Religious coping in adolescents: new evidence and relevance

AbstractAdolescence is frequently seen as a troubled age. In many Western societies this is also a time of sharp religious decline. The question arises as to what extent religious faith and practice could help teenagers cope with their distress, especially when religion fades away in secularized environments and stops being a common coping resource. A study was conducted in South-East Spain (N = 531) to assess coping styles—religious and secular—and how they are related to other variables. The outcomes suggest that religious coping has become a minor choice. It correlates positively with age and is mixed with secular coping strategies. Secularization implies a confidence lost in religious means and the search for alternative coping strategies. This study reveals that religious coping works best when linked to religious communities and in combination with other non-religious strategies

El Estudio de la Religión en adolescentes como un ejercicio de teología aplicada

El artículo se propone presentar la contribución de los estudios sobre Religious coping a la teología empírica y a la teología en general. A través de la vía de inducción analítica ofrece tres lecturas teológicas de los datos obtenidos en una investigación previa sobre Religious coping en adolescentes españoles: antropológica, soteriológica y de teología práctica. Su objetivo es mostrar cómo la teología puede obtener de los procedimientos de análisis empírico un conocimiento que ayude a comprender mejor la dinámica de las creencias/experiencia religiosa de los adolescentes/jóvenes actuales. El resultado es un balance sobre la dinámica/funciones del afrontamiento religioso en su vertiente psicoterapéutica con aportaciones a la teología pastoral. Abstract: This article aims to present the contribution of the studies on Religious coping to empirical theology and general theology. By means of analytic induction, it offers three theological readings of the data obtained in a previous research on Religious coping in Spanish adolescents: anthropological, soteriological and practical theology. Its purpose is to show how theology can obtain, from a procedure based in empirical analysis, a knowledge which helps to better understand the dynamic of the current adolescents/young people's beliefs/religious experience. The result is an assessment of the religious coping dynamic/functions in its psychotherapeutic aspect with contributions to the pastoral theology

A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β=0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β=0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

A Many-analysts Approach to the Relation Between Religiosity and Well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N = 10, 535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β = 0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β = 0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

El estudio de la Religión en adolescentes como un ejercicio de teología aplicada

This article aims to present the contribution of the studies on Religious coping to empirical theology and general theology. By means of analytic induction, it offers three theological readings of the data obtained in a previous research on Religious coping in Spanish adolescents: anthropological, soteriological and practical theology. Its purpose is to show how theology can obtain, from a procedure based in empirical analysis, a knowledge which helps to better understand the dynamic of the current adolescents/young people's beliefs/religious experience. The result is an assessment of the religious coping dynamic/functions in its psychotherapeutic aspect with contributions to the pastoral theology.El artículo se propone presentar la contribución de los estudios sobre Religious coping a la teología empírica y a la teología en general. A través de la vía de inducción analítica ofrece tres lecturas teológicas de los datos obtenidos en una investigación previa sobre Religious coping en adolescentes españoles: antropológica, soteriológica y de teología práctica. Su objetivo es mostrar cómo la teología puede obtener de los procedimientos de análisis empírico un conocimiento que ayude a comprender mejor la dinámica de las creencias/experiencia religiosa de los adolescentes/jóvenes actuales. El resultado es un balance sobre la dinámica/funciones del afrontamiento religioso en su vertiente psicoterapéutica con aportaciones a la teología pastoral

