Symposium 1: International Research in the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality: Rewards and Challenges

Kevin A. Harris, Our Lady of the Lake University

International research in any field is challenging, but the field of the psychology of religion and spirituality proposes unique challenges for international research. Different languages, ethnicities, belief systems, practices, and political realities all conspire to make international psychological research in religion and spirituality particularly rich — and particularly daunting. Four researchers talk about these unique challenges from four different perspectives. One researcher from the United States discusses the challenges of collaborating cross-nationally on an international survey of religiousness, spirituality, music preferences, and food preferences. Another researcher from China presents on religious and secular meanings of diplomas from the perspectives of communist Chinese and religious American college students. A pair of researchers and clinicians from the United States and Sweden describe Qualitative research on a collaboration between clergy and mental health clinicians in Sweden. Finally, a Protestant Christian minister discusses his views on research methods on an anecdotal level with his international education experience. We highlight some of the challenges of international research in the psychology of religion and spirituality.

 

1.1.) Challenges in International Research: Illustrations from a Religious, Spiritual, Music, and Food Preferences Survey

Kevin A. Harris, Our Lady of the Lake University, Chun-Han Chen, Independent Practice in China, Fernando Cadiz Carandang, Jr., Our Lady of Fatima University, Stephanie Silva, Daquane Triplett, and Ann Stalcup, Our Lady of the Lake University 

International research in the psychology of religion and spirituality can be both rewarding and challenging. Recently, a multinational team of researchers has been collaborating in an attempt to conduct an international survey of religiousness, spirituality, music preferences, and food preferences in the United States, Mexico, China, and The Philippines. What started out as a simple effort to translate and back-translate a series of short instruments to and from Spanish and Simplified Chinese has become a much larger effort, with language barriers, political differences, and cultural differences. We present some of the challenges of translating a survey, not only into different languages, but also into different cultures. We discuss the challenges of communicating by email in English — the only language that we all speak, though not all of us are fluent in it. We explore the cultural challenges of finding equivalent music and food examples, as one of our surveys asks about different types of food by giving examples of food common in the United States but not necessarily elsewhere, and another survey asks about music tempo, tonality, and genre by giving examples from American popular music. We quickly found, therefore, that direct translations were not culturally equivalent, even when translated words were available. We also found international differences in research, with one researcher in China needing a letter of recommendation from a researcher in the United States in order to prove to the government that he was doing legitimate research, as he was not authorized to conduct research on his own. We discuss the challenges in finding and developing international research methods which are culturally sensitive and practical.

 

1.2.) Religious Beliefs and Coronavirus in China in 2020

Chun-Han Chen, Independent Practice in China

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has dramatically altered how education is currently being delivered in China. Driven by the current economic plans of China, Chinese society is spreading equal and practical education in college and universities. Advanced and widespread information about Chinese socialism is delivered via educational channels throughout China. A new belief about religion is gradually being formed in China. Religion means good management of private possessions and properties as well as endeavoring to serve society by contributing to occupation and family. The belief that “worldliness is faith” is instilled and actualized in China. Compared to much regulation of job assignments in China before 2005, now China is encouraging young adults to search for their own job based on their interests. Meanwhile, along with the cultivation of social justice and the Chinese culture of labor, more Chinese people now believe that personal effort is nearer to the divine than support from heaven. Also, new empirical studies are being initiated to study believers of religion in Taiwan. The hypothesis is that Taiwanese individuals rely on traditional rituals more and regard spiritual gains more heavily than worldly concerns.

