Religious coping and psychological wellbeing among veterans: examining the indirect influence of self-forgiveness and self-efficacy

Veterans often report the importance of religion in their lives, and combat Veterans may rely on religious coping to process their experiences. Informed by the Stress Process Model, quantitative data were used to fit an indirect effects path model to understand the associations between religious coping (positive and negative), self-concepts (beliefs about oneself), and psychological wellbeing (N = 170 Veterans). First, the associations between religious coping and wellbeing were examined. Then, self-concepts, specifically self-forgiveness and self-efficacy, were included in the model to determine if they explained the associations between religious coping and wellbeing. Negative religious coping, but not positive, was associated with both self-concepts (less self-forgiveness and poorer self-efficacy), and, in turn, poorer psychological wellbeing. Like previous research, negative religious coping appears to act as a risk factor for mental health. Because self-forgiveness and self-efficacy serve as mechanisms linking coping and mental health, they may be a meaningful target for interventions to support Veterans.