Suicide Bereavement and Differences in Religiosity

Crisis ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 176-185
Author(s):  
William Feigelman ◽  
Julie Cerel ◽  
John L. McIntosh ◽  
David Brent ◽  
Nina Gutin
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Religious Participation ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Suicide Bereavement ◽  
Current Sample ◽  
Suicide Bereaved

Abstract. Background: The trauma from experiencing a loved one's suicide is often seen as an instigator of change in a person's religious life. Aims: We sought to examine whether suicide-bereaved adults were any differently disposed to religious participation and observances compared with the nonbereaved and whether religiously involved bereaved had any better mental health compared with religiously disaffiliated bereaved. Method: The 2016 General Social Survey (GSS) presented 11 new questions identifying suicide bereavement status. We examined how the bereaved (n = 516) compared with the nonbereaved (n = 916) in terms of their religious beliefs and participation. We also investigated whether suicide bereaved religiously committed adherents, who prayed at least weekly (n = 372), showed any better mental health compared with bereaved who were religiously disaffiliated (n = 102). Results: Initially, results showed the bereaved more inclined to pray and to believe in an afterlife compared with the nonbereaved. However, after sex differences were controlled for, most of the remaining differences between these contrasted groups faded. Limitations: Caution is advised regarding generalizations from these data to all subgroups of suicide bereaved due to the modest number of respondents in many subpopulations. The GSS does not include potentially important grief-related indices, and importantly, most of the current sample were friends of the deceased and not first-degree relatives. Conclusion: We discuss the implications of these findings and the need for further research on the interconnections between religiosity and suicide bereavement.

scholarly journals Life After Death: Suicide, Care, and Responsibility

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tom Loffhagen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Life After Death ◽  
Bereaved Parents ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
Suicide Bereavement ◽  
Professional Care ◽  
Suicide Bereaved

<p>This thesis focuses on suicide bereavement, particularly of those parents who have lost children to suicide while in care of the state. I argue that, for these parents, action taken following the suicide of their children is an extension of the care that was given throughout their child’s lives. For parents of those suffering with mental health issues, care is fraught with confusion and tension. This is no more apparent than when they and their children are seeking professional care. Care is inextricably linked with responsibility, which as I will show, is a very important concept in understanding suicide prevention. Governance of regimes of care shapes bereavement through biopolitical responsibilisation. The conflict found within understandings of care lays the foundation for the conflated tensions that arise in suicide bereaved parents’ search for recognition and accountability of and for their child’s suicide. In this thesis I explore these actions to understand the motives and desires of these parents. In exploring these, meaning becomes a useful analytical lens, for meaning, care, and the projects that my participants undertake in search of answers were all intimately linked. Through understanding the actions of bereaved parents as an extension of the care for their children we can understand how these actions are shaped by the governance and regimes of care within New Zealand.</p>

scholarly journals The Impacts of Positive Psychology and Individualism on Mental Health Status of the Elderly in China: Evidence From Chinese General Social Survey Data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yujie Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Positive Psychology ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Chinese General Social Survey ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background Many previous studies have proved that positive psychology can promote mental health. However, little is known about how and when it promotes mental health in older adults. Methods The data of this study were sourced from the 2017 wave of Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), involving 1,537 older adults aged 60 and above. OLS regression model was used to explore the impact of positive psychology on mental health of the elderly. Moreover, stata 16.0 was used to measure the moderating effect of individualism on the relationship between positive psychology and mental health. Results After controlling for demographic characteristics, socio-economic status and lifestyle factors, the regression results suggest that positive psychology was associated with mental health (coefficient = 0.112, p < 0.01). In addition, the positive relationship was significantly stronger for people who were older, married, lived in urban areas, with higher education and higher subjective social class position, and higher exercise frequency. Moreover, the moderating effect analysis results suggest that individualism strengthened the relationship between positive psychology and mental health. Conclusions This study reveals that positive psychology has a positive effect on mental health among the elderly, and the positive health effect shows significant age, marital status, living areas, education background, social class position and physical exercise inequalities. Furthermore, this study also provides new evidence indicating that individualism positively moderates the relationship between positive psychology and mental health. Promoting positive psychology can be a promising way for China to promote psychological care for the elderly in the future.

Perceived Distributive Unfairness and Mental Health: The Gender-contingent Buffering Effects of Religion

2021 ◽  
pp. 215686932097879
Author(s):  
Jong Hyun Jung
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Coping Resources ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Stress Buffering ◽  
Using Data

Prior research has established that perceived distributive unfairness is associated with poor mental health. The purpose of this study is to examine whether religion moderates this association and whether gender conditions the moderating effects of religion. Using data from the 2012 Korean General Social Survey ( N = 1,375), the current analyses show that perceived distributive unfairness is positively associated with depression. However, each of the two indicators of religion—religious attendance and salience—weakens the positive association between perceived distributive unfairness and depression among women, but not men. These observations suggest that religion provides a stress-buffering effect against perceived distributive unfairness only for women. Thus, the findings of this study highlight the gendered ways that religion shapes the association between perceived distributive unfairness and mental health. I discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for views about the complex interrelationships among stress, coping resources, gender, and mental health.

scholarly journals Religious Participation: Does It Matter for Sustainable Culture and Entertainment Consumption?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7999
Author(s):  
Yugang He ◽  
Jingnan Wang ◽  
Baek-Ryul Choi
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Income Group ◽  
Religious Participation ◽  
Matching Method ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Full Sample ◽  
Informal Institution ◽  
Sustainable Culture ◽  
Chinese General Social Survey

