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Religious Coping and Pain Associated With Sickle Cell Disease: Exploration of a Non-linear Model

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Abstract

The current study tested a non-linear model of religious coping among Black patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). We predicted that moderate prayer and church attendance would be associated with less severe affective and sensory ratings of pain, lower levels of psychopathology, and less frequent care utilization. The participants were 67 SCD patients, mean age 36.82 ± 11.47 (range 18–70) of which 45% were men. Using ANOVA procedures, our results indicated a main effect for the frequency of prayer which showed significant differences for anxiety and hostility. Post-hoc t tests revealed that participants who endorsed moderate frequency of prayer reported significantly less anxiety and hostility, relative to participants who reported high or low frequency of prayer. However, participants who endorsed moderate levels of prayer also reported a significantly higher frequency of visits to the emergency department, relative to participants who reported high or low frequency of prayer. However, reports of pain and psychopathology were more linear with participants who reported the highest frequency of church attendance having the highest reports, moderate among those with moderate frequency of church attendance, and lowest among those with infrequent church attendance. These findings challenge and extend the traditional linear conceptualization of religious coping on clinical outcomes among patients with SCD. Directions for future research are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Cara F. O’Connell-Edwards

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Division of Medical Psychology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Christopher L. Edwards, Michele Pearce, Amy B. Wachholtz, Mary Wood, Malik Muhammad, Rebecca Shelby, Camela S. McDougald, M. Ojinga Harrison, Miriam Feliu, Lekisha Y. Edwards & Chante’ Wellington

  3. Pain and Palliative Care Center, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Christopher L. Edwards

  4. Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Christopher L. Edwards

  5. Xavier University, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Brittani Leach-Beale

  6. Department of Psychology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Keith E. Whitfield

  7. Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Marcellus Merritt

  8. Department of Biology, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Goldie Byrd

  9. School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Janice C. McNeil

  10. Alzheimer’s Research Center, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Henry Edmonds

  11. Department of Psychology, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, USA

    Elwood Robinson

  12. Chronic Pain Management Program, Duke University Medical Center, 932 Morreene Rd., Rm 170, Durham, NC, 27705, USA

    Christopher L. Edwards

Authors
  1. Cara F. O’Connell-Edwards
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  2. Christopher L. Edwards
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  3. Michele Pearce
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  4. Amy B. Wachholtz
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  5. Mary Wood
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  6. Malik Muhammad
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  7. Brittani Leach-Beale
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  8. Rebecca Shelby
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  9. Camela S. McDougald
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  10. M. Ojinga Harrison
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  11. Miriam Feliu
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  12. Lekisha Y. Edwards
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  13. Keith E. Whitfield
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  14. Marcellus Merritt
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  15. Chante’ Wellington
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  16. Goldie Byrd
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  17. Janice C. McNeil
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  18. Henry Edmonds
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  19. Elwood Robinson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher L. Edwards.

Appendix A: Religious Coping Items

Appendix A: Religious Coping Items

  1. 1

    - Church Attendance:

    How often do you attend church or other religious meetings?

    1. 1.

      More than once/wk

    2. 2.

      Once a wk

    3. 3.

      A few times a month

    4. 4.

      A few times a year

    5. 5.

      Once a year or less

  2. 2

    - Prayer:

    How often do you spend time in private religious activities such as prayer, meditation, or Bible study?

    1. 1.

      More than once a day

    2. 2.

      Daily

    3. 3.

      Two or more times /wk

    4. 4.

      Once a week

    5. 5.

      A few times a month

    6. 6.

      Rarely or never

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O’Connell-Edwards, C.F., Edwards, C.L., Pearce, M. et al. Religious Coping and Pain Associated With Sickle Cell Disease: Exploration of a Non-linear Model. J Afr Am St 13, 1–13 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-008-9063-4

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