Religious coping en adolescentes, su influencia en el ajuste psicosocial

El principal objetivo del presente trabajo de investigación es medir el alcance de la religiosidad en época de secularización, y su vinculación con el ajuste psicosocial del adolescente. Nuestro enfoque centrado en la persona identifica al adolescente en un contexto histórico /cultural determinado con un proceso de desarrollo en el que las exigencias académicas y sociales, expectativas de los padres, presiones del grupo de iguales incrementan los problemas derivados del estrés y la depresión. Por este motivo, estructurado en cuatro capítulos la presente investigación fundamentada en el desarrollo de “afrontamiento religioso” o también denominado Religious coping esgrimido por Kenneth I. Pargament examina el papel que pueden desempeñar las creencias religiosas en la etapa adolescente y propone el Religious coping como posible sistema de orientación o respuesta a las problemáticas derivadas del período adolescente. El primer capítulo presenta un diagnóstico sobre la situación de las creencias/prácticas religiosas, las influencias y problemáticas que afectan a los adolescentes y jóvenes en distintos contextos europeos. En este primer avance se constata: la depreciación de la religiosidad en el contexto europeo con porcentajes a la baja en la creencia en Dios y las prácticas religiosas. El segundo capítulo por medio de un meta-análisis y revisión sistemática (systematic review) de la literatura publicada con inclusión de análisis sobre el alcance del Religious coping en los que están insertados un amplio conjunto de adolescentes y jóvenes de muchos países y entornos culturales, examina si las investigaciones muestran evidencia sobre la función del Religious coping con el objetivo de resolver los posibles mecanismos cognitivos que pueden facilitar los efectos protectores de la religiosidad en los adolescentes. La exploración revela que la religión mantiene una asociación modesta pero positiva con el bienestar psicológico de los más jóvenes en el 70% de los artículos recogidos. El tercer capítulo examina el Religious coping de los adolescentes y jóvenes españoles desde dos aproximaciones metodológicas: cuantitativa y cualitativa. El estudio cuantitativo tiene como objetivo medir el alcance del Religious coping en esta etapa de la vida a través de la elaboración de un cuestionario sobre religión y su función para afrontar crisis: una versión reducida en el número de items construida sobre el cuestionario RECOPE (60 en total) para adecuarse a los adolescentes españoles. Los datos se obtienen de adolescentes de Centros públicos y religiosos de las Comunidades autónomas de Murcia y Valencia. Dentro de la muestra -530 casos seleccionados para el análisis-, la franja de edad de los estudiantes encuestados se sitúa entre los 16/20 años. La fase exploratoria utiliza el análisis factorial, análisis de cluster y análisis multivariante para medir la validez del constructo y la fiabilidad del cuestionario administrado a los estudiantes; la validez interna fue medida con el alfa de Cronbach. El estudio cualitativo utiliza la técnica del “focus group” para extraer del contenido del discurso y de las interacciones que los adolescentes realizan en el grupo de discusión datos sobre el proceso cognitivo /emocional que subyace en el Religious coping en esta etapa. El examen verifica que en el Religious coping de los adolescentes convergen un cúmulo de procesos cognitivos: estímulos, recuerdos de experiencias anteriores y estimación de aspectos relacionados con las consecuencias. El cuarto capítulo muestra la propuesta de la Teología empírica y la contribución del Religious coping a la Teología en general y al tratado de Teología empírica. Se constata que las investigaciones vinculadas al Religious coping pueden ser leídas como indicadores sobre el significado terapéutico de la salvación cristiana. Nos orientamos ante un hallazgo significativo del estudio: una dimensión curativa de naturaleza psíquica y orgánica resultado del impulso colaborativo que se establece entre hombre/Dios en el proceso de afrontamiento. Palabras clave: Religious coping, adolescencia, systematic review, Teología empírica The main objective of this research is to measure the extent of religion in secularized contexts, and its relationship with the adolescent psychosocial adjustment. Our person-centered approach identifies the adolescent in a concrete historical/cultural context, in which his/her development meets academic and social demands, parental expectations, and peer group pressures, resulting in an increase of problems of stress and depression. For this reason, the present research, structured in four chapters, examines the role that religious beliefs play in adolescence and proposes Religious coping as a possible system of orientation or response to problems arising around the adolescent period. This research is based on the development of the well known Religious coping program designed by Kenneth I. Pargament and many others. The first chapter presents a diagnosis about the situation of religious beliefs/practices, the influences and problems that affect adolescents and young people in different European contexts. In this first outline is verified: the depreciation of religiosity in the European context, with decreasing percentages in the belief in God and religious practices. The second chapter provides an extensive meta-analysis and systematic review of published literature on that topic. The main goal has been to analyze the reach and effects of Religious coping, covering a wide range of adolescents and young people from many countries and cultural environments. The chapter further examines whether the research provides evidence on the role that Religious coping plays to build possible cognitive mechanisms that might facilitate the protective effects of religiosity in adolescents. The exploration reveals that religion maintains a modest but positive association with the psychological well-being of the youngest in 70% of the collected items. The third chapter examines the Religious coping of Spanish adolescents and young people from two methodological approaches: quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative study aims to measure the scope of Religious coping in this life stage through the elaboration of a questionnaire on religion and its function to deal with crises: a reduced version in the number of items has been built according to RECOPE questionnaire (60 items in all) to suit Spanish adolescents questionnaire. The data are obtained from adolescents of public and religious centers from the Murcia and Valencia areas. Within the sample -530 cases selected for the analysis- the age range of the surveyed students moves between 16/20 years. The exploratory phase has applied factor analysis, cluster analysis and multivariate analysis to measure the construct validity and the reliability of the administered questionnaire to students; the internal validity was measured through Cronbach's alpha. The qualitative study uses the focus group technique to extract data from the content of the discourse and the interactions that the adolescents make in the discussion group, about the cognitive/emotional process that underlies the Religious coping at this stage. The examination verifies that in the Religious coping of adolescents a cluster of cognitive processes converge: stimuli, memories of previous experiences and estimation of aspects related to the consequences. The fourth chapter advances the proposal of empirical theology and the contribution of Religious coping to theology in general, to empirical theology in particular, and to soteriology. As a consequence, research related to Religious coping can be read like indications on the therapeutic meaning of Christian salvation, as it has been traditionally proposed. A significant finding of the study can be described as follows: the collaborative impulse established between humans and God in the process of coping can be understood as a curative dimension, both of a psychic and an organic nature. Keywords: Religious coping, adolescence, systematic review, Empirical Theolog

