Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between alexithymia, psychological well-being, and religious coping in fibromyalgia patients. This study was planned as a descriptive and cross-sectional research design. The sample consisted of 175 fibromyalgia patients. Data were collected using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, the Psychological Well-being Scale, and the Religious Coping Scale. Data were analyzed by Pearson's correlation test and Multiple Linear Regression analysis. A negative correlation was found between alexithymia and negative religious coping (r = − 0.377, p = 0.000). A positive correlation was found between psychological well-being and negative religious coping (r = 0.364, p = 0.000). The alexithymia was predicted by psychological well-being level (β = − 0.629), positive (β = 0.170) and negative (β = − 0.216) religious coping levels (p < 0.05). Negative and positive religious coping strategies can affect psychological well-being and expressive thinking in patients with FMS.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmadi, F., Erbil, P., Ahmadi, N., & Cetrez, Ö. A. (2019). Religion, culture and meaning-making copy: A study among cancer patients in Turkey. Journal of Religion & Health, 58(4), 1115–1124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0646-7
Baastrup, S., Schultz, R., Brodsgaard, I., Moore, R., Jensen, T. S., Toft, L. V., Bach, F. W., Rosenberg, R., & Gormsen, L. (2016). A comparison of coping strategies in patients with fibromyalgia, chronic neuropathic pain, and pain-free controls. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 57(6), 516–522. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12325
Bagby, R. M., Parker, J. D. A., & Taylor, G. J. (1994). The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale-I Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38, 23–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(94)90005-1
Bahadir-Yilmaz, E., & Yüksel, A. (2019). Correlation between depression, psychological well-being, and attitudes toward psychological help-seeking in surgical patients. Annals of Medical Research, 26(9), 1926–1931. https://doi.org/10.5455/annalsmedres.2019.05.270
Baltacı, A. (2019). Aleksitimi kavramına manevi bir yaklaşım. In A. Bilgin, Y. Aydın (Eds.), Islam Düşüncesi Araştırmaları (pp. 501–532). Ankara: Araştırma Yayınları. (in Turkish).
Bobov, G., & Capik, C. (2020). The reliability and validity of the religious health fatalism scale in Turkish language. Journal of Religion and Health, 59, 1080–1095. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0731-y
Bonelli, R., Dew, R. E., Koenig, H. G., Rosmarin, D. H., & Vasegh, S. (2012). Religious and spiritual factors in depression. Depression Research and Treatment. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/962860
Calsius, J., Courtois, I., Stiers, J., & De Bie, J. (2015). How do fibromyalgia patients with alexithymia experience their bodies? A Qualitative Approach. SAGE Open, 5(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015574631
Di Tella, M., Ghiggia, A., Tesio, V., Romeo, A., Colonna, F., Fusaro, E., Torta, R., & Castelli, L. (2017). Pain experience in fibromyalgia syndrome: The role of alexithymia and psychological distress. Journal of Affective Disorders, 208, 87–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.08.080
Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97, 143–156. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9493-y
Ekşi, H. & Sayın, M. (2016). The adaptation of religious coping scale into Turkish language: A study of bilingual equivalance, validity and reliability. Paper presented at the AGP Humanities and Social Sciences Conference, BAU International Berlin University, 19–22 May, Berlin, Germany.