 

1.3.) International Complementarity: Qualitative Research on Clergy and Mental Health Clinician Collaboration in Sweden

Glen Milstein, City College of New York, and Lisa Rudolfsson, Gothenburg Research Institute

People often seek counsel from clergy before they seek help from mental health professionals. Collaboration between clinicians and religious congregations can provide a way to initiate and sustain continuities of mental health care. There is therefore a need for clergy to have a way to make referrals to clinicians, and for clinicians to have a familiarity with the multiple roles of clergy and religion. As a pilot study for a project on applying the Clergy Outreach and Professional Engagement (COPE) model in Sweden, a focus group with licensed psychologists and pastoral care givers was conducted. Transcripts were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Findings included a need for knowledge and a need for collaboration. Barriers for collaboration concerned ministers’ vow of silence and a lack of resources within primary care and psychiatry. There is a need for further discussion regarding confidentiality within the Church, and to address structural and personal barriers within mental health care.  This talk will describe an ongoing three-year collaboration with a researcher at the Gothenburg Research Institute in Sweden:  mental health projects completed and immigration projects in development.

 

1.4.) International Research Methods in the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality: A Pastor’s Perspective

Pastor Stig Lindberg, Universal Life Church Monastery

As a Protestant Christian minister at the Universal Life Church Monastery, I have a unique perspective to contribute to a symposium on international differences in research methods. I am not trained in research methods for a variety of reasons, though I have applied to a summer program on research methods in religious studies next summer in Germany, but I am interested in research, and my experience with international education and my profession as a minister gives me a unique cross-cultural perspective on research. My impression is that Western education tends to be very enthusiastic about research methods, while some countries (like Japan) are less enthusiastic about research methods, approaching research from a different, more holistic perspective. Not being a researcher on this topic, I do not have hard data on this matter, but I can contribute something on an anecdotal level with my international education experience.

 

 

Symposium 2: A Dozen Years of Clergy Outreach & Professional Engagement (COPE) by the Mental Health Center of Denver:  Pragmatic Translation from Theory to Practice

Glen Milstein, City College of New York, Jamie Adasi. Mental Health Center of Denver

The World Health Organization identified mental health as a necessary Sustainable Development Goal, one responsive to social determinants.  To achieve this goal, we need to change from medical models – which identify illness before intervention – to prevention models that encourage wellness.  This requires collaboration of professional caregivers with non-specialists – such as clergy – who are part of persons’ communities across their lifespan.  For the last twelve years, the Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD) has used the prevention science model of Clergy Outreach & Professional Engagement (COPE) as a template to develop clinical programming.  Beginning with a presentation on the developmental psychology foundation and prevention science structure of COPE, this symposium will present insights from five persons.  A person with lived experience of mental illness will describe the distinct and complementary roles of mental health care and religion in everyday life:  individual and in community.  Next, an MHCD clinician will describe both the borders between religion and treatment, as well as the bridges that recent programming has built.  Community clergy will describe both collaboration with MHCD, and congregational programming, which helps persons before (and after) they need care.  The final presentation by the Faith & Spiritual Inclusiveness Director – part of MHCD’s Diversity & Inclusiveness administration – will describe their ongoing program to assess needs, train staff, engage peers, and facilitate community collaboration, including the “nuts and bolts” of the paperwork and agency-wide communication.  There will be time at the end of the symposium for questions and discussion.

 

2.1.) Clergy Outreach & Professional Engagement (COPE): Bridges and Borders of Collaborative Mental Health Care

Glen Milstein, City College of New York

With roots in people’s early development, religion plays a role in infant attachment, adolescent identity and adult generativity: powerful sources of hope and affirmation, as well as rejection and denigration.  There are over 344,894 religious congregations in the United States.  Therefore, how can professional mental health care build bridges to work with religious communities to facilitate early detection and care, to provide treatment, then to collaborate for recovery and also relapse prevention?  How can we both build bridges to work with religion resources, while also maintain the borders necessary to assess the positive and the negative effects of religion?  In order to provide services to persons of diverse religious and spiritual traditions and life choices, how do we – as clinicians – maintain a professional border, and not advocate a personal religious world view?  How do clergy nurture wellness in their communities, build bridges to work with clinicians, and also retain a border so they remain religious leaders and are not seen as adjunctive counselors?  This talk will describe a lifespan development narrative of religion, integrated with a prevention-science-based model of Clergy Outreach & Professional Engagement (COPE) that guides an ongoing twelve-year public health initiative by the Mental Health Center of Denver.  This initiative works to improve continuity of care through collaboration between religious communities, clinicians, persons with lived experience, as well as their families.

