Religious Involvement, Gratitude, and Change in Depressive Symptoms Over Time

“These investigators maintained that “persistent role strains can confront people with dogged evidence of their own failures or lack of success—and with inescapable proof of their inability to alter the unwanted circumstances in their lives” (Pearlin et al., 1981, p. 340).”

“The third item was taken from the measure of gratitude that was devised by Peterson and Seligman (2004).”

“Studying gratitude is challenging because, as Emmons, McCullough, and Tsang (2003) pointed out, gratitude is difficult to define, and it “defies easy classification.”

“Regarding grateful-ness, five of five studies found positive associations with R/S [121, 122], and with regard to kindness/compassion, three of three studies reported significant positive relationship with R/S [123].”

“This community engagement is likely to lead to both increased social support (Hill & Pargament, 2003) and increased altruistic activities that help to neutralize negative emotions (Krause, 2009; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005; Shariff & Norenzayan, 2007).”

“In accordance with this hypothesis, researchers found that older people high in gratitude were less vulnerable to stressful experiences, showing higher levels of adaptation than those low in gratitude in the context of environmental adversity (Krause, 2006, 2009).”

“While a new body of research has found that gratitude towards God has positive effects on depression and stress, particularly among older Christian individuals (Krause, 2006 , 2009 ; Krause & Ellison, 2009 ), inter-relationships between religion, religious gratitude, and general gratitude remain unclear.”

“Past studies revealed that gratitude towards various aspects of life, such as religious belief, can buffer against the negative impact of stress (Krause, 2006), act as a protective factor against depressive symptoms (Krause, 2009), and relieve death anxiety (Lau & Cheng, 2011).”

“Research into gratitude has found that it can mitigate the risk of financial strain leading to depressive symptoms amongst older adults (Krause 2009), and for those who are depressed, it can buffer the association between increasing depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation (Kleiman et al.”

“Associations between religious/ spiritual beliefs and remission of MDD have been reported in clinical samples (Koenig et al. 1998), and some studies support a prospective link between religiosity and depressive symptoms (Krause, 2009) and disorder (Ellison & Flannelly, 2009).”

“Among the mechanisms proposed by which religious involvement may decrease depressive symptoms or lead to faster remission from depression over time are the effects that religiosity has on maintaining purpose and meaning in life [19] (a key issue for religiosity), an optimistic attitude [20], generosity toward others […”

“—Guru Granth Sahib (1245:10–11) In empirical research as well religiosity and spirituality are found to elevate various positive virtues in Individuals (Currier et al. 2016; Krause 2009; Tsang et al. 2012; Van Cappellen et al. 2014).”

“Boroumandzadeh and Sani [57] and Krause [58] reported that higher spiritual wellbeing was associated with lower anxiety and improve the overall health of students well.”

“Of 444 studies assessing relationships between R/S and depression, 272 (61%) reported lower depression among the more R/S, including 119 (67%) of the 178 highest quality studies [82-84].”

“gratitude benefits on health (Giacomo and McCullough 2006; Krause 2009) no studies have studied this virtue in the setting”

“Model 3 included, in addition to the predictor variables specified in Model 2, also subjective well-being at the previous time point (t-1) as 1678 L. Jans-Beken et al. predictor.”

“For example, Krause (2009) used nationwide survey data with a 2-year interval and did not find that gratitude significantly decreased older adults’ depressive symptoms over time.”

“Krause (2009) found that people who believed that they were working collaboratively with God to solve financial problems were more likely to have higher levels of gratitude; this process buffered the effects of financial strain on change in depression over time.”

“Moreover, Krause has also shown that social relations within the congregation – and particularly spiritual support – may encourage the cultivation of forgiveness (Krause and Ellison 2003) and other virtues or character strengths, including gratitude (Krause 2009) and meaning (Krause 2008b).”

