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Spiritual Support (spiritual + support)
Selected AbstractsChristian religious functioning and trauma outcomesJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2008J. Irene Harris Abstract While some trauma survivors find their faith helpful in recovery, others find it a source of distress, and still others abandon their faith. More complex conceptualizations of religious functioning are needed to explore its relationship with trauma. This study explores such relationships using measures of religious action and behaviors in a community sample of 327 church-going, self-identified trauma survivors. A principal components analysis of positive and negative religious coping, religious comforts and strains, and prayer functions identified two dimensions: Seeking Spiritual Support, which was positively related to posttraumatic growth, and Religious Strain, which was positively related to posttraumatic symptoms. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 64: 17,29, 2008. [source] Stress, Religious Coping Resources, and Depressive Symptoms in an Urban Adolescent SampleJOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 1 2008RUSSELL A. CARLETON We surveyed low-income urban adolescents about their total exposure to urban stressors and their use of religious coping resources, specifically in the areas of social support, spiritual support, and community service opportunities provided by their congregations. Additionally, we assessed their current levels of depressive symptomatology. Among females, the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms was moderated by the use of spiritual support and community service opportunities. The moderating relationship was such that at low levels of stress, high usage of these resources protected against the development of depressive symptoms. At high levels of stress, however, the protective relationship was lost. Lastly, when the social support aspects of religious coping were statistically controlled, the moderation effect disappeared, suggesting that within this sample, the social support seeking aspects of the resources, rather than their religious nature, was responsible for the effects. [source] Do Palliative Consultations Improve Patient Outcomes?JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 4 2008David Casarett MD OBJECTIVES: To determine whether inpatient palliative consultation services improve outcomes of care. DESIGN: Retrospective telephone surveys conducted with family members of veterans who received inpatient or outpatient care from a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility in the last month of life. SETTING: Five VA Medical Centers or their affiliated nursing homes and outpatient clinics. PARTICIPANTS: Veterans had received inpatient or outpatient care from a participating VA in the last month of life. One family member completed each survey. MEASUREMENTS: The telephone survey assessed nine aspects of the care the patient received in his or her last month of life: the patient's well-being and dignity (4 items), adequacy of communication (5 items), respect for treatment preferences (2 items), emotional and spiritual support (3 items), management of symptoms (4 items), access to the inpatient facility of choice (1 item), care around the time of death (6 items), access to home care services (4 items), and access to benefits and services after the patient's death (3 items). RESULTS: Interviews were completed with 524 respondents. In a multivariable linear regression model, after adjusting for the likelihood of receiving a palliative consultation (propensity score), palliative care patients had higher overall scores: 65 (95% confidence interval (CI)=62,66) versus 54 (95% CI=51,56; P<.001) and higher scores for almost all domains. Earlier consultations were independently associated with better overall scores (,=0.003; P=.006), a difference that was attributable primarily to improvements in communication and emotional support. CONCLUSION: Palliative consultations improve outcomes of care, and earlier consultations may confer additional benefit. [source] Living alone, lack of a confidant and psychological well-being of elderly women in Singapore: the mediating role of lonelinessASIA-PACIFIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 1 2010Lena L. Lim Abstract Background: The "feminization of aging" and nuclearization of families calls for research to examine the mental health and well-being of elderly women living alone. This study examined a proposed heuristic model whereby the relationship between living alone and lack of a confidant and psychological well-being is mediated by feeling of loneliness. Methods: Path analysis was performed on data of 1,205 community-living older women aged 55 and above with psychological well-being assessed by depressive symptoms (15-items Geriatric Depression Scale) and SF-12 MCS (mental component summary scale of the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey) quality of life scores assessed at baseline and follow-up 1.5 years later. Results: Goodness-of-fit indices used for the model showed good fits. All of the path coefficients were meaningful in absolute magnitude and significant at P<0.001. Living alone was associated concurrently with lack of a confidant (r=0.11), both of which predicts loneliness (path co-efficient=0.09). Loneliness predicts more depressive symptoms (path coefficient=0.25) and SF-12 MCS (path coefficient=,0.28) at baseline, as well as at follow-up. Conclusion: The findings suggest that loneliness mediates the relationship between living alone, lack of a confidant, and psychological well-being. Living alone becomes detrimental when it leads to loneliness. Social programs directed at elderly women who are living alone should alleviate loneliness through satisfactory interpersonal relationships, and emotional and spiritual support. [source] | ||||||||||