 

2.2.) The Bridges and Borders of Religion and Spirituality in Clinical Work

Rose McPhee, Mental Health Center of Denver

As a therapist at the Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD) crisis clinic, I am frequently called on to help individuals find meaning and purpose during periods of crisis and upheaval. In order to facilitate self-soothing, healing, and emotional stability I often explore religious and/or spiritual beliefs. At times discussing faith in a higher power proves comforting and as a reminder that problems are solvable with divine assistance. Other times people express feeling lost and betrayed by God, even that God is punishing them and extracting revenge. Both situations are important fodder for discussion about faith and belief. I have many examples of cases where the discussion of spirituality and belief proved crucial to recovering mental and emotional wellness. Exploring spirituality and religion is a big part of my practice as a mental health clinician at MHCD.

 

2.3.) Spirituality and Lived Experiences of Mental Illness

Thea Washington, Mental Health Center of Denver

In my experiences in therapy I have found that there are two questions that serve best: “What brings you strength?” and “What do you want your life to look like in the future?”.  The first question asks you to understand where you come from, which can lead to the insights and techniques that help you do the work to make change.   The second question points you to a path toward a destination.  The role of the clinician is primary in the first question.  The role of spiritual teachers and communities becomes primary with the clinician providing support for the second question.  This talk will describe my experiences in understanding the different work needed to answer each question, and the benefits of the answers.  My suggestion to clinicians is to do what you do to help the people you serve answer the first question, so that they can build the strengths to then – on their own – find persons and communities with whom to work to answer the second question. What these questions – and their answers share – is that they generate: hope.

 

2.4.) Building Bridges across Borders: Does Seeking Therapy Put My Religiosity in Peril?

Rabbi Tzvi Steinberg, Congregation Zera Abraham

Many speak of mental illness in hushed tones because of fear generated by the stigma of the mysteries of mental illness.  In the Orthodox Jewish community, there is often a fear to seek care, because it could harm one’s reputation.  There is also a fear that a clinician will lead a person to stray from religion.  I will discuss my work as a rabbi and sometimes collaborator with mental health clinicians, and how these collaborations should be seen as work across distinct borders. The clergy must seek the very best clinician for their congregants and assure that the emphasis be on clinical needs and professional care, more than any shared religious views. We will discuss how clergy should provide encouragement to constituents to seek care and also should provide information to clinicians to help them distinguish normative from non-normative religious practices. Clergy should seek information from clinicians to understand some etiologies of mental illnesses and also ways to promote well-being and recovery when persons finish their care. We will discover real life examples from my work with MHCD of persons who suffered, were treated, got well and built lives they sustain.

 

2.5.) Bridges and Borders Need Relationships and Paperwork: A Day, a Week, a Month, and a Year Facilitating Faith & Spiritual Inclusiveness at the Mental Health Center of Denver

Jamie Adasi, Mental Health Center of Denver

A dozen years ago, the Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD), made a choice to explore the possibility of incorporating religion and spirituality into our provision of care.  This work has had two phases.  Initially, we determined a strong interest among persons who receive our services and those who provide services.  At that time we also began to form relationships with religious communities in the Denver area.  Today, we have programs of mindfulness and spirituality trainings among staff, Mental Health First Aid in the community, and collaborate with faith groups to help address the needs of immigrants and refugees.  Our next phase will be to see how we can develop outcome studies to evaluate the effects of these collaborations.

 

 

Symposium 3: Religious Openness to Secularism (ROSE): Explaining (Away) the Conflict Between Religion and Science among American Protestant Christians

Job Chen, Clemson University

This symposium consists of four presentations from the ROSE Studies, summarizing “Cross-Cultural Correlational Studies on the Conflict between Religion and Intellectual Openness,” “Does Religious Commitment Cause Defensiveness Against Secularism and Therefore a Rejection of Analytical Thinking?” “Does Analytic Thinking Reduce Religious Commitment Through Lowered Defensiveness against Secularism?” and “Does Secular Threat against Religion Lead to Doubling Down on Religious Commitment?”

