargament, K. I., Ano, G. G., & Wachholtz, A. B. (2005). The religious dimension of coping: Advances in theory, research, and practice. In R. Paloutzian & C. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (pp. 479–495). New York: Guilford.
Pargament, K. I., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. M. (2000). The many methods of religious coping: Development and initial validation of the RCOPE. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56, 519–543.
Pargament, K. I., Smith, B. W., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. (1998). Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37, 710–724.
Pargament, K. I., Zinnbauer, B. J., Scott, A. B., Butter, E. M., Zerowin, J., & Stanik, P. (2003). Red flags and religious coping: Identifying some religious warning signs among people in crisis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59, 1335–1348.
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5, 164–172.
Pearce, M. J., Jones, S. M., Schwab-Stone, M. E., & Ruchkin, V. (2003). The protective effects of religiousness and parent involvement on the development of conduct problems among youth exposed to violence. Child Development, 74, 1682–1696.
Schottenbauer, M. A., Klimes-Dougan, B., Rodriguez, B. F., Arnkoff, D. B., Glass, C. R., & Lasalle, V. H. (2006). Attachment and affective resolution following a stressful event: General and religious coping as possible mediators. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 9, 448–471.
Singer, A. J., Glenwick, D. S., & Danyko, S. (2000). Stress responses of adolescents in residential treatment: A research note. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 17, 67–82.
Spencer, M. B., Fegley, S. G., & Harpalani, V. (2003). A theoretical and empirical examination of identity as coping: Linking coping resources to the self processes of African American youth. Applied Developmental Science, 7, 181–188.
Spilka, B. (2005). Religious practice, ritual, and prayer. In R. Paloutzian & C. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (pp. 365–377). New York: Guilford.
Thompson, E. H., Jr. (1991). Beneath the status characteristic: Gender variations in religiousness. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 30, 381–394.
Turner, R. J., & Turner, J. B. (1999). Social integration and support. In C. S. Aneshensel & J. C. Phelan (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of mental health (pp. 301–319). New York: Plenum.
Van Dyke, C. J., Glenwick, D. S., Cecero, J. J., & Kim, S.-K. (2009). The relationship of religious coping and spirituality to adjustment and psychological distress in urban early adolescents. Mental Health, Religion, & Culture, 12, 369–383.
Van Wicklin, J. F. (1990). Conceiving and measuring ways of being religious. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 9, 208–219.
Vaughn, A. A., & Roesch, S. C. (2003). Psychological and physical correlates of coping in minority adolescents. Journal of Health Psychology, 8, 671–683.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegan, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.
Willemen, A. M., Schuengel, C., & Koot, H. M. (2009). Physiological regulation of stress in referred adolescents: The role of the parent-adolescent relationship. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 482–490.
Wills, T. A., Yaeger, A. M., & Sandy, J. M. (2003). Buffering effect of religiosity for adolescent substance use. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 17, 24–31.
Yarcheski, A., & Mahon, N. E. (1999). The moderator-mediator role of social support in early adolescence. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 21, 685–698.
Youngstrom, E., Weist, M. D., & Albus, K. E. (2003). Exploring violence exposure, stress, protective factors and behavioral problems among inner-city youth. American Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 115–129.
Zehnder, D., Prchal, A., Vollrath, M., & Landolt, M. A. (2006). Prospective study of the effectiveness of coping in pediatric patients. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 36, 351–368.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the staff and students of Regis High School and Cardinal Spellman High School for their facilitation of and participation in this research. This article is based on the first author’s doctoral dissertation under the supervision of the second author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Terreri, C.J., Glenwick, D.S. The Relationship of Religious and General Coping to Psychological Adjustment and Distress in Urban Adolescents. J Relig Health 52, 1188–1202 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-011-9555-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-011-9555-8