TY - JOUR
T1 - The link between religiousness and COVID-19 anxiety among a Turkish sample
T2 - the mediating role of generalised anxiety
AU - Korkmaz, Sezai
AU - Ayten, Ali
AU - Abu-Raiya, Hisham
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The current study tested the associations between three indices of religiousness (i.e., religious practices, religious identity, and religious struggles) and COVID-19 anxiety, and whether these links are mediated by generalised anxiety. Participants of this cross-sectional study were 1089 Turkish individuals who completed an online survey. They provided demographic information, and completed measures of religious practices, religious identity, religious struggles, generalised anxiety, and COVID-19 anxiety. The findings indicated that both religious practices and religious identity correlated negatively with both COVID-19 anxiety and generalised anxiety. Religious struggles correlated positively with generalised anxiety but were uncorrelated to COVID-19 anxiety. Regression analyses revealed that none of the religious variables remained predictive of COVID-19 anxiety after adding generalised anxiety to the regression equation, and that generalised anxiety fully mediated the links between all religious variables and COVID-19 anxiety. The findings suggest that the link between religiousness and COVID-19 anxiety is indirect and can be explained by generalised anxiety.
AB - The current study tested the associations between three indices of religiousness (i.e., religious practices, religious identity, and religious struggles) and COVID-19 anxiety, and whether these links are mediated by generalised anxiety. Participants of this cross-sectional study were 1089 Turkish individuals who completed an online survey. They provided demographic information, and completed measures of religious practices, religious identity, religious struggles, generalised anxiety, and COVID-19 anxiety. The findings indicated that both religious practices and religious identity correlated negatively with both COVID-19 anxiety and generalised anxiety. Religious struggles correlated positively with generalised anxiety but were uncorrelated to COVID-19 anxiety. Regression analyses revealed that none of the religious variables remained predictive of COVID-19 anxiety after adding generalised anxiety to the regression equation, and that generalised anxiety fully mediated the links between all religious variables and COVID-19 anxiety. The findings suggest that the link between religiousness and COVID-19 anxiety is indirect and can be explained by generalised anxiety.
KW - COVID-19 anxiety
KW - Religious practices
KW - generalised anxiety
KW - religious identity
KW - religious struggles
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181695465&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13674676.2023.2258514
DO - 10.1080/13674676.2023.2258514
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AN - SCOPUS:85181695465
SN - 1367-4676
VL - 26
SP - 725
EP - 735
JO - Mental Health, Religion and Culture
JF - Mental Health, Religion and Culture
IS - 8
ER -