This study was conducted to determine death anxiety and religious coping in heart failure patients. It was determined that 64% of the patients were male, the mean death anxiety score was 7.78 ± 3.91, 38% had ≤6 points and 62% had ≥7 points. Positive religious coping score was 20.54 ± 6.58 and negative religious coping score was 6.86 ± 3.18. Patients with a diagnosis of heart failure ≥3 years had higher death anxiety levels. There was a weak positive correlation between death anxiety and positive and negative religious coping scores. Death anxiety and the number of days hospitalized were determined to predict positive religious coping in regression analysis. The model explained 7.6% of the total variance in positive religious coping. Heart failure patients were detected to have high death anxiety. Patients were observed to have high positive religious coping scores. As death anxiety increases, patients exhibit positive religious coping behavior.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the well-being and mental health of populations worldwide. This study sought to examine whether religious coping mediated the relationship between COVID-19-related fear and death distress. We administered an online survey to 390 adult participants (66.15% females; Mage = 30.85 ± 10.19 years) across Turkey. Participants completed a series of questionnaires measuring the fear they had experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, their levels of religious coping and their levels of death anxiety and depression. Our findings revealed that (a) fear of COVID-19 was associated with positive religious coping, negative religious coping, death anxiety and death distress; (b) negative religious coping was associated with death anxiety and depression and (c) negative religious coping mediated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and death anxiety and depression. These results highlight the detrimental effect of negative religious coping in increasing the adverse effect of the COVID-19 fear on death depression.

Religious coping is a double-edged sword. Clarification of the psychological benefits for positive religious coping requires statistical controls for negative religious coping and vice versa. This study sought to further explore the complexities of Muslim religious coping by extending the analysis to Afghans who coped with the sufferings associated with recollections of childhood and adolescent sexual abuse. Two hundred Dari Persian-speaking Afghan university students (122 identified having experience of childhood sexual abuse) self-reported on variables that measure religious orientation, religious coping, Muslim experiential religiousness, mental health, and child abuse. Results showed that negative religious coping interfered with the possibly beneficial effects of positive religious coping on mental health and child abuse. After controlling for negative religious coping, the associations of positive religious coping became obvious. In addition, Muslim spirituality moderated the associations of religious coping with mental health outcomes and child abuse: for people with higher Muslim spirituality, positive religious coping associated with better mental health, and negative religious coping associated with less child abuse. Implications for religious coping and combating trauma in a religious context are discussed.

Religion and spirituality (r/s) are important resources in coping with cancer. However, there are aspects of r/s, such as religious and spiritual struggles, found to be associated with poorer outcomes. A new measure has been adapted from the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) to assess r/s struggles: the RSS-14. This concise measure allows for the assessment of multiple types of r/s struggles for people from different religious backgrounds or none.
The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence, predictors and correlates of r/s struggles as measured by the RSS-14 and its subdomains in a cancer population receiving palliative care.
Data were collected from six outpatient palliative care services across the US. Inclusion criteria for patients were age 55 or older with a cancer diagnosis. In addition to demographic and r/s characteristics, study measures included the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS), the Patient Dignity Inventory (PDI) and the Quality of Life at the End of Life (QUAL-E).
The study included 331 participants. Some r/s struggle was reported by 66%, moderate to high struggle for at least one item was reported by 20% of the patients. In bivariate analyses, r/s struggle was associated with greater symptom burden, greater dignity-related problems and poorer quality of life; in multivariable analyses, dignity-related problems remained a predictor of total r/s struggle.
R/S struggles may compromise well-being for cancer patients receiving palliative care. Clinicians should consider periodic screening for r/s struggles and referrals for spiritual care if indicated.

Since December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious mental health challenges and consequently the Turkish population has been adversely affected by the virus. The present study examined how meaning in life related to loneliness and the degree to which religious coping strategies mediated these relations. Participants were a sample of 872 adults (242 males and 360 females) drawn from general public in Turkey. Data were collected using Meaning in Life Questionnaire, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Religious Coping Measure. Meaning in life was associated with more positive religious coping and less negative religious coping and loneliness. Positive religious coping was associated with less loneliness, while negative religious coping was associated with more loneliness. Religious coping strategies mediated the impact of meaning in life on loneliness. These findings suggest that greater meaning in life may link with lesser loneliness due to, in part, an increased level of positive religious coping strategies and a decreased level of negative coping strategies.

Religion as a coping strategy is mostly connected with positive health outcomes. Yet, negative religious coping (NRC) has been associated with rather negative outcomes that affect one\'s health. The aim of this study was to explore whether insecure adult attachment and childhood trauma are associated with higher NRC. A sample of Czech adults (n = 531, 51.1 ± 17.2 years; 43.5% men) participated in a survey. As measures, the NRC subscale of the Brief RCOPE, the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised questionnaire, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF) were used. From the whole sample, 23.7% respondents reported higher NRC. Respondents with higher anxiety in close relationships were more likely to use negative coping strategies, with an odds ratios (OR) of 1.27 (95% confidence interval 1.01-1.59). Similarly, avoidance was associated with negative coping OR = 1.41 (1.13-1.75). Moreover, each subscale of the CTQ-SF revealed a significant association with high summary NRC. Respondents who reported physical neglect scored highest on summary NRC with OR = 1.50 (1.23-1.83) after controlling for sociodemographic variables, but also for anxiety and depression. Our findings support the idea that childhood trauma experience and adult attachment style are associated with higher use of NRC strategies.

