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Review
. 2025 Feb;64(1):657-671.
doi: 10.1007/s10943-024-02136-y. Epub 2024 Sep 23.

A Critical Review on Pargament's Theory of Religious Coping: In the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Muzzamel Hussain Imran  1 , Xin Leng  2
Affiliations
Review

A Critical Review on Pargament's Theory of Religious Coping: In the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Muzzamel Hussain Imran et al. J Relig Health. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Religious coping has a constant association with mental health when dealing with distressing events in life. In this case, the religious coping theory of Pargament can be a theoretical model for mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article aims to investigate how positive religious coping can help us to overcome a negative life event. This theoretical study tried to find positive models of religious coping approaches, develop a concise measurement of these religious coping approaches, and investigate their effects on mental health in difficult situations. We reviewed the psychological impact of the pandemic, specifically negative psychological effects, e.g., fear of getting sick, anxiety, and distress. The article presents an effectual, theoretically suggestive way to assimilate religious aspects into patterns and studies of coping, stressors, and mental health. This paper argues that religious coping can help us to overcome mental stress during a difficult situation.

Keywords: Anxiety; COVID-19; Distress; Mental health; Religious coping.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The author(s) declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval: This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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