Religious Beliefs Affect Grieving After Pregnancy Loss
Abstract
Religious beliefs and practices may aid in coping with bereavement and grief after pregnancy loss. Data from 103 women enrolled in the original Lehigh Valley Perinatal Loss Project, and who were followed-up for at least 1 year, were evaluated for the impact of initial religious practices and beliefs on the course and severity of grief. Religious practices corresponding to standard scales of religiosity and agreement with specific beliefs were rated by the women on a Likert scale of 1-5. Neither agreement with statements corresponding to extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity or to positive religious coping, nor frequency of religious service attendance was predictive of follow-up scores on the Perinatal Grief Scale. Religious struggle, agreement with statements classified as negative religious coping, and continued attachment to the baby were all associated with more severe grief.
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Involvement in religious activity and strength of religious faith have been inversely associated with grief in some studies but not others.
“Involvement in religious activity and strength of religious faith have been inversely associated with grief in some studies [101, 102] but not others [103].”
From Men’s grief following pregnancy loss and neonatal loss: a systematic review and emerging theoretical model (2020) · cites this paper as [103]
Findings on demographic factors have also been inconsistent in women.
“For example, findings on demographic factors have also been inconsistent.”
From Men’s grief following pregnancy loss and neonatal loss: a systematic review and emerging theoretical model (2020) · cites this paper as [103]
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- Authors
- Cowchock, F. S., Lasker, J. N., Toedter, L. J., Skumanich, S. A., & Koenig, H. G.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Lehigh University (US)
- Moravian University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cowchock, F. S.
- Venue
- Journal of Religion and Health
- Published
- 2009-08-19
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 485-497
- ISSN
- 0022-4197 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-6571
- OpenAlex
- W1969186128
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 3.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Religion and Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- John Templeton Foundation
- Lehigh University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Keywords
- religious beliefs, grief, miscarriage, perinatal loss, bereavement, religiosity, religious coping, religious struggle, religious service attendance, Perinatal Grief Scale
- MeSH terms
- Abortion, Spontaneous, Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Attitude to Health, Bereavement, Female, Fetal Death, Humans, Mothers, Object Attachment, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Trimester, First, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Support, Spirituality, Young Adult
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