The Roles of Religious Coping, World Assumptions, and Personal Growth in College Student

133 Pages·2017·0.9 MB·English

Virginia Commonwealth University
VCU Scholars Compass
Theses and Dissertations Graduate School
2010
The Roles of Religious Coping, World Assumptions, and Personal
Growth in College Student Bereavement
Benjamin Lord
Virginia Commonwealth University
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College of Humanities and Sciences
Virginia Commonwealth University

This is to certify that the thesis prepared by Benjamin D. Lord entitled The Roles of Religious
Coping, World Assumptions, and Personal Growth in College Student Bereavement has been
approved by his committee as satisfactory completion of the thesis requirement for the degree of
Master of Science.

Sandra Gramling, Ph.D., Director of Thesis
Department of Psychology

Wendy L. Kliewer, Ph.D., Committee Member
Department of Psychology

Everett Worthington, Ph.D., Committee Member
Department of Psychology

Clifford Edwards, Ph.D., Committee Member
School of World Studies

Wendy L. Kliewer, Ph.D., Director of Graduate Studies

Fred Hawkridge, Ph.D., Interim Dean, College of Humanities and Sciences

F. Douglas Boudinot, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate School

Date
2


Benjamin D. Lord 2010
All Rights Reserved
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THE ROLES OF RELIGIOUS COPING, WORLD ASSUMPTIONS, AND PERSONAL
GROWTH IN COLLEGE STUDENT BEREAVEMENT

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science at Virginia Commonwealth University.

By

BENJAMIN D. LORD
Bachelor of Science, Longwood University, 2007

Director: Sandra E. Gramling, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia
May, 2010
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my advisor on this project, Dr. Sandra Gramling, for her patience
and support throughout the research process, as well as the other members of my thesis
committee, Dr. Clifford Edwards, Dr. Wendy Kliewer, and Dr. Everett Worthington, for
their guidance, enthusiasm, and understanding. I would further like to recognize my
family, without whom I would never have made it this far in the first place, and my many
good friends, who have helped to make these years memorable and meaningful.
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Table of Contents
Page
Acknowledgements………………………………………….…………………………….ii
List of Tables…………………………………………………………………….…….…vi
List of Figures……………………………………………………………………...……vii
Abstract…………………………………………………………………...………….…viii
Introduction……………………………………………………………………..…………1
Review of the literature……………………………………………………………………6
Bereavement………………………………………………………………7
Bereavement and young adults……………………………………….….10
Coping……………………………………………………………………12
A stress-and-coping model of grief………………………………13
Religion and bereavement……………………………………………..…17
Religious coping and bereavement………………………………19
Meaning-making…………………………………………………………20
Meaning-making and bereavement………………………………21
World assumptions………………………………………….……24
Religious coping and meaning-making……………………….…27
Growth following a loss………………………………………………….28
Religious coping and growth…………………………………….31
Religious coping, growth and world assumptions theory………..33
Spiritual wellbeing………………………………………………...……..34
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Statement of the problem and hypotheses……………………………………………….37
Method………………………………………...…………………………………………41
Participants……………………………………………………………….41
Measures…………………………………………………...…………….42
Procedure………………………………….……………………………..50
Data analysis………………………………………………...…………...50
Results……………………………………………………………………………………53
Frequencies………………………………………………………………53
Demographic data………………………………………………..53
Characteristics of loss……………………………………………55
Coping strategies…………………………………………………56
Descriptive statistics……………………………………………………..58
Preliminary analyses……………………………………………………..59
Bivariate correlations……………………………………….……59
Structural equation models……………………………………………...62
Estimation of error terms………………………………………...62
Direct relationships between world assumptions and outcomes…64
Direct relationships between religious coping and outcomes……67
The mediated models….…………………………………………71
Examination of subscales………………………………………..77
Discussion………………………………………….…………………………………….80
Effects of religious coping on world assumptions……………………….82
Effects of religious coping on outcomes………..…….………………….83
Effects of world assumptions on outcomes……………………………...85
Summary of contributions………………………………………………..87
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Limitations and future directions………………………………………...89
List of References……..…………………………………………………………………92
Appendices
A Demographic Questionnaire………………………………………………..103
B Characteristics of Loss………………………………………………………104
C RCOPE………………………………………………………………………106
D Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist…………………………………………….113
E World Assumptions Scale…………………………………………………...117
F Spiritual Wellbeing Scale……………………………………………………120
Vita……………………………………………………………………………………...121
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List of Tables
Page
Table 1. Frequencies and percentages for demographic variables………………………54
Table 2. Frequencies and percentages for characteristics of the loss event…...…………55
Table 3. Frequencies and percentages for participant reports of most helpful coping
strategies…………………………………………………………………………………57
Table 4. Descriptive statistics………………………………………………….…………..58
Table 5. Bivariate pearson correlations…………………………………….……………60
Table 6. Estimated error terms for the structural equation models………….…………..64
Table 7. Standardized path coefficients, standard errors, and significance levels for model
depicted in Figure 1 (N=222)……………………………………………………..…..……66
Table 8. Standardized path coefficients, standard errors, and significance levels for
models in Figures 2 and 3 (N=222)……………..……………………………………….70
Table 9. Standardized path coefficients, standard errors, and significance levels for model
depicted in Figure 4 (N=222)…………………………………………………………….73
Table 10. Standardized path coefficients, standard errors, and significance levels for
model depicted in Figure 5 (N=222)…………………………………………………….76
Table 11. Bivariate Pearson correlations between WAS first-order subscales and
outcomes…………………………………………………………………………………78
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List of Figures
Page
Figure 1. Structural equation model of direct effects of world assumptions on outcome
variables (Standardized Solution, N=222)……………………………….………………65
Figure 2. Structural equation model of the direct effects of positive religious coping on
outcome variables (Standardized Solution; N=222)……………………………………..68
Figure 3. Structural Equation Model of the Direct Effects of Negative Religious Coping
on Outcome Variable (Standardized Solution; N=222)………………………………….69
Figure 4. Structural equation model of mediated relationship for positive religious coping
(Standardized Solution; N=222)…………………………………………………………72
Figure 5. Structural equation model of mediated relationship of negative religious coping
(Standardized Solution; N=222)…………………………………………………………75