Date of Award

2006

Degree Name

M.A. in Psychology

Department

Department of Psychology

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between religious coping and psychological adjustment to college in participants (A/=211) recruited from undergraduate introductory psychology classes at a Catholic university in the Midwest. Participants completed self-report questionnaires measuring psychological adjustment (i.e. Anxiety, Depression, Alcohol Consumption), religious problem-solving style (i.e., Deferring, Self-Directing, Collaborative) and nonreligious coping (i.e., Denial, Seeking Social Emotional Support, Planning). This study addressed the following questions: 1) To what extent do first year college students use religious coping? The study produced partial support for the hypothesis that first-year students use religious coping 2) How does religious coping relate to adjustment to college? The hypothesis that religious coping would be related to alcohol consumption was supported. 3) Does religious coping predict adjustment beyond nonreligious coping? Collaborative coping was negatively correlated with Weekend Drink total. Deferring coping was negatively correlated with Weekend Drink total, but was not related to Binge Drinking. Self-Directing coping was the only religious coping style to have a significant positive relationship to alcohol measures. Religious coping contributed uniquely to the prediction of alcohol consumption. Study limitations and implications of the results for future research are presented.

Keywords

Adjustment (Psychology) Religious aspects, Student adjustment, College students Psychology, College students Religious life, College students Conduct of life

Rights Statement

Copyright © 2006, author

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