 

3.1.) Cross-Cultural Correlational Studies on the Conflict between Religion and Intellectual Openness

Job Chen, Clemson University

This presentation examines the seemingly unreconcilable conflict between religion and science with correlational data from five countries (India, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, and United States) across five religious traditions and sects (Protestant Christianity, Armenian Orthodox, Hinduism, Shiite and Sunni sects of Islam). The key conclusions are twofold. First, the negative correlation between religious commitment and intellectual openness is only salient in the American society (among Protestant Christians). By contrast, individuals high in religious commitment are more open to intellectual reflection in other cultures and religious traditions abovementioned. Second, using mediation analyses, I will show that the negative association between religious belief and intellectual openness in the Protestant Christian American society can be explained by defensiveness against secularism, an ideological attitude commonly observed in today’s American secular society; I will also show that the positive association between religious belief and intellectual openness in the Islamic societies can find its motivation from the encouragement for knowledge in the Islamic tradition.

 

3.2.) Does Religious Commitment Cause Defensiveness Against Secularism and Therefore a Rejection of Analytical Thinking?

Randle Villanueva, Clemson University

This presentation examines the seemingly unreconcilable conflict between religion and science with experimental data collected from American participants on MTurk. An overview of this multi-study project (14 studies of a total of N = 4416 subjects) will be first given. Then, I will present some preliminary results from 7 of studies that examine the causal path of “religious commitment à defensiveness à analytic thinking” and “defensiveness à analytic thinking”. In these studies, we used various priming methods that manipulated religiosity (with religious music and work scrambling task) and defensiveness against secularism (with fake news describing secular attack on Christianity), and measured analytic thinking abilities with syllogism tests, attitudes toward analytic thinking, and defensiveness. Hypotheses that religiosity may inhibit analytic thinking through heightened defensiveness against secularism will be examined and discussed.

 

3.3.) Does Analytic Thinking Reduce Religious Commitment Through Lowered Defensiveness against Secularism?

Courtney Gouge and Randle Villanueva, Clemson University

Following the previous presentation, this presentation will show some preliminary results from 4 of the ROSE studies that examine the causal path of “analytic thinking à defensiveness à religious commitment”. In these studies, we used various priming methods that manipulated analytic thinking (cognitive disfluency task and analytic thinking recall task), and measured religiosity with self-report measures of God belief and willingness to identify as Christian, and attitudes of defensiveness. Hypotheses that analytic may reduce report of religiosity through defensiveness against secularism will be examined and discussed.

 

3.4.) Does Secular Threat against Religion Lead to Doubling Down on Religious Commitment?

Anna Peterson and Randle Villanueva, Clemson University

Following the previous presentation, this presentation will complete the loop by showing some preliminary results from 3 of the ROSE studies that examine the causal path of “defensiveness à religious commitment”. In these studies, we used various priming methods that manipulated defensiveness against secularism, and measured religiosity with self-report measures of God belief and willingness to identify as Christian, and attitudes of defensiveness. Hypotheses that defensiveness against secularism could increase commitment to Christianity will be examined and discussed.

 

 

Symposium 4: Spiritual Experiences in Mundane Bonding Relationships and Shamanic Journeys: Semi-Structured Interview Studies

Job Chen, Clemson University

This symposium consists of four presentations on the topics of “Mystical Experiences in Shamanic Journeys: A Qualitative Study of Shamanic Experience,” “Common Core Experiential Themes of Shamanic Journeys,” “Spiritual Experiences in Relationships: A Qualitative Study of the ‘Deep Bond’,” and “Common Core Experiential Themes of Relational Spirituality.”

