scholarly journals Strength of Religious Faith: A Comparison of College Athletes

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. p61
Author(s):  
Derek Van Rheenen ◽  
Laura Pryor ◽  
Rachel Roberson ◽  
Ed Wright ◽  
Tarik Glenn

Faith is the foundation of all religions. Sporting practices may be an important site for both private and public expressions or exercises of religious faith. Beyond knowing or construing a deeper meaning to life, the exercise of religious faith may likewise serve as a coping mechanism within the sports context. Specifically, religious practice may help athletes manage the uncertainty of outcome in sport, as well as their fear of sustaining a serious injury. Given the potential psychological benefit of religious faith within this context, researchers have hypothesized that college athletes would demonstrate higher levels of religious faith than other post-secondary students. The current study seeks to expand on this research, examining hypothesized differences among college athletes at a large, public Division I university on the west coast of the United States. Participants completed the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith (SCSRF)—Short Form (Plante, Vallaeys, Sherman, & Wallston, 2002), a five-item self-report measure utilized to assess strength of religious faith regardless of religious affiliation. Findings suggests that both level of athletic competition and racial identification contribute to higher levels of religious faith. That racial identity was a stronger predictor than level of athletic competition is worthy of further exploration from both a social and historical perspective.

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
V. Kovess ◽  
R. de Graaf ◽  
J.M. Haro ◽  
R. Bruffaerts ◽  
F. Gilbert ◽  
...  

Objective:To complete missing information on the influence of spiritual and religious advisors as informal providers for mental health problems in Europe.Methods:Recourse to religious practice or belief when coping with mental health problems was evaluated using data from the ESEMED survey. This was a stratified, multistage, clustered-area probability sample survey of mental health carried out in six European countries which included 8796 subjects. Between countries differences in sociodemographic characteristics, religious affiliation, and prevalence of mental disorders and management of mental disorders were evaluated.Results:Religion appears to play a limited role in coping with mental health problems in Europe. Only 7.9% of individuals seeking help for such problems turned to a religious advisor. This proportion differed between countries from 13% in Italy, 12.5% in Germany, 10.5% in the Netherlands, 5.8% in France, 4.7% in Belgium to 4% in Spain. In addition, seeking help exclusively from religion was reported by only 1.3% of subjects. Practicing religion at least once a week and considering religion as important in daily life were predictors of using religion versus conventional health care only. Use of religion was not influenced by gender and age. Non-Christian respondents and individuals with alcohol disorders were more likely to use religion. In Spain, the use of religion is much lower than average.Conclusions:Unlike the situation in the United States, organised religion does not provide alternative informal mental health care in Europe. At best, it could be considered as an adjunct to conventional care.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (08) ◽  
pp. 845-856
Author(s):  
Jan Pieter Marchal ◽  
Marieke de Vries ◽  
Judith Conijn ◽  
André B Rietman ◽  
Hanneke IJsselstijn ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:With increasing numbers of children growing up with conditions that are associated with acquired brain injury, efficient neuropsychological screening for cognitive deficits is pivotal. Brief self-report measures concerning daily complaints can play an important role in such screening. We translated and adapted the pediatric perceived cognitive functioning (PedsPCF) self- and parent-report item bank to Dutch. This study presents (1) psychometric properties, (2) a new short form, and (3) normative data for the short form.Methods:A general population sample of children and parents was recruited. Dimensionality of the PedsPCF was assessed using confirmatory factor analyses and exploratory bifactor analyses. Item response theory (IRT) modeling was used to evaluate model fit of the PedsPCF, to identify differential item functioning (DIF), and to select items for the short form. To select short-form items, we also considered the neuropsychological content of items.Results:In 1441 families, a parent and/or child participated (response rate 66% at family level). Assessed psychometric properties were satisfactory and the predominantly unidimensional factor structure of the PedsPCF allowed for IRT modeling using the graded response model. One item showed meaningful DIF. For the short form, 10 items were selected.Conclusions:In this first study of the PedsPCF outside the United States, studied psychometric properties of the translated PedsPCF were satisfactory, and allowed for IRT modeling. Based on the IRT analyses and the content of items, we proposed a new 10-item short form. Further research should determine the relation of PedsPCF outcomes with neurocognitive measures and its ability to facilitate neuropsychological screening in clinical practice.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
Ann W. Duncan

The recent Pew Forum study, “‘Nones’ on the Rise,” indicates a growing percentage of religiously unaffiliated adults in the United States and suggests that these individuals do not seek new religions or denominations but nontraditional means of exploring spiritual questions, facilitating religious practice and finding community. This article examines Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) as a case study for the non-traditional religious affiliation and experience of Nones in the twenty-first century. Through staff and participant interviews and attention to the current work of the A.R.E. at its Virginia Beach headquarters and its summer camp in Rural Retreat, Virginia, this article shows how A.R.E. innovation and tradition have allowed this organization to reach Nones and embrace the digital age even as it advocates approaches to religion and spirituality that have deep historical roots in American religious history.


