Background

Previous research has shown that religion mitigates the deleterious association between financial hardship and health. Although religion is a multidimensional construct, this strand of research has primarily focused on religious behavior or belief.

Purpose

The current study aims to extend previous findings by examining a neglected aspect of religious involvement—religious experience—and how it buffers the association between financial hardship and self-rated health.

Methods

The current study analyzes two waves of data from the Portraits of American Life Study (2006–2012) (N = 1020), a nationally representative sampling of American adults. It uses lagged dependent variable regression models.

Results

The analyses reveal that financial hardship measured at W2 is negatively associated with self-rated health at W2, net of W1 self-rated health and control measures. Religious experience of receiving direct help from angels in time of a need does not moderate this association. By contrast, the negative association between financial hardship and self-rated health is weakened among individuals who strongly agree that they experienced a supernatural miracle.

Conclusions and Implications

The findings in the study dovetail with the stress process model, indicating that religious experience serves as a personal resource that helps individuals deal with financial hardship. By highlighting the stress-buffering effects of religious experience, the current study rounds out our understanding of the complex linkages among stress, religion, and health.

中文翻译：

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经济困难、宗教经历和健康

背景

先前的研究表明，宗教减轻了经济困难与健康之间的有害关联。尽管宗教是一个多维结构，但这一研究主要集中在宗教行为或信仰上。

目的

目前的研究旨在通过检查宗教参与中被忽视的一个方面——宗教经验——以及它如何缓冲经济困难和自评健康之间的关联，来扩展先前的研究结果。

方法

目前的研究分析了美国生活肖像研究（2006-2012 年）（N = 1020）的两波数据，该研究是美国成年人的全国代表性样本。它使用滞后因变量回归模型。

结果

分析表明，在 W2 测量的经济困难与 W2 自评健康负相关，扣除 W1 自评健康和控制措施。在需要时从天使那里获得直接帮助的宗教经验并不能缓和这种关联。相比之下，在强烈同意他们经历了超自然奇迹的个人中，经济困难与自评健康之间的负相关关系被削弱了。

结论和启示

研究结果与压力过程模型相吻合，表明宗教经历是帮助个人应对经济困难的个人资源。通过强调宗教经历的压力缓冲作用，目前的研究完善了我们对压力、宗教和健康之间复杂联系的理解。