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Sense of Coherence (SOC) in Christian Orthodox Monks and Nuns in Greece

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Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the stress management skills of Christian Orthodox monks and nuns, as measured by Antonovsky’s scale sense of coherence (SOC). A case–control study was designed to test the hypotheses whether monks and nuns have higher SOC than secular people. The study population consisted of 193 individuals, 96 monks and nuns (study group) and 97 secular men and women (control group). SOC score was higher in monks and nuns as compared to the secular population (p = 0.002), men as compared to women (p = 0.012) and persons of older age (p = 0.004) as compared to younger individuals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, National School of Public Health, 196, Alexandras Ave., 11521, Athens, Greece

    Kyriakoula Merakou, Stavroula Taki, Anastasia Barbouni, Eleni Antoniadou, Dimitrios Theodoridis, Georgios Karageorgos & Jeny Kourea-Kremastinou

  2. General Hospital of Drama, Macedonia, Greece

    Kyriakoula Merakou, Stavroula Taki, Anastasia Barbouni, Eleni Antoniadou, Dimitrios Theodoridis, Georgios Karageorgos & Jeny Kourea-Kremastinou

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  1. Kyriakoula Merakou
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  2. Stavroula Taki
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  3. Anastasia Barbouni
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  4. Eleni Antoniadou
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  7. Jeny Kourea-Kremastinou
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Correspondence to Kyriakoula Merakou.

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Merakou, K., Taki, S., Barbouni, A. et al. Sense of Coherence (SOC) in Christian Orthodox Monks and Nuns in Greece. J Relig Health 56, 521–529 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0244-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0244-5

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