Secure Attachment to God Uniquely Linked to Psychological Health in a National, Random Sample of American Adults

Relationships between religiousness and psychological health are well established. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate whether perceived relationship with God (i.e., attachment to God) or how people view God (i.e., image of God) account for variation in psychological distress and we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe International journal for the psychology of religion Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 162 - 173
Main Authors Leman, Joseph, Hunter, Will, Fergus, Thomas, Rowatt, Wade
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia Routledge 03.07.2018
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Subjects
Anxiety
Attachment
Attendance
Avoidance behavior
Faith
God
Mental health
Power
Psychological aspects
Psychological distress
Psychological well being
Religion & psychology
Religiosity
Religious participation
Sociodemographics
Variability
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Summary:Relationships between religiousness and psychological health are well established. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate whether perceived relationship with God (i.e., attachment to God) or how people view God (i.e., image of God) account for variation in psychological distress and well-being. Statistical relationships between two attachment to God dimensions (avoidance, anxiety), two dimensions of God image (forgiving, wrathful), and general psychological well-being were investigated in a convenience sample (Study 1) and nationally representative sample (Study 2) of American adults who expressed belief in God or a higher power. In both studies, secure attachment to God (i.e., lower avoidance, lower anxiety) and religious service attendance were positively correlated with self-reported psychological well-being. Hierarchical regressions indicated that attachment to God dimensions account for unique variability in reported mental health even after religious service attendance, prayer frequency, God image and demographic variables were statistically controlled. Negligible associations were found between images of God as forgiving or wrathful and psychological well-being. Perceived relationship with God appears to be an important factor in the connection between religiousness and psychological health.
ISSN:1050-8619
1532-7582
DOI:10.1080/10508619.2018.1477401