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Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors

Publication ,  Journal Article
Pargament, KI; Smith, BW; Koenig, HG; Perez, L
Published in: Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
January 1, 1998

This study attempted to identify positive and negative patterns of religious coping methods, develop a brief measure of these religious coping patterns, and examine their implications for health and adjustment. Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, positive and negative religious coping patterns were identified in samples of people coping with the Oklahoma City bombing, college students coping with major life stressors, and elderly hospitalized patients coping with serious medical illnesses. A 14-item measure of positive and negative patterns of religious coping methods (Brief RCOPE) was constructed. The positive pattern consisted of religious forgiveness, seeking spiritual support, collaborative religious coping, spiritual connection, religious purification, and benevolent religious reappraisal. The negative pattern was defined by spiritual discontent, punishing God reappraisals, interpersonal religious discontent, demonic reappraisal, and reappraisal of God's powers. As predicted, people made more use of the positive than the negative religious coping methods. Furthermore, the two patterns had different implications for health and adjustment. The Brief RCOPE offers an efficient, theoretically meaningful way to integrate religious dimensions into models and studies of stress, coping, and health. © Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1998.

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Published In

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

DOI

EISSN

1468-5906

ISSN

0021-8294

Publication Date

January 1, 1998

Volume

37

Issue

4

Start / End Page

710 / 724

Related Subject Headings

  • Religions & Theology
  • 5004 Religious studies
  • 4410 Sociology
  • 2204 Religion and Religious Studies
  • 1608 Sociology
 

Citation

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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(4), 710–724. https://doi.org/10.2307/1388152
Pargament, K. I., B. W. Smith, H. G. Koenig, and L. Perez. “Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37, no. 4 (January 1, 1998): 710–24. https://doi.org/10.2307/1388152.
Pargament KI, Smith BW, Koenig HG, Perez L. Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1998 Jan 1;37(4):710–24.
Pargament, K. I., et al. “Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 37, no. 4, Jan. 1998, pp. 710–24. Scopus, doi:10.2307/1388152.
Pargament KI, Smith BW, Koenig HG, Perez L. Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1998 Jan 1;37(4):710–724.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

DOI

EISSN

1468-5906

ISSN

0021-8294

Publication Date

January 1, 1998

Volume

37

Issue

4

Start / End Page

710 / 724

Related Subject Headings

  • Religions & Theology
  • 5004 Religious studies
  • 4410 Sociology
  • 2204 Religion and Religious Studies
  • 1608 Sociology