Elboğa, G., Akaltun, M. S., Altındağ, Ö., Altındağ, A., Aydeniz, A., Gürsoy, S., & Gür, A. (2020). Alexithymia and attention deficit and their relationship with disease severity in fibromyalgia syndrome. Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 66(2), 134–139. https://doi.org/10.5606/tftrd.2020.2926
Galvez-Sánchez, C. M., Duschek, S., & Reyes del Paso, G. A. (2019). Psychological impact of fibromyalgia: current perspectives. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 12, 117–127. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S178240
Ghiggia, A., Romeo, A., Tesio, V., Di Tella, M., Colonna, F., Geminiani, G. C., Fusaro, E., & Castelli, L. (2017). Alexithymia and depression in patients with fibromyalgia: when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Psychiatry Research, 255, 195–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.05.045
Grinberg, K., Meshalhov, D., Adadi, D., & Biton, T. (2019). The role of pain catastrophizing and anxiety levels on quality of life in fibromyalgia compared with healthy women. International Medicine, 9(4), 11–16. https://doi.org/10.35248/2165-8048.19.9.313
Güleç, H., Köse, S., Güleç, M. Y., Çitak, S., Evren, C., Borckardt, J., & Sayar, K. (2009). Reliability and factorial validity of the Turkish version of the 20-item Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20). Klinik Psikofarmakoloji Bülteni, 19(3), 214–220.
Güleç, H., & Yenel, A. (2010). Psychometric properties of the Turkish version 20 item Toronto alexithymia scala: According to cut-off score. Klinik Psikiyatri Dergisi, 13(3), 108–112.
Karakaş, A. C., & Koç, M. (2014). The relationship between religious coping and coping with stress methods: An analysis from various of variable. Insan ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi, 3(3), 610–631. https://doi.org/10.15869/itobiad.88954
Kösehasanoğulları, M., & Yılmaz, N. (2018). A fibromyalgia syndrome and neuropathic pain. Aegean Journal of Medicine Science, 1(1), 26–31. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/egetbd/issue/37116/434933
Laluce, T. O., Dalul, C. M. L. C., Martins, M. R. I., Ribeiro, R. C. H. M., Almeida, F. C., & Cesarino, C. B. (2019). Coping strategies in patients with neuropathic pain. BrJP., 2(3), 260–266. https://doi.org/10.5935/2595-0118.20190046
Marchi, R., Marzetti, F., Orru, G., Lemmetti, S., Miccoli, M., Clacchini, R., Hitchcott, P. K., Bazzicchi, L., Gemignani, A., & Conversano, C. (2019). Alexithymia and psychological distress in patients with fibromyalgia and rheumatic disease. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1735. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01735
Mashhadi, H. B., Aghaei, M., Mohammadkhani, M., & Mahdavi, A. (2017). Examining the effect of teaching Islamic-based coping strategies on indicators of chronic pain and quality of life among women with fibromyalgia. Journal of Research on Religion & Health, 3(4), 48–65.
Moreira-Almeida, A., & Koenig, H. G. (2008). Religiousness and spirituality in fibromyalgia and chronic pain patients. Current Pain and Headache Reports, 12, 327–332. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-008-0055-9
Nikmanesh, Z., & Azaraein, S. (2017). The role of religious coping in perception of suffering among patients undergoing dialysis. Jundishapur Journal of Chronic Disease Care, 6(2), e40063. https://doi.org/10.5812/jjcdc.40063
O’Brien, B., Shrestha, S., Stanley, M. A., Pargament, K. I., Cummings, J., Kunik, M. E., Fletcher, T. L., Cortes, J., Ramsey, D., & Amspoker, A. M. (2019). Positive and negative religious coping as predictors of distress among minority older adults. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 34, 54–59. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.4983
Pizutti, L. T., Taborda, J. G. V., & Tourinho, T. F. (2012). Evaluation of religious spiritual coping in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome: A case-control study. Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain, 20(3), 194–201. https://doi.org/10.3109/10582452.2012.704139
Sabanciogullari, S., & Taskin-Yilmaz, F. (2019). The effect of religious coping on hope level of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Journal of Religion and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00944-1
Saeeidi, K. S., Abolghasemi, A., & Akbari, B. (2018). The role of sense of coherence, alexithymia and self-compassion in predicting psychological well-being in girl with primary dysmenorrhea. Razi Journal of Medical Sciences, 25(8), 33–42. http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-5221-en.html
Şaşıoğlu, M., Gülol, Ç., & Tosun, A. (2013). The concept of alexithymia. Current Approaches in Psychiatry, 5(4), 507–527. https://doi.org/10.5455/cap.20130531
Semiz, M., Kavakcı, Ö., Pekşen, H., Tunçay, M. S., Özer, Z., Semiz, E. A., & Kaptanoğlu, E. (2014). Post-traumatic stress disorder, alexithymia and somatoform dissociation in patients with fibromyalgia. Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 60, 245–251. https://doi.org/10.5152/tftrd.2014.48254
Taheri-Kharameh, Z., Zamanian, H., Montazeri, A., Asgarian, A., & Esbiri, R. (2016). Negative religious coping, positive religious coping, and quality of life among hemodialysis patients. Nephro-Urology Monthly, 8(6), e38009. https://doi.org/10.5812/numonthly.38009
Telef, B. B. (2013). The Adaptation of psychological well-being into Turkish: A validity and reliability study. Hacettepe Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 28(3), 374–384.
