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Religious Coping, Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety, and Well-Being Among Somali College Students

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Abstract

This study examined the associations between positive and negative religious coping, symptoms of depression and anxiety, physical and emotional well-being among Somali college students in Minnesota. In this online cross-sectional survey study, 156 participants (ages 18–21, M = 21, SD = 2.3) were recruited. Participants reported using more positive religious coping methods. Negative religious coping was associated with an increase in symptoms of both depression (b = .06, p = .003) and anxiety (b = .04, p = .05), and positive religious coping was associated with a decrease in symptoms of depression (b = −.04, p = .05).

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment and the Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota. Study data were collected and managed using REDCap electronic data capture tools hosted at the University of Minnesota (CTSA: UL1TR000114). The authors thank the leadership of the student clubs that facilitated participant recruitment; the Somali Student Association (SSA); the Al-Madinah Cultural Center; Hamline African Student Association and St. Kate’s Muslim Students Association. Our gratitude goes to these leaders who went above and beyond their roles: Ms. Ikram Osman, Mr. Mohamed Shire, Ms. Husna Ibrahim, Ms. Muna Mohamed and Ms. Filsan Ibrahim, our community advisory board, and the young adults who participated in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, 6-180 Weaver Densford Hall, 308 Harvard St. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Eunice M. Areba

  2. School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, 6-195B Weaver-Densford Hall, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Laura Duckett

  3. School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, 6-187 Weaver-Densford Hall, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Cheryl Robertson

  4. School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Kay Savik

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  1. Eunice M. Areba
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Correspondence to Eunice M. Areba.

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Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals:

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Minnesota IRB. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Areba, E.M., Duckett, L., Robertson, C. et al. Religious Coping, Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety, and Well-Being Among Somali College Students. J Relig Health 57, 94–109 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0359-3

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