Spiritual Well-Being and Psychological Adjustment: Mediated by Interpersonal Needs?

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ashly L Gaskin-Wasson, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center; Kristin L Walker, University of California Los Angeles; Lilian J Shin, University of California Riverside; Nadine Kaslow, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-08-01
• Publisher: SPRINGER
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2016, Springer Science Business Media New York
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0275-y
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF RELIGION & HEALTH
• Volume: 57
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 1376
• End Page: 1391
• Keywords: COLLEGE-STUDENTS; Interpersonal needs; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER; BECK-DEPRESSION-INVENTORY; LOW-INCOME; Religion; Spiritual well-being; African American; AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; PROTECTIVE FACTORS; INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE; ILL CANCER-PATIENTS; Science & Technology; QUALITY-OF-LIFE; Suicide; Arts & Humanities; SUICIDAL-BEHAVIOR

Abstract

Spiritual well-being has been shown to reduce suicidal behavior, depressive symptoms, and hopelessness. Thwarted interpersonal needs have been shown to increase risk of suicidal behavior. This paper aims to explore the interrelationships among spiritual well-being, thwarted interpersonal needs, and negative outcomes including suicidal ideation, hopelessness, and depressive symptoms among African American women. Sixty-six African American women (M = 36.18; SD = 11.70), from a larger study of women who had experienced interpersonal violence within the past year, completed self-report questionnaires. Mediation analyses revealed that thwarted belongingness, but not perceived burdensomeness, significantly mediated the relations between spiritual well-being and the three outcomes. This study provides the first examination of the role of thwarted interpersonal needs on the link between spiritual well-being and negative psychological outcomes. Spiritual well-being serves a protective role against feelings of social isolation, which may reduce one’s risk of negative psychological outcomes. Treatments that bolster a sense of spirituality and social connectedness may reduce suicidal ideation, hopelessness, and depressive symptoms.