“…included in our analyses because research indicates that greater involvement in religiousness/spirituality is associated with being more forgiving (McElroy et al., 2014) and more grateful to others (Krause, 2009) (see Carlisle & Tsang, 2013 for a review of research on forgiveness and gratitude).”

“Studies have also shown that religious or spiritual people are at a lower risk of developing depressive symptoms and other mental health disorders [3,55,56].”

“…Bay State Rd, Boston, MA, USA comprised of (1) the importance individuals place on their religious beliefs (Koenig et al. 2014; Pargament et al. 1988; Schnittker 2001; Worthington et al. 2003) and (2) engagement in communal religious activities (see Ai et al. 2013; Koenig et al. 2014; Krause 2009).”

“These characteristics may enhance well-being and counteract maladaptive cognitions and behaviors that maintain depression [57].”

“For instance, Krause (2009) found that people who go to church more often feel more grateful.”

“Other qualities encouraged by most religious/spiritual traditions are likewise linked to happiness, including forgiveness (McCullough & Worthington, 1999), gratitude (Krause, 2009), compassion (Steffen & Masters, 2005), and hope (Marques et al., 2013).”

“Unlike a previous study (Krause, 2009), gratitude did not moderate the association between perceived stress and probable depression, implying that the strength of the association did not vary according to level of gratitude.”

“…associated with subjective wellbeing, negatively correlated with psychological distress, and positively associated with prosocial behavior (e.g., Krause, 2009; McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002; McCullough, Tsang, & Emmons, 2004; Ng & Wong, 2013; Park, Peterson, & Seligman, 2004; Renshaw &…”

“…pertain to such a domainspecific outcome is that religiousness encourages the cultivation of positive emotions, such as gratitude and forgiveness (Krause, 2009) and provides other psychosocial resources, such as optimism or social support (Hill, 2010), which promote SWB very generally and across…”

“, 2010), including reported negative associations between gratitude and mental health symptoms such as depressive symptoms (Krause, 2009; Petrocchi & Couyoumdjian, 2016), anxiety (Kashdan et al.”

“Furthermore, Krause (2009b) identified private prayer frequency as both a stronger predictor of closeness to God than church attendance and a mechanism for seeking proximity with God (Kumari & Pirta, 2009).”

“[57] M.”

“One empirical study demonstrated that people who go to church often feel grateful (Krause 2009), but the study did not distinguish internal (i.e., having internalized meaning with religious belief) vs. external religiosity (i.e., having external meaning for going to church).”

“…association (George, Allison, & Larson, 2002), while others proposed that constructs such as religious meaning (Ardelt, 2002; Krause, 2003; Park, 2005), gratitude (Krause, 2006b, 2009b), and forgiveness (Lawler-Row, 2010; Lee, 2011) serve to account for the salutary impact of religion.”

“Spirituality has also shown a strong, positive relationship with gratitude (Lambert et al. 2009, Krause 2009, Tsang et al. 2011), possibly due to a spiritual individual’s appreciation for life and all living things (Mitroff and Denton 1999).”

“This community engagement is likely to lead to both increased social support (Hill & Pargament, 2003) and increased altruistic activities that may neutralise negative emotions and their physiological consequences (Krause, 2009; Seligman et al., 2005; Shariff & Norenzayan, 2007).”

“with financial strain than others (Krause, 2009), which could be due to their ability to use available resources.”

“…also control for both public and private religious practice, as they could be potential confounders of the association between gratitude to God and self-rated health given that frequent religious practice may portend higher feelings of gratitude toward God (Krause, 2009; Krause & Hayward, 2014).”

“319 C© 2015 Sigma Theta Tau International Giacomo & McCullough, 2006; Krause, 2009), and religion or spirituality (Southwick et al., 2005).”

“Entre estos se hallan numerosos análisis que han mostrado los beneficios de la religión o la espiritualidad en la salud, especialmente cuando se trata de reducir enfermedades relacionadas con el estrés, como la presión alta (Tartaro et ál., 2005) o la depresión (Krause, 2009).”

