Attachment to God, Stressful Life Events, and Changes in Psychological Distress

By C. Ellison, M. Bradshaw, Nilay Kuyel, J. Marcum. 2012

115 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Considerable research shows that social relationships, attachments, and support systems promote emotional well-being. The present study adds to this literature by examining the connection between attachments to God and psychological distress. Analyzing longitudinal data (two waves) from a study of Presbyterian (PCUSA) elders and rank-and-file laypersons, results show that: (1) a secure attachment to God at baseline is associated with a decrease in distress over time; (2) a secure attachment to God buffers against the deleterious effects of stressful life events on distress; and (3) an anxious attachment to God exacerbates the harmful effects of stress. In these analyses, a secure attachment to God is a more robust predictor of changes in distress than many, more commonly studied variables including race, gender, SES, and church attendance. Future research should therefore replicate and extend this line of promising scholarship by examining additional outcomes such as psychiatric illness, physical health, and even mortality risk.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Health, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9de437e37948544f26b4756fb8fa0952d2b04be7

How researchers see this paper

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In Clinical Psychology

  1. K. Flannelly
  2. C. Ellison
  3. M. Bradshaw

In Health

  1. M. Bradshaw
  2. K. Flannelly
  3. K. Galek
  4. C. Ellison
  5. L. Underwood

In Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

  1. C. Ellison

Citations in the corpus