2020 ◽  
pp. 85-115
Author(s):  
Jeff Levin

Chapter 5 summarizes the extensive body of empirical research studies that identify health impacts of religious practice, identity, and beliefs. These include thousands of epidemiologic, clinical, social, and behavioral studies, as well as investigations from other fields, notably health services research, the biomedical sciences, and psychiatry and clinical psychology. Population-health studies are emphasized, and the latest findings are summarized on the impact of religion, for better or worse, on medical and psychiatric outcomes and rates of morbidity, mortality, and disability, both in the United States and globally, and across religious affiliation. The work of Jeff Levin and his colleagues is highlighted here. Also summarized and critiqued are the controversial clinical trials of healing prayer that have received so much attention since the late 1980s


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1231-1242
Author(s):  
Celeste Domsch ◽  
Lori Stiritz ◽  
Jay Huff

Purpose This study used a mixed-methods design to assess changes in students' cultural awareness during and following a short-term study abroad. Method Thirty-six undergraduate and graduate students participated in a 2-week study abroad to England during the summers of 2016 and 2017. Quantitative data were collected using standardized self-report measures administered prior to departure and after returning to the United States and were analyzed using paired-samples t tests. Qualitative data were collected in the form of daily journal reflections during the trip and interviews after returning to the United States and analyzed using phenomenological methods. Results No statistically significant changes were evident on any standardized self-report measures once corrections for multiple t tests were applied. In addition, a ceiling effect was found on one measure. On the qualitative measures, themes from student transcripts included increased global awareness and a sense of personal growth. Conclusions Measuring cultural awareness poses many challenges. One is that social desirability bias may influence responses. A second is that current measures of cultural competence may exhibit ceiling or floor effects. Analysis of qualitative data may be more useful in examining effects of participation in a short-term study abroad, which appears to result in decreased ethnocentrism and increased global awareness in communication sciences and disorders students. Future work may wish to consider the long-term effects of participation in a study abroad for emerging professionals in the field.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-64
Author(s):  
Paul Bergmann ◽  
Cara Lucke ◽  
Theresa Nguyen ◽  
Michael Jellinek ◽  
John Michael Murphy

Abstract. The Pediatric Symptom Checklist-Youth self-report (PSC-Y) is a 35-item measure of adolescent psychosocial functioning that uses the same items as the original parent report version of the PSC. Since a briefer (17-item) version of the parent PSC has been validated, this paper explored whether a subset of items could be used to create a brief form of the PSC-Y. Data were collected on more than 19,000 youth who completed the PSC-Y online as a self-screen offered by Mental Health America. Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) were first conducted to identify and evaluate candidate solutions and their factor structures. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were then conducted to determine how well the data fit the candidate models. Tests of measurement invariance across gender were conducted on the selected solution. The EFAs and CFAs suggested that a three-factor short form with 17 items is a viable and most parsimonious solution and met criteria for scalar invariance across gender. Since the 17 items used on the parent PSC short form were close to the best fit found for any subsets of items on the PSC-Y, the same items used on the parent PSC-17 are recommended for the PSC-Y short form.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Bergmann ◽  
Cara Lucke ◽  
Theresa Nguyen ◽  
Michael Jellinek ◽  
John Michael Murphy

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-297
Author(s):  
Briana Wong

In Cambodia, the government's response to the COVID-19 crisis intersected with religious practice this year, as April played host both to the Christian Holy Week and the Cambodian New Year holiday, rooted in Cambodian Buddhism and indigenous religions. Typically, the Cambodian New Year celebration involves the near-complete shutting down of Phnom Penh, allowing for residents of the capital city to spend the New Year with their families in the countryside. Many Christians stay with their parents or other relatives, who remain primarily Theravada Buddhist, in the rural provinces throughout Holy Week, missing Easter Sunday services to participate in New Year's festivities at their ancestral homes. In light of the government's precautionary cancellation of the all-encompassing festivities surrounding the Cambodian New Year this spring, Christians who have previously spent Easter Sunday addressing controversial questions of interreligious interaction notably focused this year, through online broadcasting, on the resurrection of Jesus. In the United States, the near elimination of in-person gatherings has blurred the boundaries between the ministry roles of recognised church leaders and lay Christians, often women, who have long been leading unofficial services and devotionals over the phone and internet. In this article, I argue that the COVID-19 crisis, with its concomitant mass displacement of church communities from the physical to the technological realm, has impacted transnational Cambodian evangelicalism by establishing greater liturgical alignment between churches in Cambodia and in the diaspora, democratising spiritual leadership and increasing opportunities for interpersonal connectedness within the Cambodian evangelical community worldwide.


Author(s):  
Yilmaz Akyüz

After recurrent crises with severe consequences in the 1990s and early 2000s EDEs have become even more closely integrated into what is now widely recognized as an inherently unstable international financial system. This chapter discusses the factors accelerating global financial integration of EDEs, including monetary policies in major advanced economies, notably the United States. It examines capital inflows and outflows, external balance sheets, the size and composition of gross external assets and liabilities, distinguishing between equity and debt, private and public sectors, local currency and foreign currency debt, bond issues and bank loans, and cross-border and local lending by international banks. It provides data and information on the currency composition of external debt, and non-resident participation in domestic financial markets of emerging economies. These are used to identify the changes in the depth and pattern of integration of emerging economies into the international financial system since the early 1990s.


Author(s):  
Susan E. Whyman

Hutton’s business success and social mobility are viewed in the context of Birmingham’s industrial development, a booming land market, the lack of government regulation, and the diversity of religious practice. This chapter reveals the economic framework that allowed Hutton to amass wealth. Once he settled in Birmingham, he found new ways to develop business skills and make money. Early failure stiffened his resolve, taught him lessons, and led him to focus on selling paper, instead of books. Convinced of the future value of land, he made risky speculations and accumulated large debts. A case study compares Hutton’s response to the Industrial Revolution with that of his sister, Catherine Perkins. Hutton devoted all his energies to making money and buying estates. His sister found greater happiness in her religious faith and charity. Their opposing views about land, trade, money, and religion reveal a spectrum of personal responses to rapid economic change.


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