TY - JOUR
T1 - Spirituality and multiple dimensions of religion are associated with mental health in gay and bisexual men
T2 - Results from the one thousand strong cohort
AU - Lassiter, Jonathan M.
AU - Saleh, Lena
AU - Grov, Christian
AU - Starks, Tyrel
AU - Ventuneac, Ana
AU - Parsons, Jeffrey T.
N1 - Funding Information:
The One Thousand Strong study was funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA; R01 DA 036466: Jeffrey T. Parsons and Christian Grov). Jonathan M. Lassiter's effort was supported by a supplement to the parent grant. We acknowledge other members of the One Thousand Strong Study Team (Jonathon Rendina, Mark Pawson, Michael Castro, Ruben Jimenez, Brett Millar, Chloe Mirzayi, Raymond Moody, Anita Viswanath, and Thomas Whitfield) and other staff from the Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training (Qurrat-Ul Ain, Andrew Cortopassi, Chris Hietikko, Doug Keeler, Chris Murphy, Carlos Ponton, and Brian Salfas). We also thank the staff at Community Marketing Inc (David Paisley, Thomas Roth, and Heather Torch) and Patrick Sullivan, Jessica Ingersoll, Deborah Abdul-Ali, and Doris Igwe at the Emory Center for AIDS Research (P30 AI050409). Finally, special thanks go to Jeffrey Schulden and Pamela Goodlow at NIDA. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Funding Information:
The One Thousand Strong study was funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA; R01 DA 036466: Jeffrey T. Parsons and Christian Grov). Jonathan M. Lassiter’s effort was supported by a supplement to the parent grant. We acknowledge other mem- bers of the One Thousand Strong Study Team (Jonathon Rendina, Mark Pawson, Michael Castro, Ruben Jimenez, Brett Millar, Chloe Mirzayi, Raymond Moody, Anita Viswanath, and Thomas Whitfield) and other staff from the Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training (Qurrat-Ul Ain, Andrew Cortopassi, Chris Hietikko, Doug Keeler, Chris Murphy, Carlos Ponton, and Brian Salfas). We also thank the staff at Community Marketing Inc (David Paisley, Thomas Roth, and Heather Torch) and Patrick Sullivan, Jessica Ingersoll, Deborah Abdul-Ali, and Doris Igwe at the Emory Center for AIDS Research (P30 AI050409). Finally, special thanks go to Jeffrey Schulden and Pamela Goodlow at NIDA. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2017/11/27
Y1 - 2017/11/27
N2 - The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between religion, spirituality, and mental health among gay and bisexual men (GBM). A U.S. national sample of 1,071 GBM completed an online survey that measured demographic characteristics, religiosity, religious coping, spirituality, and four mental health constructs (i.e., depressive symptoms, rejection sensitivity, resilience, and social support). Linear regressions determined the associations between each mental health construct, demographic variables, and the spirituality and religion variables. Controlling for demographic characteristics, spirituality was negatively associated with depressive symptoms and rejection sensitivity, and positively associated with resilience and social support (all p <.001). Religiosity was positively associated with rejection sensitivity (p <.05) and negatively associated with resilience (p <.01). Religious coping was positively associated with depression (p <.001) and rejection sensitivity (p <.05) and negatively associated with resilience (p <.05) and social support (p <.05). The interaction of spirituality with religiosity was significantly associated with all mental health variables. In general, religious GBM with higher levels of spirituality had better mental health outcomes. Public health interventions and clinical practice aimed at decreasing negative mental health outcomes among GBM may find it beneficial to integrate spirituality into their work.
AB - The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between religion, spirituality, and mental health among gay and bisexual men (GBM). A U.S. national sample of 1,071 GBM completed an online survey that measured demographic characteristics, religiosity, religious coping, spirituality, and four mental health constructs (i.e., depressive symptoms, rejection sensitivity, resilience, and social support). Linear regressions determined the associations between each mental health construct, demographic variables, and the spirituality and religion variables. Controlling for demographic characteristics, spirituality was negatively associated with depressive symptoms and rejection sensitivity, and positively associated with resilience and social support (all p <.001). Religiosity was positively associated with rejection sensitivity (p <.05) and negatively associated with resilience (p <.01). Religious coping was positively associated with depression (p <.001) and rejection sensitivity (p <.05) and negatively associated with resilience (p <.05) and social support (p <.05). The interaction of spirituality with religiosity was significantly associated with all mental health variables. In general, religious GBM with higher levels of spirituality had better mental health outcomes. Public health interventions and clinical practice aimed at decreasing negative mental health outcomes among GBM may find it beneficial to integrate spirituality into their work.
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U2 - 10.1037/rel0000146
DO - 10.1037/rel0000146
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85035068267
SN - 1941-1022
VL - 11
SP - 408
EP - 416
JO - Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
JF - Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
IS - 4
ER -