1. Religion as a Source of Stress, Coping, and Identity among Jewish Adolescents.
- Author
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Dubow, Eric F., Pargament, Kenneth I., Boxer, Paul, and Tarakeshwar, Nalini
- Abstract
This study examined the degree to which religion is perceived as a source of stress and as a coping resource among Jewish students. Subjects, 75 sixth- through eighth-grade students in a Midwestern city, completed a survey in Sunday school. Twenty of the students also responded to a structured interview about their stressors and coping strategies. The mean age was 12.60 years with 56 percent of the sample being males. Forty-eight percent attended a Reform, 31 percent a Conservative, and 21 percent an Orthodox synagogue. Over 50 percent of the sample reported having experienced a variety of religious stressors in the past year, such as being restricted from activities due to the Sabbath or experiencing anti-Semitic comments. In responding to the Brief Religious Coping Strategies Scale for Jewish Children, developed for this study, students endorsed a variety of religious coping strategies from each of three factors: (1) seeking God's direction/support; (2) seeking cultural/social support; and (3) spiritual struggle. Religious stressors and coping strategies were positively related to several measures of Jewish identity. (Author/KB)
- Published
- 1999