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Biomedical subjects

Kenneth I Pargament

Publications and source records attributed to Kenneth I Pargament.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

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

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.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

Spirituality and religion in patients with HIV/AIDS.

BACKGROUND: Spirituality and religion are often central issues for patients dealing with chronic illness. The purpose of this study is to characterize spirituality/religion in a large and diverse sample of patients with HIV/AIDS by using several measures of spirituality/religion, to examine associations between spirituality/religion and a number of demographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables, and to assess changes in levels of spirituality over 12 to 18 months. METHODS: We interviewed 450 patients from 4 clinical sites. Spirituality/religion was assessed by using 8 measures: the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spirituality-Expanded scale (meaning/peace, faith, and overall spirituality); the Duke Religion Index (organized and nonorganized religious activities, and intrinsic religiosity); and the Brief RCOPE scale (positive and negative religious coping). Covariates included demographics and clinical characteristics, HIV symptoms, health status, social support, self-esteem, optimism, and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The patients' mean (SD) age was 43.3 (8.4) years; 387 (86%) were male; 246 (55%) were minorities; and 358 (80%) indicated a specific religious preference. Ninety-five (23%) participants attended religious services weekly, and 143 (32%) engaged in prayer or meditation at least daily. Three hundred thirty-nine (75%) patients said that their illness had strengthened their faith at least a little, and patients used positive religious coping strategies (e.g., sought God's love and care) more often than negative ones (e.g., wondered whether God has abandoned me; P<.0001). In 8 multivariable models, factors associated with most facets of spirituality/religion included ethnic and racial minority status, greater optimism, less alcohol use, having a religion, greater self-esteem, greater life satisfaction, and lower overall functioning (R2=.16 to .74). Mean levels of spirituality did not change significantly over 12 to 18 months. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with HIV/AIDS belonged to an organized religion and use their religion to cope with their illness. Patients with greater optimism, greater self-esteem, greater life satisfaction, minorities, and patients who drink less alcohol tend to be both more spiritual and religious. Spirituality levels remain stable over 12 to 18 months.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Is spirituality a critical ingredient of meditation? Comparing the effects of spiritual meditation, secular meditation, and relaxation on spiritual, psychological, cardiac, and pain outcomes.

This study compared secular and spiritual forms of meditation to assess the benefits of a spiritual intervention. Participants were taught a meditation or relaxation technique to practice for 20 min a day for two weeks. After two weeks, participants returned to the lab, practiced their technique for 20 min, and placed their hand in a cold-water bath of 2 degrees C for as long as they could endure it. The length of time that individuals kept their hand in the water bath was measured. Pain, anxiety, mood, and the spiritual health were assessed following the two-week intervention. Significant interactions occurred (time x group); the Spiritual Meditation group had greater decreases in anxiety and more positive mood, spiritual health, and spiritual experiences than the other two groups. They also tolerated pain almost twice as long as the other two groups.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Can group interventions facilitate forgiveness of an ex-spouse? A randomized clinical trial.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of 2 versions of an 8-session forgiveness group intervention for divorced individuals. Participants (randomized, n=192; analyzed, n=149) were randomly assigned to a secular forgiveness condition, a religious forgiveness condition, or a no-intervention comparison condition. Measures of forgiveness and mental health were obtained at pretest, posttest, and 6-week follow-up. Participants in both intervention conditions increased significantly more than comparison participants on self-reported forgiveness of an ex-spouse and understanding of forgiveness. Participants in the secular condition showed a greater decrease in depressive symptoms than comparison participants. Intrinsic religiousness did not moderate intervention effects.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Sacred changes: Spiritual conversion and transformation.

We use Pargament's (1997) definition of religion-"the search for significance in ways related to the sacred"-as a framework to understand spiritual conversion. Like other life-changing transformations, spiritual conversion alters the destinations that clients perceive to be of greatest importance in life (significance) and the pathways by which clients discover what is most significant in life (search). Unlike other transformative experiences, however, spiritual conversion incorporates the third element of religion, "the sacred," into the content of change. To illustrate these points, we discuss two theological models of spiritual conversion rooted in Christianity: a traditional model based on classic western theology and an alternative model based on feminist theology. We then compare processes of spiritual conversion to nonreligious models of transformation. We also highlight the importance for clinical work of the fit between the context of a client's life and the type of spiritual conversion experienced.

Christianity↗
PubMed2004

Religious coping methods as predictors of psychological, physical and spiritual outcomes among medically ill elderly patients: a two-year longitudinal study.

A total of 268 medically ill, elderly, hospitalized patients responded to measures of religious coping and spiritual, psychological and physical functioning at baseline and follow-up two years later. After controlling for relevant variables, religious coping was significantly predictive of spiritual outcome, and changes in mental and physical health. Generally, positive methods of religious coping (e.g. seeking spiritual support, benevolent religious reappraisals) were associated with improvements in health. Negative methods of religious coping (e.g. punishing God reappraisal, interpersonal religious discontent) were predictive of declines in health. Patients who continue to struggle with religious issues over time may be particularly at risk for health-related problems.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2003

Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality. Implications for physical and mental health research.