Tella, D., Tesio, M., Ghiggia, V., Romeo, A., Colonna, A., Fusaro, F., Geminiani, E., Bruzzone, G. C., Torta, M., & Castelli , L. R. (2018). Coping strategies and perceived social support in fibromyalgia syndrome: relationship with alexithymia. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 59(2), 167–176. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12405
Tesio, V., Di Tella, M., Ghiggia, A., Romeo, A., Colonna, F., Fusaro, E., Geminiani, G. C., & Castelli, L. (2018). Alexithymia and depression affect quality of life in patients with chronic pain: A study on 205 patients with fibromyalgia. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 442. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00442
Topbaş, M., Çakırbay, H., Güleç, H., Akgol, E., Ak, I., & Can, G. (2005). The prevalence of fibromyalgia in women aged 20–64 in Turkey. Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology, 34, 140–144.
Tümlü, C., & Eraslan-Çapan, B. (2018). An investigation of the alexithymia levels and the flourishing levels of parents with disabled children. Kalem Eğitim ve İnsan Bilimleri Dergisi, 8(2), 493–518. https://doi.org/10.23863/kalem.2019.112
Wolfe, F., Clauw, D. J., Fitzcharles, M. A., Goldenberg, D. L., Katz, R. S., Mease, P., Russell, A. S., Russell, I. J., Winfield, J. B., & Yunus, M. B. (2010). The American College of rheumatology preliminary diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia and measurement of symptom severity. Arthritis Care & Research, 62(5), 600–610. https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.20140
Wolfe, F., Walitt, B., Perrot, S., Rasker, J. J., & Häuser, W. (2018). Fibromyalgia diagnosis and biased assessment: sex, prevalence and bias. PLoS ONE, 13(9), e0203755. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203755
Yıldızeli-Topçu, S. (2018). Relations among pain, pain beliefs, and psychological well-being in patients with chronic pain. Pain Management Nursing, 19(6), 637–644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmn.2018.07.007
Yılmaz-Karabulutlu, E., Yaralı, S., & Karaman, S. (2019). Evaluation of distress and religious coping among cancer patients in Turkey. Journal of Religion and Health, 58, 881–890. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0453-6
Yüksel, A., Bayrakci, H., & Bahadir-Yilmaz, E. (2019). Self-efficacy, psychological well-being and perceived social support levels in pregnant women. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 12(2), 1120–1129.
Yüksel, A., Çetinkaya, F., & Karakoyun, A. (2021). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on psychiatric symptoms, psychological well-being, and pain beliefs in patients with lumbar disk herniation. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 57(1), 335–342. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppc.12568
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors report no actual or potentialconflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yüksel, A., Bahadir-Yilmaz, E. & Karakoyun, A. The Relationship between Alexithymia, Psychological Well-Being and Religious Coping in Fibromyalgia Patients in Turkey. J Relig Health 61, 3909–3921 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01294-7
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01294-7