Abstract
M.A. (Clinical Psychology)
In order to develop an understanding of the relationship between religious coping strategies and mental health in South Africa, this study employed a quantitative research design to determine the relationship between positive and negative religious coping strategies and mental health whilst focusing on non-specific life stressors. This was done to explore firstly, the relationship between religious coping strategies and mental health, and secondly, to investigate whether religious coping strategies can predict mental health. Attachment theory, although not formally investigated in this study, was employed as an explanatory model for the relationship between religious coping strategies and mental health.
A total number of 376 participants completed a biographical questionnaire, the Brief Religious Coping Questionnaire (Brief RCOPE) which measures positive and negative religious coping strategies, the 18-item Mental Health Inventory (MHI-18) which measures mental health and two optional questions about the nature of a life stressor as well as how long ago they have experienced this.
An insignificant relationship between positive religious coping strategies and mental health was reported. In addition, positive religious coping strategies did not contribute to the prediction of mental health. A significant relationship was found between negative religious coping strategies and negative religious coping strategies contributed significantly to the prediction of mental health. These findings led the researcher to the conclusion that for this sample, secure as well as ambivalent attachment styles counteracted each other’s effect on mental health. Because these two attachment styles are associated with positive religious coping strategies it can therefore cause these types of religious coping strategies to not have an effect on mental health. In addition, ambivalent as well as avoidant attachment styles affected an individual’s mental health in a negative way. Because these two attachment styles are associated with negative religious coping strategies it can therefore explain why a significant negative correlation was found between these coping strategies and mental health.