 

4.1.) Mystical Experiences in Shamanic Journeys: A Qualitative Study of Shamanic Experience

Kshitija Kelkar and Job Chen, Clemson University

Shamanic practitioners often reach altered states of consciousness in their practice where they interact with a “spirit world” and channel these transcendental energies into this world. The current study uses a semi-structured interview method to investigate the spiritual and mystic experiences among Shaman practitioners. The interview questions were informed by the theoretical framework of common core thesis that examines spiritual and mystical experiences across various traditions (Hood, 1975; Chen et al., 2011). We framed our questions to focus on the “unity” and meaning experienced in the Shamanic practices. Participants are N=60 Shaman teachers in North America. In this presentation, we will present the methods we used, and give an overview of the findings in the context of both psychological science and Shamanism.

 

4.2.) Common Core Experiential Themes of Shamanic Journeys

Sarah Roberts and Kshitija Kelkar, Clemson University

This presentation will follow from the previous one on detailing the themes we uncovered from semi-structured interviews with Shamans. Inspired by the social scientific study of mysticism, nine broad categories of questions tapped into unitary experiences, ego loss, loss of time and space awareness, inner subjectivity, positive and negative effects, noetic quality, sacredness, and ineffability. Under each category, we theme coded participants’ experiences, and this presentation will showcase how Shamans’ experiences fit into these categories, and where they deviate.

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4.3.) Spiritual Experiences in Relationships: A Qualitative Study of the ‘Deep Bond’

Janki Patel and Job Chen, Clemson University

Spirituality has so far been primarily studied at an individual level and often in the context of a religious/spiritual tradition. However, we believe that one can and often does acquire strong spiritual experience in a mundane and interpersonal context, such as with one’s best friend. The current study uses a semi-structured interview method to investigate the spirituality and mystic core in interpersonal relationships. The interview questions were informed by the theoretical framework of common core thesis that examines spiritual and mystical experiences at an individual level. We framed our questions to focus on the “unity” and meaning experienced in the relationships. Participants are N = 30 individuals who reported to have had a relationship in which they experienced a deep bond with the other person. This presentation will give an overview of this study and discuss ways to conceptualize and empirically study ‘relational spirituality’ in a non-religious context.

 

4.4.) Common Core Experiential Themes of Relational Spirituality

Dominique Black and Janki Patel, Clemson University

This presentation will follow from the previous one on detailing the themes we uncovered from semi-structured interviews with student participants who reported to have deep bond in relationships. Inspired by the social scientific study of mysticism, nine broad categories of questions tapped into unitary experiences, ego loss, loss of time and space awareness, inner subjectivity, positive and negative effects, noetic quality, sacredness, and ineffability. Under each category, we theme coded participants’ experiences, and this presentation will showcase how the spiritual experiences from a deep interpersonal bond fit into these categories, and where they deviate.

 

 

Symposium 5: Religiousness/Spirituality, Sexual Orientation, and Health: Literature Reviews and a Meta-Analysis

G. Tyler Lefevor, Rhodes College

How does an individual’s sense of religiousness or sexual orientation influence their health? Over the past two decades 14 meta-analysis have examined the relationship between religiousness and health and 11 have examined the relationship between sexual orientation and health. However, no meta-analysis has looked at the relationship between religiousness in health among sexual minorities. This symposium explores the processes by which religiousness and sexual orientation may relate to health and examines how these processes may occur among sexual minorities. The first presentation in this symposium reviews the literature describing the relationship between religiousness/spirituality and health, highlighting the aspects of religiousness/spirituality that appear most closely related to health. Next, the second presentation reviews literature that examines the relationship between sexual identity and health, focusing on studies that look at health disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual individuals. This presentation focuses on mechanisms that may explain these health disparities including discrimination, hypervigilance, and internalized heterosexism. Finally, the symposium concludes with a meta-analytic summary of the relationship between religiousness and health among sexual minorities. This presentation describes both the ways in which this relationship varies across aspects of religiousness and indicators of sexual orientation. The symposium concludes by providing recommendations for future research examining the relationship between religiousness, sexual orientation, and health.

