From Whence Cometh My Help? Psychological Distress and Help-Seeking in the Evangelical Christian Church
Seeking professional help for psychological distress is generally associated with improved outcomes and lower levels of distress. Given the saliency of religious teachings, it has been shown that aspects of Christian belief may influence adherents’ attitudes towards mental health help-seeking. Based...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-12-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.744432/full |
| _version_ | 1819177417827155968 |
|---|---|
| author | Christopher E. M. Lloyd Graham Reid Yasuhiro Kotera |
| author_facet | Christopher E. M. Lloyd Graham Reid Yasuhiro Kotera |
| author_sort | Christopher E. M. Lloyd |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Seeking professional help for psychological distress is generally associated with improved outcomes and lower levels of distress. Given the saliency of religious teachings, it has been shown that aspects of Christian belief may influence adherents’ attitudes towards mental health help-seeking. Based on existing research on American Evangelicals, it was hypothesised that religious social support would positively predict attitudes towards mental health help-seeking, whilst fundamentalism, mental distress, and the belief that psychopathology is caused by immoral or sinful living would negatively predict participants’ attitudes. On a convenience sample of 252 British Evangelicals, our hypotheses were supported and these variables significantly predicted participants’ attitudes towards seeking mental health help, F(7,243) = 9.64, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.195. These findings together suggest that whilst religious support positively predicts help-seeking attitudes, Evangelical fundamentalism, in addition to beliefs that mental illness has a spiritual cause, as well as experiences of mental distress may be associated with more negative attitudes towards psychotherapeutic intervention. Thus, mental health practitioners should be aware of clients’ religious worldviews and tailor interventions appropriately, acknowledging that working with religious organisations may yield the most positive outcomes for patients. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T21:26:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ea6820a98b52476eab14bcd95169c12c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T21:26:20Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-ea6820a98b52476eab14bcd95169c12c2022-12-21T18:12:02ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-12-011210.3389/fpsyg.2021.744432744432From Whence Cometh My Help? Psychological Distress and Help-Seeking in the Evangelical Christian ChurchChristopher E. M. Lloyd0Graham Reid1Yasuhiro Kotera2Human Sciences Research Centre, University of Derby, Derby, United KingdomDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomHuman Sciences Research Centre, University of Derby, Derby, United KingdomSeeking professional help for psychological distress is generally associated with improved outcomes and lower levels of distress. Given the saliency of religious teachings, it has been shown that aspects of Christian belief may influence adherents’ attitudes towards mental health help-seeking. Based on existing research on American Evangelicals, it was hypothesised that religious social support would positively predict attitudes towards mental health help-seeking, whilst fundamentalism, mental distress, and the belief that psychopathology is caused by immoral or sinful living would negatively predict participants’ attitudes. On a convenience sample of 252 British Evangelicals, our hypotheses were supported and these variables significantly predicted participants’ attitudes towards seeking mental health help, F(7,243) = 9.64, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.195. These findings together suggest that whilst religious support positively predicts help-seeking attitudes, Evangelical fundamentalism, in addition to beliefs that mental illness has a spiritual cause, as well as experiences of mental distress may be associated with more negative attitudes towards psychotherapeutic intervention. Thus, mental health practitioners should be aware of clients’ religious worldviews and tailor interventions appropriately, acknowledging that working with religious organisations may yield the most positive outcomes for patients.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.744432/fullhelp-seekingpsychological distressreligionEvangelicalsinfundamentalism |
| spellingShingle | Christopher E. M. Lloyd Graham Reid Yasuhiro Kotera From Whence Cometh My Help? Psychological Distress and Help-Seeking in the Evangelical Christian Church Frontiers in Psychology help-seeking psychological distress religion Evangelical sin fundamentalism |
| title | From Whence Cometh My Help? Psychological Distress and Help-Seeking in the Evangelical Christian Church |
| title_full | From Whence Cometh My Help? Psychological Distress and Help-Seeking in the Evangelical Christian Church |
| title_fullStr | From Whence Cometh My Help? Psychological Distress and Help-Seeking in the Evangelical Christian Church |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Whence Cometh My Help? Psychological Distress and Help-Seeking in the Evangelical Christian Church |
| title_short | From Whence Cometh My Help? Psychological Distress and Help-Seeking in the Evangelical Christian Church |
| title_sort | from whence cometh my help psychological distress and help seeking in the evangelical christian church |
| topic | help-seeking psychological distress religion Evangelical sin fundamentalism |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.744432/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christopheremlloyd fromwhencecomethmyhelppsychologicaldistressandhelpseekingintheevangelicalchristianchurch AT grahamreid fromwhencecomethmyhelppsychologicaldistressandhelpseekingintheevangelicalchristianchurch AT yasuhirokotera fromwhencecomethmyhelppsychologicaldistressandhelpseekingintheevangelicalchristianchurch |