Religious coping in adolescents: New evidence and relevance

Adolescence is frequently seen as a troubled age and, in many societies, as a time of sharp religious decline. The question arises to what extent religious faith and practice could still help teenagers to cope with their distress, especially when religion fades away in secularized environments and stops being a common coping resource. A new survey has been conducted in South-East Spain (N=531) to assess coping styles – religious and secular – and how they are related to other variables. The outcomes confirm that religious coping becomes a minority choice; it is related to age – for those older in the sample – and is mixed with secular coping strategies. Secularization implies a confidence lost in religious means to tackle distress and life crisis and the search for alternative coping strategies. The study explores the practical implications of those outcomes

Relating compassion, spirituality, and scandal before unjust suffering: an empirical assessment

Abstract: Recent studies in the field of cognitive science of religion have proposed a connection between religious beliefs, theory of mind, and prosocial behaviour. Theory of mind appears as related to empathy and compassion, and both to a special sensitivity towards unjust suffering, which could trigger a religious crisis, as has often happened and is revealed in the “theodicy question”. To test such relationships, an exploratory survey based on questionnaire has being designed and applied to a teenagers sample. The collected data point to a more complex interaction, less linear, and depending more on cultural factors than to cognitive structures. In general, compassion and scandal before unjust suffering appear as quite related, but both features are less related to religious or spiritual perception

Relating Compassion, Spirituality, and Scandal before Unjust Suffering: An Empirical Assessment

Recent studies in the field of cognitive science of religion have proposed a connection between religious beliefs, theory of mind, and prosocial behaviour. Theory of mind appears to be related to empathy and compassion, and both to a special sensitivity towards unjust suffering, which could trigger a religious crisis, as has often happened and is revealed in the “theodicy question”. To test such relationships, adolescents were surveyed by an exploratory questionnaire. The collected data point to a more complex, less linear interaction, which depends more on cultural factors and reflexive elaboration than cognitive structures. In general, compassion and outrage before unjust suffering appear to be quite related; compassion is related to religious practice and even more to spiritual perception

The supernatural in adolescents: Dealing with a contested feature

Some uneasy and dissatisfaction with current research on perceptions of supernatural in certain stages of children and youth development has motivated a search for an alternative approach that could be built on new empirical data and a method that could help to better assess how pre- and adolescents relate to extraordinary and supernatural phenomena. An exploratory survey has been designed on an ad hoc instrument, fitted for that age span and the research goals. The outcomes point to the persistence of these perceptions and interests in that age, their close relatedness with indicators of religiosity, and their slowly vanishing when growing up. More research is needed to better ascertain the role this factor still plays in religious and spiritual development despite the very secular context in which often those beliefs are held