Previous research has studied the correlations between income, education, and sustainable culture and entertainment consumption. The correlation between religion as an informal institution and culture and entertainment consumption is often neglected. Based on this background, this paper attempts to explore the correlation between religious participation (as a proxy for religion) and three kinds of sustainable culture and entertainment consumption. Using the data from the Chinese General Social Survey in 2017 to perform empirical analysis, it is found that religious participation is negatively correlated with the sustainable culture and entertainment consumption. Two-stage least squares and propensity score matching method were employed, verifying the robustness of this result. Additionally, the full sample was divided into sub-samples to discuss the heterogeneous correlation between religious participation and sustainable culture and entertainment consumption. The results suggest that in the low income group and the low marketization degree group, religious participation is most relevant to the sustainable culture and entertainment consumption. This paper contributes to enriching current research.

scholarly journals Does Religion Buffer Against the Detrimental Effect of Cyberbullying Victimization on Adults’ Health and Well-Being? Evidence from the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110500
Author(s):  
Lei Chai
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cyberbullying Victimization ◽  
Health And Well Being

While prior research has well-documented the detrimental effect of cyberbullying victimization on health and well-being among children and adolescents, less is known about whether the same adverse pattern can be observed among adults. Moreover, it is unclear about what psychosocial resources might moderate this association. The present study uses a nationally representative cross-sectional survey—2014 Canadian General Social Survey ( N = 17,548)—to examine three research questions. First, is cyberbullying victimization associated with adults’ self-rated health, mental health, and life satisfaction? Second, how does religiosity—religious service attendance and religious beliefs—moderate this association? Third, do any observed patterns further differ for men and women? Through a series of logistic and ordinary least squares regression models, the results show that adults who experienced cyberbullying victimization in the past 5 years are more likely to report poor self-rated health and mental health compared to those who did not experience cyberbullying victimization in the past 5 years. Likewise, cyberbullying victimization is also associated with lower levels of life satisfaction. In addition, the adverse associations of cyberbullying victimization in the past 5 years with self-rated health and life satisfaction are weaker among those who attended religious service at least once a week in the past twelve months. A similar pattern is observed for the buffering effect of viewing religious beliefs as very important in the adverse association of cyberbullying victimization in the past 5 years with self-rated life satisfaction. There is also evidence suggesting the gendered buffering effect of the importance of religious beliefs in the association between cyberbullying victimization and self-rated health. This study makes important empirical and theoretical contributions to the growing field of research on the association between cyberbullying victimization and health and well-being and to our understanding of how religion matters to individuals dealing with stressful experiences.

scholarly journals The Effects of Social Media Use on the Health of Older Adults: An Empirical Analysis Based on 2017 Chinese General Social Survey

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1143
Author(s):  
Liping Fu ◽  
Yu Xie
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Internet Use ◽  
Media Use ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Chinese General Social Survey

An aging population and social informatization are currently the two main social phenomena affecting China. Under their influences, the real-life experiences of older adults are becoming more and more closely connected to the online world, and the influences of the Internet on healthy aging cannot be ignored. This work aimed to study whether Internet use had an effect on the physical and mental health of older adults, whether the effect was positive or negative, and whether its influence on physical and mental health was heterogeneous. In this study, data from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) was used to analyze the effects of social media use on the physical and mental health of older adults. The results indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between social media use and the health of older adults. The correlation between social media use and mental health of older adults was more significant than physical health. These results could help us further study the effects of Internet use on the health of older adults.

Belief in Heaven and Hell among Christians in the United States: Denominational Differences and Clinical Implications

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Juola Exline
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Participation ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Current Analysis ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Impending Death ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Afterlife Beliefs

In situations involving impending death or bereavement, afterlife beliefs may become salient. Although prior studies have examined afterlife beliefs, little attention has been devoted to the specific constructs of Heaven and Hell. Using data from United States Christians in the 1998 General Social Survey, the current analysis revealed that the majority believed in both Heaven and Hell. Fundamentalist Protestants reported greater belief in Heaven and Hell than Catholics, Mainline Protestants, or Liberal Protestants. Regardless of denomination, greater religious participation was associated with greater belief in an afterlife, Heaven, and Hell. Clinical implications are discussed. For example, whereas thoughts of Heaven should comfort those facing death, the possibility of Hell could intensify distress around the loss. When practitioners work with individuals facing death—either the client's own impending death or the death of another person—it may be helpful to carefully assess the client's specific beliefs about the afterlife.

scholarly journals Religious Market Structure, Religious Participation, and Outcomes: Is Religion Good for You?

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan H Gruber
Keyword(s):  
Church Attendance ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Economic Outcomes ◽  
Religious Participation ◽  
Micro Data ◽  
Welfare Receipt ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Religious Preference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Market Density

AbstractReligion plays an important role in the lives of many Americans, but there is relatively little study by economists of the implications of religiosity for economic outcomes. This likely reflects the enormous difficulty inherent in separating the causal effects of religiosity from other factors that are correlated with outcomes. In this paper, I propose a potential solution to this long standing problem, by noting that a major determinant of religious participation is religious market density, or the share of the population in an area which is of an individual’s religion. I make use of the fact that exogenous predictions of market density can be formed based on area ancestral mix. That is, I relate religious participation and economic outcomes to the correlation of the religious preference of one’s own heritage with the religious preference of other heritages that share one’s area. I use the General Social Survey (GSS) to model the impact of market density on church attendance, and micro-data from the 1990 Census to model the impact on economic outcomes. I find that a higher market density leads to a significantly increased level of religious participation, and as well to better outcomes according to several key economic indicators: higher levels of education and income, lower levels of welfare receipt and disability, higher levels of marriage, and lower levels of divorce.

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