Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Religious Coping Among Adults Caring for Family Members with Serious Mental Illness

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Community Mental Health Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This cross-sectional study investigated the use of religious coping strategies among family members of adults with serious mental illness. A sample of 436 individuals caring for a family member with serious mental illness were recruited into a randomized clinical trial for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Family to Family Education Program. Relationships are reported between religious coping and caregiving, care recipient, and mental health services outcomes. Religious coping was associated with more objective caregiving burden, greater care recipient need, less mental health knowledge, and less receipt of mental health services after adjusting for non-religious types of coping. At the same time, religious coping was associated with a positive caregiving experience and greater religious support. Religious coping plays an important role for many caregivers of persons with serious mental illness. Caregivers who use more religious coping may have an especially high need for mental health education and mental health services.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., & Weintraub, J. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 267–283.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Derogatis, L. R. (2001). BSI-18: Administration, scoring and procedures manual. New York: NCS Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, L. B., Lucksted, A., Medoff, D. R., et al. (2011). Outcomes of a randomized study of a peer taught family-to-family education program for mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 62, 591–597.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dossett, E., Fuentes, S., & Klap, R. (2005). Obstacles and opportunities in providing mental health services through a faith-based network in Los Angeles. Psychiatric Services, 56, 206–208.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, N. B., Baldwin, L. M., & Bishop, D. S. (1983). The McMaster family assessment device. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 9, 171–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganzevoort, R. R. (1998). Religious coping reconsidered, part two: A narrative reformulation. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 26, 276–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, E. D. (2000). Differences among families coping with serious mental illness: A qualitative analysis. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 126–134.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaye, J., & Robinson, K. M. (1994). Spirituality among caregivers. Image, 26, 218–221.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G. (2005). History of mental health care. In H. G. Koenig (Ed.), Faith & mental health (pp. 17–39). Philadelphia, PA: Templeton Foundation Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H.G. (2012). Religious vs. conventional psychotherapy for major depression in patients with chronic medical illness: Rationale, methods, and preliminary results. Depression Research and Treatment, Article ID 460419. doi:10.1155/2012/460419

  • Koren, P., DeChillo, N., & Friesen, B. (1992). Measuring empowerment in families whose children have emotional disorders: A brief questionnaire. Rehabilitation Psychology, 37, 305–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, J., Taylor, R. J., & Chatters, L. M. (1994). Race and gender differences in religiosity among older adults: Findings from four national surveys. Journal of Gerontology, 49, 137–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, S. M., Medoff, D., Fang, L. J., Weaver, J., Duan, N., Lucksted, A., & Dixon, L. B. (2013). Generalizability in the family-to-family education program randomized waitlist-control trial. Psychiatric Services, PMID: 23633161.

  • Maunu, A., & Stein, C. H. (2010). Coping with the personal loss of having a parent with mental illness: Young adults’ narrative accounts of spiritual struggle and strength. Journal of Community Psychology, 38, 645–655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCubbin, M. A., McCubbin, H. I., & Thompson, A. I. (1996). Family problem-solving communication (FPSC) in family assessment: Resiliency coping and adaptation—Inventories for research and practice. In H. I. McCubbin, A. I. Thompson, & M. A. McCubbin (Eds.). Family assessment: Resiliency, coping and adaptation: Inventories for research and practice. Madison: University of Wisconsin.

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntosh, D., Silver, R., & Wortman, C. (1993). Religion’s role in adjustment to a negative life event: Coping with the loss of a child. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 812–821.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mohamad, M. S., Zabidah, P., Fauziah, I., & Sarnon, N. (2012). Mental health literacy among family caregivers of schizophrenia patients. Asian Social Science, 8, 74–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray-Swank, A. B., Lucksted, A., Medoff, D. R., Yang, Y., Wohlheiter, K., & Dixon, L. B. (2006). Religiosity, psychological adjustment, and subjective burden of persons who care for those with mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 57, 361–365.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): Resources, Web pages, and Internet links for faith communities. www.nami.org/content/contentgroups/faith/resources_web_pages_and_internet_links_for_faith_communities.htm

  • Pargament, K. I. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I. (2007). Spiritually integrated psychotherapy: Understanding and addressing the sacred. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K., Ensing, D., Falgout, K., Olsen, H., Reilly, B., Van Haitsma, K., & Warren, R. (1990). God help me: Religious coping efforts as predictors of the outcomes to significant negative life events. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 793–824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K., Smith, B., Koenig, H., & Perez, L. M. (1998). Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37, 710–739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, M. J. (2005). A critical review of the forms and value of religious coping among informal caregivers. Journal of Religion and Health, 44(1), 81–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, M. J., Chen, J., Silverman, G. K., Kasl, S. V., Rosenheck, R., & Prigerson, H. (2002). Religious coping, health, and health service use among bereaved adults. The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 32(2), 179–199.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, M. J., Singer, J., & Prigerson, H. G. (2006). Religious coping among caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients: Main effects and psychosocial mediators. Journal of Health Psychology, 11(5), 743–759.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S., & Lock, B. Z. (1986). The community mental health assessment survey and the CES-D scale. In M. Weissman, J. Meyers, & C. Ross (Eds.), Community surveys. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rammohan, A., Rao, K., & Subbakrishna, D. K. (2002). Religious coping and psychological wellbeing in carers of relatives with schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia, 105, 356–362.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sawin, K. J., & Harrigan, M. P. (1995). Measures of family functioning for research and practice. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, P., & Draine, J. (1995). Subjective burden among family members of mentally ill adults: Relation to stress, coping, and adaptation. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 65, 419–427.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Szmukler, G. I., Burgess, P., Herrman, H., et al. (1996). Caring for relatives with serious mental illness: The development of experience of caregiving inventory. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 31, 137–148.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tarakeshwar, N., & Pargament, K. I. (2001). Religious coping in families of children with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 16, 247–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tessler, R., & Gamache, G. (1995). Family experiences interview schedule (FEIS). In the toolkit on evaluating family experiences with severe mental illness. Cambridge, Mass, Human Services Research Institute, Evaluation Center. www.hsri.org

  • Whitlatch, A. M., Meddaugh, D. I., & Langhout, K. J. (1992). Religiosity among Alzheimer’s disease caregivers. The American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders and Research, 7, 11–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by Grant 1R01-MH72667-01A1 from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michelle J. Pearce.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pearce, M.J., Medoff, D., Lawrence, R.E. et al. Religious Coping Among Adults Caring for Family Members with Serious Mental Illness. Community Ment Health J 52, 194–202 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9875-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9875-3

Keywords

Navigation