Religious coping as a mediator between God attachment and mental health among Korean immigrants

Choong Yuk Kim, Fordham University

Abstract

The present research investigated the effects of religious coping as a mediator between God attachment and mental health outcomes among Korean immigrant adults. Data was collected from Korean immigrant churches in the United States via both offline and online survey forms. In Study 1, the Korean version of the God Attachment Inventory was validated with 263 Korean immigrants. A series of confirmatory factor analyses resulted in the removal of 17 items because of cross-loading. The remaining 11 items showed the same factor structure with the original English measure. In Study 2, mediation path models were examined among God attachment, religious coping, and mental health outcomes. Results showed that positive religious coping did not show direct effects on mental health outcomes or mediation effects between God Attachment Avoidance and mental health outcomes. Although these findings are not consistent with the majority of the studies examining, these findings may show cultural, theological, and methodological concerns regarding positive religious coping among Korean immigrants. In contrast, negative religious coping demonstrated both direct and mediation effects between God Attachment Anxiety and mental health outcomes. Negative religious coping has been found as a robust predictor of poor mental health outcomes. These findings have an implication that reducing negative religious coping may have salutary effects on mental health among Korean immigrants.

Subject Area

Religious history|Asian Studies|Mental health|Behavioral psychology|Cognitive psychology

Recommended Citation

Kim, Choong Yuk, "Religious coping as a mediator between God attachment and mental health among Korean immigrants" (2015). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI3703243.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI3703243

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