Ministry-Related Burnout and Stress Coping Mechanisms Among Assemblies of God-Ordained Clergy in Minnesota

Visker, Joseph; Rider, Taylor; Humphers-Ginther, Anastasia June

doi:10.1007/s10943-016-0295-7

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…As a coping strategy, venting is considered passive, or ineffective at managing stress and may, in fact, intensify one’s stress level [ 56 ]. Visker, Rider and Humphers-Ginther [ 57 ] acknowledged that it was generally acceptable to discuss personal feelings about stress, and excessive voicing of displeasure (venting) should be discouraged. However, venting one’s frustrations is often associated with a cathartic relief of stress symptoms [ 58 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender differences in perceived stress and coping among college students

et al. 2021

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Background Many college students register each semester for courses, leading to productive careers and fulfilled lives. During this time, the students have to manage many stressors stemming from academic, personal, and, sometimes, work lives. Students, who lack appropriate stress management skills, may find it difficult to balance these responsibilities. Objectives This study examined stress, coping mechanisms, and gender differences in undergraduate students towards the end of the semester. Design and method University students (n = 448) enrolled in three different undergraduate exercise science courses were assessed. Two instruments, the Perceived Stress Scale and Brief Cope, were administered during the twelfth week of the semester, four weeks prior to final exams. T-tests were used to detect gender differences for the stress levels and coping strategies. Results Overall, females indicated higher levels of stress than their male counterparts. Gender differences were evident in both coping dimensions and individual coping strategies used. Females were found to utilize the emotion-focused coping dimension and endorsed the use of four coping strategies more often than males. These included self-distraction, emotional support, instrumental support, and venting. Conclusions This research adds to the existing literature by illuminating the level of perceived stress and different coping strategies used by undergraduate female and male students. In turn, students may need educational interventions to develop effective and healthy coping strategies to last a lifetime. Faculty and other university officials may want to highlight and understand these various factors to protect the students’ wellbeing in their classes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender differences in perceived stress and coping among college students

et al. 2021

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“…Reducing occupational distress is important for religious entities, including numerous Christian denominations, because of the correlation of multiple types of clergy stressors with burnout (Adams, Hough, Proeschold-Bell, Yao, & Kolkin, 2017; Francis, Village, Robbins, & Wulff, 2011; Visker, Rider, & Humphers-Ginther, 2017). The level of depressive symptoms of the clergy in this sample was higher than that observed in the general population (Proeschold-Bell et al, 2013), demonstrating a need to assess and respond to depressive symptoms in clergy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A prospective study of clergy spiritual well-being, depressive symptoms, and occupational distress.

Milstein

Hybels

Proeschold‐Bell

2020

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

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Work, when stressful, can be dispiriting. There are bidirectional and longitudinal links between occupational stress and depressive symptoms. Also, higher levels of religious participation are associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms and work distress. Some have argued that religious participation is a proxy for social support, rather than an independent variable. In order to study the independent association of religious participation with depressive symptoms and occupational distress, this longitudinal study of 895 United Methodist clergy measured the prospective relationships of spiritual wellbeing, depressive symptoms, and occupational distress, while controlling for a measure of social support. As expected, spiritual well-being, depressive symptoms and occupational distress were all significantly correlated at Time 1. Residualized change linear regression models assessed their prospective effects between Time 1 and Time 2 (1 year later). Higher levels of spiritual well-being were protective against increased depressive symptoms, even when controlling for perceived emotional support. In addition, lower levels of depressive symptoms were protective against increased occupational distress. Surprisingly, occupational distress did not predict depressive symptoms. Neither occupational distress nor depressive symptoms predicted spiritual well-being. The findings indicate a longitudinal and directional pattern, with lower spiritual well-being predicting depressive symptoms, which in turn predicted occupational distress. These findings suggest future intervention research for clergy, with a focus on spiritual well-being, and an overall goal of reducing depression and improving occupational function. More broadly, the results support an effect of spiritual well-being independent of social support.

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“…Burnout can be conceptualized as high levels of emotional exhaustion, high levels of depersonalization, and low levels of personal achievement (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). In a study among Assembly of God church leaders, 65% reported suffering from or bordering on burnout (Visker et al, 2017). In a sample of parish-based United Methodist clergy, 19% reported high emotional exhaustion, 10% high depersonalization, and 11% low personal accomplishment (Doolittle, 2007).…”

Section: Ministry Stress and Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Associated with Burnout, Marital Conflict, and Life Satisfaction among Chinese American Church Leaders

Fung¹,

Lin²,

Joo

et al. 2021

Journal of Psychology and Theology

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Clergy and church leaders experience unique pressure and stressors associated with ministry. In this study, we examined protective and risk factors related to burnout, life satisfaction, and marital conflict in a sample of 124 Chinese American church leaders. We examined the role of self-compassion, self-criticism, and bicultural identity. Ministry leaders (i.e., full-time or part-time pastors, deacons, elders, ministers) aged 25 to 68 years from Chinese American churches in the United States completed surveys online. In the overall structural equation model, self-compassion and bicultural identity were associated with lower levels of burnout; both were not related to life satisfaction or marital conflict. In contrast, self-criticism was related to higher rates of marital conflict and lower levels of life satisfaction; it was not associated with ministry burnout. Self-compassion was inversely related to self-criticism. Our findings suggest that self-compassion and self-criticism have distinct implications for psychological functioning among Chinese American church leaders. Specifically, whereas self-compassion was a protective factor against ministry burnout, self-criticism was a risk factor for marital relationships and life satisfaction. Bicultural identity integration protected against ministry burnout and may be particularly helpful when working with diverse Chinese American churches. Practical implications for Chinese American clergy and ministry leaders were discussed.

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Ministry-Related Burnout and Stress Coping Mechanisms Among Assemblies of God-Ordained Clergy in Minnesota

Cited by 12 publications

References 27 publications

Gender differences in perceived stress and coping among college students

Gender differences in perceived stress and coping among college students

A prospective study of clergy spiritual well-being, depressive symptoms, and occupational distress.

Factors Associated with Burnout, Marital Conflict, and Life Satisfaction among Chinese American Church Leaders

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