 

5.1.) Religion, Spirituality, and Health: A Review of the Literature and Existing Meta-Analyses

Edward B. Davis & Austin Lemke, Wheaton College

Over 80% of the world population identifies as religious or spiritual (Pew Research Center, 2012), and there now is a voluminous scientific literature documenting the interconnections between religiousness/spirituality and health (Koenig, 2012, 2018; Koenig, King, & Carson, 2012). This presentation will summarize that literature. First, we will review a few conceptual frameworks that explain the pathways through which religiousness/spirituality influences health and vice versa (Davis, Granqvist, & Sharp, 2018; Koenig, 2012; Koenig et al., 2012; Pargament, 2013; Park & Slattery, 2013). Next, we will summarize and synthesize the results of the existing systematic reviews (e.g., Bonelli & Koenig, 2013; Koenig, 2012; Koenig et al., 2012) and meta-analyses (e.g., Hackney & Sanders, 2003; Jim et al., 2015; Shor & Roelfs, 2013; Wu, Wang, & Jia, 2015) on this relationship, highlighting the aspects of religiousness/spirituality (e.g., intrinsic religiousness and nonorganizational religiousness [private religious/spiritual practices]) that are most consistently linked to health outcomes. Last, we will discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.

 

5.2.) Sexual Minority Identity and Health

Jeffrey A. Paulez, Colorado State University

A substantial body of literature has found sexual minorities report higher rates of mental and physical health concerns than their heterosexual peers (e.g., Hatzenbuehler, Hilt, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2010; Institute of Medicine, 2011; Mustanski, Garofalo, & Emerson, 2010; Spittlehouse, Boden, & Horwood, 2019). Through the lens of the minority stress model (MSM; Meyer, 1995), these health disparities can be understood as largely the effects of prejudice, stigma, and chronic stress. Meyer (2013) illustrated how research on stereotypes, prejudice, and stigma can help demystify mental health challenges experienced by sexual minorities. Acute and chronic stress due to stigma and discrimination correlate with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and shame among sexual minorities (e.g., Mereish & Poteat, 2015). Additionally, a recent longitudinal study (Everett, 2015) of a large sample of adolescents and young adults (N = 11,727) found the process of coming out as a sexual minority was associated with increased depressive symptoms, suggesting continued stigmatization of LGBQ individuals and a need to better understand the process of sexual minority identity and connections to well-being and health. This presentation will review the literature on health disparities among sexual minorities compared to heterosexual peers and offer insight into the key mechanisms that may help explain these differences.

 

5.3.) The Effects of Religiousness on Health among Sexual Minorities: A Meta-Analysis

G. Tyler Lefevor, Rhodes College

Although many sexual minorities distance themselves from religion and spirituality, others continue to engage in ways that are both helpful and harmful to their health. To better understand the circumstances under which religiousness/spirituality is related to health, I conducted a meta-analysis of 264 effect sizes nested within 71 studies that quantitatively examine the relationship between relationship between religiousness and health in a sexual minority sample. I found that the overall relationship between religiousness and health among sexual minorities was not significantly different than zero. Moderator analyses indicated that this relationship was negative when participants were recruited from sexual minority venues (e.g., a local LGBTQ center) and positive when religiousness was measured as religious cognition or belief or as spirituality. These trends highlight that (a) sexual minorities do not evidence the beneficial relationships between religiousness/spirituality and health that heterosexual individuals do, (b) religiousness/spirituality appears most beneficial for sexual minorities when it is internalized rather than institutionalized, and (c) sexual minorities who attend LGBTQ centers may experience more negative effects of religiousness/spirituality.

 

 

Symposium 6: Religion and Spirituality among LGBTQ Individuals Raised in Conservative Religions