UNASSIGNED: Leukemia is a life-threatening chronic disease for children. The recurrence of the disease causes tension and reduces the quality of life for the family, especially for mothers. Religion is an important humanitarian aspect of holistic care that can be very effective in determining the health level of the patient and the family members. The present study aims at investigating the role of religious coping (RCOPE) in the quality of life for mothers of children with recurrent leukemia.
UNASSIGNED: This is a cross-sectional study of the descriptive-correlational type. Two-hundred mothers with children aging 1-15 years suffering from leukemia were selected using a continuous sampling method. The data were collected using questionnaires eliciting information about personal information, Persian version of the Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer, and RCOPE. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive tests and independent samples t-test.
UNASSIGNED: The result of examining the relation between life quality and demographic features of mothers showed that education level, income, and occupation had a significant statistical relationship with general quality of life mothers. The results of examining the relationship between quality of life and RCOPE of mothers showed that RCOPE was positively correlated only with the positive coping dimension quality of life (P < 0/001). Negative RCOPE had a significant reverse statistical correlation with general quality of life and all its aspects.
UNASSIGNED: The quality of life for the participants in this study was significantly related to RCOPE. Mothers with negative RCOPE faced low scores for quality of life, and religious support can improve their life quality. Further longitudinal studies are required to investigate the effects of establishing support communities.

BACKGROUND: Religious coping is known as a main resource influencing how individuals cope with the complications and stressors of chronic disease.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between religious coping and quality of life among hemodialysis patients.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Qom, Iran, from June 2012 to July 2013. Ninety-five end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing hemodialysis were selected via the convenience sampling method. Data were collected via a questionnaire comprising items on sociodemographic information, quality of life, the anxiety and depression scale, and religious coping. Following this, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis.
RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 50.4 (standard deviation [SD] = 15.7) years, and most were male (61%). The mean score for positive religious coping was 23.38 (SD = 4.17), while that for negative religious coping was 11.46 (SD = 4.34). It was found that 53.6% of patients had higher than the mean score of positive religious coping, while those with negative religious coping made up 37.9%. Negative religious coping was associated with worse quality of life, including physical functioning (odds ratio [OR] = 0.72; P = 0.009), role physical (OR = 0.79; P = 0.04), vitality (OR = 0.62; P = 0.005), social functioning (OR = 0.69; P = 0.007), and mental health (OR = 0.58; P = 0.01) after controlling for sociodemographic, clinical, and anxiety and depression variables.
CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that patients with negative religious coping abilities were at risk of a suboptimal quality of life. Incorporating religious support in the care of hemodialysis patients may be helpful in improving quality of life in this patient population. Further longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether these associations are causal and the direction of effect.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between negative religious coping (NRC) and suicidal ideation in patients with advanced cancer, controlling for demographic and disease characteristics and risk and protective factors for suicidal ideation.
METHODS: Adult patients with advanced cancer (life expectancy ≤6 months) were recruited from seven medical centers in the northeastern and southwestern USA (n = 603). Trained raters verbally administered the examined measures to patients upon study entry. Multivariable logistic regression analyses regressed suicidal ideation on NRC controlling for significant demographic, disease, risk, and protective factors.
RESULTS: Negative religious coping was associated with an increased risk for suicidal ideation (OR, 2.65 [95% CI, 1.22, 5.74], p = 0.01) after controlling for demographic and disease characteristics, mental and physical health, self-efficacy, secular coping, social support, spiritual care received, global religiousness and spirituality, and positive religious coping.
CONCLUSIONS: Negative religious coping is a robust correlate of suicidal ideation. Assessment of NRC in patients with advanced cancer may identify patients experiencing spiritual distress and those at risk for suicidal ideation. Confirmation of these results in future studies would suggest the need for interventions targeting the reduction of NRC to reduce suicidal ideation among advanced cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: We explored relationships between general religiousness, positive religious coping, negative religious coping (spiritual struggle), and affective symptoms among geriatric mood disordered outpatients, in the northeastern USA.
METHODS: We assessed for general religiousness (religious affiliation, belief in God, and private and public religious activity) and positive/negative religious coping, alongside interview and self-report measures of affective functioning in a diagnostically heterogeneous sample of n = 34 geriatric mood disordered outpatients (n = 16 bipolar and n = 18 major depressive) at a psychiatric hospital in eastern Massachusetts.
RESULTS: Except for a modest correlation between private prayer and lower Geriatric Depression Scale scores, general religious factors (belief in God, public religious activity, and religious affiliation) as well as positive religious coping were unrelated to affective symptoms after correcting for multiple comparisons and controlling for significant covariates. However, a large effect of spiritual struggle was observed on greater symptom levels (up to 19.4% shared variance). Further, mean levels of spiritual struggle and its observed effects on symptoms were equivalent irrespective of religious affiliation, belief, and private and public religious activity.
CONCLUSIONS: Previously observed effects of general religiousness on (less) depression among geriatric mood disordered patients may be less pronounced in less religious areas of the USA. However, spiritual struggle appears to be a common and important risk factor for depressive symptoms, regardless of patients\' general level of religiousness. Further research on spiritual struggle is warranted among geriatric mood disordered patients.