Is It Really Religion? Comparing the Main and Stress-buffering Effects of Religious and Secular Civic Engagement on Psychological Distress

Abstract

Using a random sample of adult residents from the state of Texas, we examine how religious participation and secular civic engagement buffer the effects of perceived financial strain and neighborhood disadvantage on psychological distress. Our findings suggest that (a) both organizational religious and secular civic engagement buffer the deleterious effects of perceived financial hardship on respondents’ psychological distress, (b) organizational as well as nonorganizational religious participation buffers the detrimental effects of perceived neighborhood disadvantage on respondents’ psychological distress, (c) religious involvement has a more robust buffering effect than secular civic engagement, and (d) nonorganizational religious participation can serve as a coping mechanism for respondents who suffer from psychological distress. Research implications, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Leaving my religion: Understanding the relationship between religious disaffiliation, health, and well-being

“…Our study adds an additional layer to this literature, demonstrating that individuals who disaffiliate but continue to maintain regular attendance experience no health or well-being disadvantage (Hypothesis 1a). This is significant given that secular sources of social engagement and social ties do not fully compensate for the absence of church-based social networks (Acevedo, et al, 2014). …”

Aspiration Strain and Mental Health: The Education‐Contingent Role of Religion

“…). Dimensions of religious involvement have also proven to buffer the adverse mental health effects of financial strain (Acevedo, Ellison, and Xu ; Bradshaw and Ellison ; Ellison, Burdette, and Hill ), living in a deteriorating and disordered neighborhood (Acevedo, Ellison, and Xu ; Krause ), traumatic life events (DeAngelis and Ellison ; Ellison ), and even hardships experienced during childhood (Henderson ; Jung ). These studies—and many others like them—provide empirical precedent for exploring whether religious involvement could also alleviate the heartache of dashed dreams.…”

Kept in His Care: The Role of Perceived Divine Control in Positive Reappraisal Coping

“…Another concern is whether one's perceived relations with God are uniquely religious or instead merely reflect concrete relations with significant social others (e.g., (Spilka et al 1975;Pollner 1989;Acevedo et al 2014)). To rule out this possibility, we also controlled for indexes of family cohesion and friend support.…”

“…Thanks to the pioneering work of Kenneth Pargament and colleagues, social behavioral scientists are becoming increasingly aware of religion's formidable role in the coping process (Pargament 1997;Ellison and Henderson 2011;Koenig et al 2012). Studies in this field have shown, for example, that numerous dimensions of religious involvement can buffer or offset the psychosocial strains of traumatic life events (Ellison 1991), neighborhood disadvantage (Acevedo et al 2014;Krause 1998), financial hardship (Acevedo et al 2014;Krause 2003), and interpersonal conflicts such as experiences of discrimination (Bierman 2006;Ellison et al 2008). …”