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The Mediating Role of Secular Coping Strategies in the Relationship Between Religious Appraisals and Adjustment to Chronic Pain: The Middle Road to Damascus

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Abstract

Despite an outgrowth in research examining associations between religiosity and health outcomes, there has been a lack of empirical focus on the relationship between religiosity and adjustment to chronic pain. This study investigated specific secular coping strategies that mediate the proposed relationship between religious appraisals and pain-related outcomes. Twenty-nine chronic pain patients completed measures assessing pain-related coping strategies, pain severity, disability, depression, positive and negative affect, trait anger and three types of religious appraisals- benevolent God appraisals, punishing God appraisals, and demonic appraisals. A significant positive relationship was found between punishing God appraisals and depression, with catastrophizing mediating this relationship. Demonic appraisals were significantly related to disability. Benevolent religious appraisals were related to positive affect. Benevolent religious appraisals were significantly related to the secular coping strategies of diverting attention, ignoring pain sensations, reinterpreting pain sensations and using coping self-statements, but these coping strategies did not mediate the relationship between benevolent religious appraisals and positive affect. While this study provides no evidence that religious appraisals influence pain perception, data suggest that both positive and negative religious appraisals are related to mental health outcomes in a chronic pain population.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted in the Department of Rheumatology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, the University of Florida School of Dentistry and the University of Florida Shands Psychology Clinic. This research was conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Kansas. Dr. Parenteau would like to thank her committee members—Dr. Shirley Hill, Dr. Stephen Ilardi, Dr. Douglas Denney and Dr. Robert Twillman—for their helpful feedback and suggestions. Some findings from this study were presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the American Pain Society in San Diego, CA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences, University of West Florida, 11000 University Parkway, Building 41, Rm. 208, Pensacola, FL, 32514, USA

    Stacy C. Parenteau

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Nancy A. Hamilton & Wei Wu

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA

    Kevin Latinis

  4. Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida Health Science Center, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Lori B. Waxenberg

  5. Bone and Joint Sports Medicine Institute, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, VA, USA

    Mary Y. Brinkmeyer

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  1. Stacy C. Parenteau
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Correspondence to Stacy C. Parenteau.

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Parenteau, S.C., Hamilton, N.A., Wu, W. et al. The Mediating Role of Secular Coping Strategies in the Relationship Between Religious Appraisals and Adjustment to Chronic Pain: The Middle Road to Damascus. Soc Indic Res 104, 407–425 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9751-z

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