“In turn, feeling close to God was related to improved mental health (Bradshaw et al., 2008), selfesteem (Krause, 2009b), well-being (Pollner, 1989), life satisfaction (Peacock & Poloma, 1999), and happiness (Poloma & Pendleton, 1991).”

“In another study, Krause (2009) found that gratitude protected adults from experiencing depressive symptoms when suffering high financial strain, suggesting that the benefit of gratitude will only occur under certain conditions.”

“For example, Krause (2009) found that persistent financial difficulties did not adversely affect depressive symptoms over time among older individuals who were most grateful, in contrast to the findings in those who were less grateful.”

“Third, a growing body of research reveals that people who are more grateful tend to experience fewer symptoms of depression (Krause, 2009; Lambert, Fincham, & Stillman, 2012).”

“It also recognizes the existing insight that social aspects of wellbeing bolster psychological ones and vice versa (e.g., Krause, 2009).”

“Activities such as frequent church attendance among older adults were associated with a greater feeling of gratefulness (Krause, 2009), greater wisdom, and awe of God (Krause & Hayward, 2015).”

“Krause (2009) found in adults in a nationwide longitudinal study that people who go to church more often were more likely to feel grateful.”

“82 Figure 1 demonstrates that, as predicted by the model used in this investigation, Organizational Religious Activity positively influences Gratitude (hypothesis 5).”

“…to suggest that holding images of a loving God or having a high sense of trust in God may buffer the harmful effects of economic hardship on psychological distress by reducing worry and increasing hope that God is working collaboratively to solve human problems (Brad-shaw et al. 2010; Krause 2009).”

“…research and an increased sense of gratitude might be compared to a similar correlation observed among people with religious belief, as discussed by Krause (2009) in his study demonstrating that increased church attendance and stronger God-mediated control beliefs are associated with positive…”

“Religious participation might influence gratitude through the experiences that take place in sacred worship spaces (Counted et al., 2024 ; Krause, 2009 ; Rosmarin et al., 2011 ), which could partly explain differences in mean gratitude across countries.”

“Both private religious practices (such as prayer) and public behaviors (like church attendance) have been linked to a more grateful disposition (Emmons and Kneezel, 2005; Krause, 2009).”

“Altogether, perhaps because of its stress-buffering capacities, empirical research suggests that gratitude to God is linked with lower depression (Krause, 2009; Krause et al., 2014), anxiety (Rosmarin et al., 2010) and loneliness (Büssing et al., 2021).”

“Engaging in these religious behaviors, specifically prayer, was found to be positively associated with increased gratitude, better mental health, and greater LS (Krause, 2009; Lambert et al., 2009; Levin, 2011, 2013; Ngamaba & Soni, 2018; Plouffe & Tremblay, 2017).”

“Krause [11] reported that more frequent attendance at worship services leads to stronger God-mediated control beliefs.”

“…prayer and worship to the internalization of spiritual values—research has frequently demonstrated that individuals with a deep, intrinsic commitment to their faith experience heightened gratitude and manifest positive outcomes (Emmons and Kneezel, 2005; Krause, 2009; Bahnaru et al., 2019).”

“The fi ndings are consistent with previous studies showing that religiosity is positively related to gratitude (Krause, 2009; Rosmarin et al., 2011), and gratitude is positively related to psychological well-being (Kraus et al., 2015; Watts et al., 2006).”

“While there is some evidence of the beneficial effects of focused attention on our blessings (Krause, 2009; Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010), my initial response was concern as to whether Chaplain King encouraged Esther to discover what the relapse meant to her and how deeply it impacted her? I have no doubt that he was…”

“Religious settings therefore provide opportunities for individuals to feel a sense of power through giving and receiving service (see Ellison and Henderson 2011; Krause 2009).”

“Studies suggest that grateful individuals are less depressed (Krause, 2009), have higher self-esteem (Lin, 2014), and have better sleep quality (Jackowska et al., 2016).”