Religious Coping Is Differentially Associated with Physiological and Subjective Distress Indicators: Comparing Cortisol and Self-Report Patterns.

ABSTRACT: Use of religious coping in response to life stress is associated with improved mental and physical health outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of religious coping on conscious self-reported and non-conscious physiological stress responses to an acute, real-world stressor to better understand how this benefit may be conferred. This study examined the trajectory of subjective distress and cortisol patterns leading up to and following a stressful college exam using daily diary and ambulatory saliva samples, respectively (N students = 246). Religious coping was not significantly associated with subjective reports of distress. However, prior to the exam, greater use of religious coping was associated with an ostensibly more adaptive accelerated return to a cortiso

SUBMITTER: Haney AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11093886 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature