Division of Psychology, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia.
J Relig Health. 2012 Sep;51(3):774-85. doi: 10.1007/s10943-010-9386-z.
Theistic and spiritually based beliefs and behaviors have been demonstrated to consistently predict physical and mental health, although the psychological processes underlying these relationships are unclear. This study investigated associative relationships and pathways of mediation between religious functioning, locus of control (LOC) and health. The sample consisted of 122 Christians (79 women, 43 men) who were predominately Catholic, ranging in age from 18 to 80 (M = 45.47, SD = 15.0). Participants were recruited from churches in the Western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, and completed a questionnaire package measuring (1) psychological and physical health, (2) the religious variables of awareness of God, instability and impression management, and (3) God, internal and external LOC domains. Results indicated that awareness of God and internal LOC were associated with better health, whereas external LOC and instability were associated with poorer health. God LOC and impression management were not significantly associated with health. Sobel tests were used to analyse mediation hypotheses. Internal LOC was found to mediate the relationship between awareness of God and better psychological health, and external LOC was found to mediate the relationship between instability and poorer psychological health. These findings are of considerable clinical significance.
有神论和基于精神的信仰和行为已被证明能持续预测身心健康，尽管这些关系背后的心理过程尚不清楚。本研究调查了宗教功能、控制源（LOC）与健康之间的关联关系和中介途径。样本由 122 名基督徒（79 名女性，43 名男性）组成，他们主要是天主教徒，年龄在 18 至 80 岁之间（M=45.47，SD=15.0）。参与者是从澳大利亚墨尔本西郊的教堂招募的，他们完成了一份问卷包，其中包括（1）心理和身体健康，（2）对上帝的意识、不稳定性和印象管理的宗教变量，以及（3）上帝、内部和外部 LOC 领域。结果表明，对上帝的意识和内部 LOC 与更好的健康相关，而外部 LOC 和不稳定性与更差的健康相关。上帝 LOC 和印象管理与健康没有显著相关。Sobel 检验用于分析中介假设。内部 LOC 被发现中介了对上帝的意识与更好的心理健康之间的关系，而外部 LOC 被发现中介了不稳定性与更差的心理健康之间的关系。这些发现具有重要的临床意义。
