Negative religious coping is linked to a mind-body disconnect during acute stress
When facing a stressful task, people who feel punished by God report experiencing higher levels of stress. But a new study reveals their bodies tell a different story, showing a surprisingly blunted cardiovascular response to the challenge.
A recent study reveals that individuals who experience negative religious coping during stressful situations tend to exhibit a diminished physical reaction, specifically a smaller increase in blood pressure, compared to those who employ positive religious coping strategies. Negative religious coping involves feelings of abandonment by God, questioning divine intentions, or perceiving hardships as divine punishment.
This psychological approach to stress has been linked to poorer mental health and difficulty managing emotions. The study, published in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, aimed to investigate the impact of negative religious coping on both psychological and physiological responses to stress in young adults. Researchers recruited 81 healthy participants, aged 19 on average, from a Christian university in the southern United States.
Participants completed questionnaires measuring their habitual use of negative religious coping, such as feeling abandoned by God or doubting their faith in times of hardship. They also provided information on their general religiosity, symptoms of depression, and personality traits. During laboratory testing, participants underwent a resting period to establish baseline heart rate and blood pressure measurements.
They then engaged in the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task, a mentally demanding task that increased stress levels through social evaluation and competitive elements. Blood pressure and heart rate were continuously monitored throughout the task. After completing the mental math challenge, participants rated their level of stress on a scale from one to seven.
The results showed that those who relied more heavily on negative religious coping reported higher stress levels during the task, but displayed a blunted physiological response, with a smaller increase in diastolic blood pressure (the pressure in arteries when the heart is at rest). This association remained significant even after accounting for factors like resting blood pressure, sex, overall religiosity, neuroticism, and symptoms of depression.
The researchers did not find a significant link between negative religious coping and changes in systolic blood pressure, which is the pressure in arteries during heartbeats. The findings suggest that while negative religious coping may be linked to poorer mental well-being, it can also result in a muted physical stress response, a phenomenon not commonly understood.
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