Empirical studies have identified significant links between religion and spirituality and health. The reasons for these associations, however, are unclear. Typically, religion and spirituality have been measured by global indices (e.g., frequency of church attendance, self-rated religiousness and spirituality) that do not specify how or why religion and spirituality affect health. The authors highlight recent advances in the delineation of religion and spirituality concepts and measures theoretically and functionally connected to health. They also point to areas for areas for growth in religion and spirituality conceptualization and measurement. Through measures of religion and spirituality more conceptually related to physical and mental health (e.g., closeness to God, religious orientation and motivation, religious support, religious struggle), psychologists are discovering more about the distinctive contributions of religiousness and spirituality to health and well-being.

Health Status↗
PubMed2003

Measures of Hindu pathways: development and preliminary evidence of reliability and validity.

The authors examined religious practices of Hindus in the United States and developed measures of their religious pathways. Based on reviews of the psychology of religion, Hindu literature, and interviews with Hindus (N=15), 4 religious pathways were identified: devotion, ethical action, knowledge, and physical restraint/yoga. Items reflecting these pathways were generated and administered to a pilot sample (N=42) and then mailed to a sample across the United States (N=182). Consistent with Hindu theology, participants endorsed 4 religious pathways. Results indicated that the measures of the religious pathways possessed adequate psychometric properties and were predictive of mental and physical well-being. Additional findings emphasized the need to attend to age, marital status, and acculturation when studying religious practices among Hindus.

Acculturation↗
PubMed2002

Forgiveness and romantic relationships in college: can it heal the wounded heart?

This study evaluated the effects of two versions of a six-week group forgiveness intervention for college women who had been wronged in a romantic relationship. Participants (N = 58) were randomly assigned to a secular, religiously integrated, or no-intervention comparison condition. Participants completed a variety of forgiveness and mental health measures at one-week pretest, one-week posttest, and six-week follow-up. Participants in both intervention conditions improved significantly more than did those in the comparison condition on two measures of forgiveness and a measure of existential well-being. Program effects were maintained at six-week follow-up. Contrary to hypotheses, there were no differential treatment effects when comparing participants in the secular and the religiously integrated conditions. Participants generally rated the programs favorably. Forgiveness strategies utilized by participants also were examined.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

Development and implementation of a spiritual issues psychoeducational group for those with serious mental illness.

Recent research has suggested that religion and spirituality can be a resource or a burden for those with serious mental illness (SMI). Investigators have begun to explore the nature and impact of interventions that focus on spiritual issues in this population. This study describes an innovative program for people with SMI who are dealing with spiritual/religious issues. The program was a seven-week semistructured, psychoeducational intervention in which participants discussed religious resources, spiritual struggles, forgiveness, and hope. This paper also reviews participants' feedback about the group intervention. Suggestions are made that may add to the clinical utility of this program in the future.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Correlates of self-perceptions of spirituality in American adults.

To advance knowledge in the study of spirituality and physical health, we examined sociodemographic, behavioral, and attitudinal correlates of self-perceptions of spirituality. Participants were a nationally representative sample of 1,422 adult respondents to the 1998 General Social Survey. They were asked, among other things, to rate themselves on the depth of their spirituality and the depth of their religiousness. Results indicated that, after adjustment for religiousness, self-perceptions of spirituality were positively correlated with being female (r = .07, p < .01), having a higher education (r = .12, p < .001), and having no religion (r = .10, p < .001) and inversely correlated with age (r = -.06, p < .05) and being Catholic (r = -.08, p < .01). After adjustment for these sociodemographic factors, self-perceptions of spirituality were associated with high levels of religious or spiritual activities (range in correlations = .12-.38, all p < .001), low cynical mistrust, and low political conservatism (both r = -.08, p < .01). The population was divided into 4 groups based on their self-perceptions of degree of spirituality and degree of religiousness. The spiritual and religious group had a higherfrequency of attending services, praying, meditating, reading the Bible, and daily spiritual experience than any of the other 3 groups (all differences p < .05) and had less distress and less mistrust than the religious-only group (p < .05 for both). However, they were also more intolerant than either of the nonreligious groups (p < .05 for both) and similar on intolerance to the religious-only group. We conclude that sociodemographicfactors could confound any observed association between spirituality and health and should be controlled. Moreover, individuals who perceive themselves to be both spiritual and religious may be at particularly low risk for morbidity and mortality based on their good psychological status and ongoing restorative activities.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Religious/spiritual coping in childhood cystic fibrosis: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the role of religiousness/spirituality in coping in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). METHODS: Participants were a convenience sample of 23 patients with CF, ages 5 to 12 years, and their parent(s) in an ambulatory CF clinic. The design was a focused ethnography including in-depth interviews with children and parent(s), children's drawings, and self-administered written parental questionnaires. Analysis used grounded theory. RESULTS: Main outcome measures were participants' views on religion/spirituality in coping with illness. Data included 632 quotes organized into 257 codes categorized into 11 themes. One overarching domain emerged from analysis of the 11 themes: Religious/Spiritual Coping, composed of 11 religious/spiritual coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Children with CF reported a variety of religious/spiritual coping strategies they nearly always associated with adaptive health outcomes. A preliminary conceptual framework for religious/spiritual coping in children with CF is presented. More study is needed to assess how variability in age, disease type, disease severity, religious/spiritual preference, and religious/spiritual intensity affect religious/spiritual coping in children with chronic illness. Future studies should also investigate whether physician attention to religious/spiritual coping could assist patients in coping with CF and strengthen the doctor-patient relationship.

Adaptation, Psychological↗