Individuals in late adulthood are often confronted with difficulties and challenges that elicit existential questions and doubts, including religious doubts. Although research has shown that unresolved religious doubts increase the risk for depression, it remains unclear how they are related to each other in late adulthood and which mechanisms are underlying this relationship. Therefore, in a longitudinal study of 329 older adults aged 65-99 and living in a nursing home, the relation between religious doubt and depressive symptoms was explored as well as the mediation effect of rumination on this relationship. The results confirmed the relation between religious doubt and the experience of depressive symptoms, with a bidirectional influence over time. However, the findings indicated that this reciprocal relationship was not mediated by rumination. The study highlights the importance of identifying older adults who experience religious doubt and who are at risk for or suffer from depressive symptoms.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing.
2.
BaltesP. B., & StaudingerU. M. (2000). Wisdom: A metaheuristic (pragmatic) to orchestrate mind and virtue toward excellence. American Psychologist, 55, 122–136.
3.
DeinS. (2013). Religious doubts: Implications for psychopathology and psychotherapy. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 77, 201–221.
4.
D'HudsonG., & SalingL. L. (2010). Worry and rumination in older adults: Differentiating the processes. Aging & Mental Health, 14, 524–534.
5.
DragesetJ., EideG. E., & RanhoffA. H. (2011). Depression is associated with poor functioning in activities of daily living among nursing home residents without cognitive impairment. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 20, 3111–3118.
6.
Durà-VilàG., DeinS., LittlewoodR., & LeaveyG. (2010). The Dark Night of the Soul: Causes and resolution of emotional distress among contemplative nuns. Transcultural psychiatry, 47, 548–570.
7.
EisingaR., te GrotenhuisM., & PelzerB. (2013). The reliability of a two-item scale: Pearson, Cronbach, or Spearman-Brown?International Journal of Public Health, 58, 637–642.
8.
EkkersW., KorrelboomK., HuijbrechtsI., SmitsN., CuijpersP., & van der GaagM. (2011). Competitive Memory Training for treating depression and rumination in depressed older adults: A randomized controlled trial. Behavior Research and Therapy, 49, 588–596.
9.
EriksonE. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle: Selected papers. New York: International Universities Press.
ExlineJ. J., PargamentK. I., GrubbsJ. B., & YaliA. M. (2014). The Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale: Development and initial validation. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 6, 208–222.
12.
FerraroF. R. (2014). Aging and rumination revisited. International Journal of Psychology Research, 9, 97–103.
13.
FestingerL. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
14.
FowlerJ. W. (1981). Stages of faith: The psychology of human development and the quest for meaning. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
15.
GalekK., KrauseN., EllisonC. G., KudlerT., & FlannellyK. (2007). Religious doubt and mental health across the lifespan. Journal of Adult Development, 14, 16–25.
16.
GarnefskiN., Van Den KommerT., KraaijV., TeerdsJ., LegersteeJ., & OnsteinE. (2002). The relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and emotional problems: Comparison between a clinical and a non-clinical sample. European Journal of Personality, 16, 403–420.
17.
JongenelisK., GerritsenD. L., PotA. M., BeekmanA. T. F., EissesA. M. H., KluiterH., & RibbeM. W. (2007). Construction and validation of a patient- and user-friendly nursing home version of the Geriatric Depression Scale. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 22, 837–842.
18.
JongenelisK., PotA. M., EissesA. M. H., BeekmanA. T. F., KluiterH., & RibbeM. W. (2004). Prevalence and risk indicators of depression in elderly nursing home patients: The AGED study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 83, 135–142.
19.
LyubomirskyS., CaldwellN. D., & Nolen-HoeksemaS. (1998). Effects of ruminative and distracting responses to depressed mood on retrieval of autobiographical memories. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 166–177.
20.
LyubomirskyS., & Nolen-HoeksemaS. (1995). Effects of self-focused rumination on negative thinking and interpersonal problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 176–190.
21.
HaywardR. D., & KrauseN. (2014). How religious doubt moderates depression symptoms following older adult bereavement. Death Studies, 38, 217–223.
22.
HoodR. W., HillP. C., & SpilkaB. (2009). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach. New York: The Guilford Press.
23.
HunsbergerB., AlisatS., PancerS. M., & PrattM. (1996). Religious fundamentalism and religious doubts: Content, connections, and complexity of thinking. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 6, 201–220.
24.
KlineR. B. (2005). Principles and practices of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford Press.
25.
KoenigH. G. (2012). Religion, spirituality, and health: The research and clinical implications. ISRN Psychiatry, 2012, 1–33.
26.
KrauseN. (2006). Religious doubt and psychological well-being: A longitudinal investigation. Review of Religious Research, 47, 287–302.
27.
KrauseN., & EllisonC. G. (2009). The doubting process: A longitudinal study of the precipitants and consequences of religious doubt in older adults. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 48, 293–312.
28.
KrauseN., & HaywardR. D. (2012). Humility, lifetime trauma, and change in religious doubt among older adults. Journal of Religion and Health, 51, 1002–1016.
29.
KrauseN., Ingersoll-DaytonB., EllisonC. G., & WulffK. M. (1999). Aging, religious doubt, and psychological well-being. The Gerontologist, 39, 525–533.
30.
KrauseN., & WulffK. M. (2004). Religious doubt and health: Exploring the potential dark side of religion. Sociology of Religion, 65, 35–56.
31.
LeeD. T. F., WooJ., & MackenzieA. E. (2002). A review of older people's experiences with residential care placement. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 37, 19–27.
32.
LittleR. J. A. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83, 1198–1202.
33.
McConnellK. M., PargamentK. I., EllisonC. G., & FlannellyK. J. (2006). Examining the links between spiritual struggles and symptoms of psychopathology in a national sample. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62, 1469–1484.
34.
NelsonJ. M. (2009). Religion, spirituality, and mental health. In NelsonJ. M. (Ed.), Psychology, religion, and spirituality, (pp. 347–390). New York: Springer.
35.
Nolen-HoeksemaS. (1991). Responses to depression and their effects on the duration of depressive episodes. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 569–582.
36.
O'ConnorM. (2002). Spiritual Dark Night and psychological depression: Some comparisons and considerations. Counseling and Values, 46, 137–148.
37.
PargamentK. I. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping: Theory, research, practice. New York: The Guilford Press.
38.
ParkerS. (2010). Research in Fowler's faith development theory: A review article. Review of Religious Research, 51, 233–252.
39.
RicarteJ., RosL., SerranoJ. P., Martínez-LorcaM., & LatorreJ. M. (2016). Age differences in rumination and autobiographical retrieval. Aging & Mental Health, 20, 1063–1069.
40.
SegerstromS. C., RoachA. R., EvansD. R., SchipperL. J., & DarvilleA. K. (2010). The structure and health correlates of trait repetitive thought in older adults. Psychology and Aging, 25, 505–515.
41.
SnowdenA., LobbE. A., SchmidtS., SwingA. M., LoganP., & MacfarlaneC. (2018). ‘What's on your mind?’ The only necessary question in spiritual care. Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 8, 19–33.
WeberS. R., PargamentK. I., KunikM. E., LomaxJ. W., & StanleyM. A. (2012). Psychological distress among religious nonbelievers: A systematic review. Journal of Religion and Health, 51, 72–86.
44.
WegnerD. M., & ZanakosS. (1994). Chronic thought suppression. Journal of Personality, 62, 615–640.
