Religious Coping Is Differentially Associated with Physiological and Subjective Distress Indicators: Comparing Cortisol and Self-Report Patterns

This study examined the trajectory of subjective distress and cortisol patterns leading up to and following a stressful college exam using daily diary and ambulatory saliva samples, respectively (N students = 246). Religious coping was not significantly associated with subjective reports of distress. However, prior to the exam, greater use of religious coping was associated with an ostensibly more adaptive accelerated return to a cortisol baseline. This protective effect was no longer significant when the exam was over, suggesting that religious coping acts as a protective buffer against physiological stress responses rather than aiding in subjective recovery from stress.PMID:37964623 | DOI:10.1080/08964289.2023.2277926
Source: Behavioral Medicine - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research