G. Tyler Lefevor, Rhodes College

Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) individuals leave organized religion due to conflict between their sexual or gender identity and religious upbringing. However, others remain engaged and report a variety of experiences with religion and spirituality. This symposium explores the experiences and outcomes of LGBTQ individuals raised in conservative religions. The symposium begins with an exploration of how homonegativity may be formed in places of worship. With a sample of 239 individuals recruited from their places of worship, the first study examines the role of individual religiousness, congregational policies and procedures around LGBTQ individuals, and clergy characteristics influence the formation and maintenance of homonegativity. Following this exploration, the second and third presentations examine the experiences of LGBTQ individuals from two conservative religions: Islam and Mormonism. The second presentation presents data from a sample of 162 LGBTQ Muslims, finding a link between sexual/religious identity integration and depression. The third presentation presents data from 93 LGBTQ Mormons who are part of a representative sample of adolescents. Analyses explore the ways that religion/spirituality may or may not be protective for these youth. Taken together, the talks in this symposium aim to help participants better understand the diversity of experiences faced by LGBTQ individuals from conservative religions and the role psychologists may play in ameliorating health disparities experienced by these individuals.

 

6.1.) The Role of Individual, Congregational, and Clergy Variables in the Formation and Maintenance of Homonegativity

G. Tyler Lefevor, Rhodes College

Attitudes held toward lesbian women and gay men (ATLG) have a direct impact on the health and experience of these individuals. Understanding how these attitudes are formed and enacted, particularly within religious organizations, may point to ways that stigma may be reduced and health disparities ameliorated. With a sample of 239 congregants from 14 randomly selected places of worship, we examined the influence of individual, congregational, and clergy-level variables on attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men (ATLG). Results indicated that congregation- and clergy-level variables explained 35% of the variation in ATLG with individual-level variables and error explaining the remaining variation. Of the variables assessed, orthodoxy—as a congregation-level variable, the affirmativeness of clergy’s preaching, and the frequency with which scripture was quoted in services explained the most variation in ATLG. Overall, relationships between congregation- and clergy-level variables with ATLG were larger than were relationships between individual-level variables and ATLG. Our results suggest that ATLG may vary more by congregation than they do between individuals in the same congregation. We encourage continued work to examine how congregations and clergy may contribute to the formation and change of ATLG.

 

6.2.) Gay and Bisexual Muslim Men’s Mental Health: Identifying the Intersectional Factors Linked to Self-Esteem and Depression

Chana Etengoff, Adelphi University, and Eric M. Rodriguez, City University of New York

Qualitative research suggests that LGBTQ Muslims face religion/sexual identity challenges, however, these conflicts and risks have not been quantitatively explored to date. The present study sampled 116 gay and 46 bisexual, Indonesian, Muslim men to explore the intersections between their demographic, social support, mental health (self-esteem and depression), sexual identity and religious/spiritual experiences. Firstly, both self-esteem and depression were strongly correlated with education level. Similarly, there were significant differences in the self-esteem for those employed full time and all other employment categories. In terms of sexual identity factors, as expected based on extant research, self-esteem scores positively correlated with outness while depression scores correlated negatively. Relatedly, participants’ internalized homonegativity scores significantly correlated with self-esteem and depression. Correspondingly, participants’ perceived social support scores positively correlated with self-esteem and negatively correlated with depression. In addition, depression was significantly, negatively correlated with sexual and religious identity integration, suggesting that participants that incorporated/merged their faith and sexual orientation identities were able to utilize religious coping mechanisms to buffer the risks of depression. Religious coping and identity integration implications for this multiple minority identity population will be discussed.

 

6.3.) LGBQ Adolescent Religion, Spirituality and Mental Health

Michael Goodman and Justin Dyer, Brigham Young University

This presentation will examine the relationship between religiosity, spirituality and mental health outcomes in LGBQ youth. Ninety-three LGBQ adolescents, part of 1270 total adolescents from the longitudinal Family Foundations of Youth Development study make up the sample. Religiosity and spirituality variables will include affiliation, attendance, salience, and prayer. Mental health outcome variables will include shame, suicidality, depression, anxiety, as well as several positive youth development variables. As part of the analysis, we will examine the differences between LGBQ Latter-day Saint youth and those of other or no religion. Preliminary analyses suggest a few significant differences between LGBQ youth and heterosexual youth as well as within the sample of LGBQ youth themselves based on differences in religiosity. Several findings indicate that religiosity can be protective for LGBQ youth but that there are areas of concern as well. This is contextualized within past finding that religion is not protective for LGBQ individuals.