Spirit of hope: Diminished hopelessness mediates the serial relation between spiritual experiences, reduced stress, and positive affect in transdiagnostic and healthy individuals

Abstract

Spirituality and religious practice have again come to the fore of mental health research, where they are considered protective but also risk factors for mental health conditions. While the effect of daily spiritual experiences (DSE) on positive affect, a core indicator of mental health, is consolidated in the current literature, only a few studies inspect its multivariate underpinnings. We here tested three often-discussed mediators that cover affective (stress), cognitive (hopelessness), and psychosocial (social support) aspects in a single serial mediation model to determine their exclusive contribution to this link. Self-report data from a transdiagnostic sample undertaking psychotherapy at the time of testing and a healthy cohort was acquired via online surveys. Results of the mediation analysis indicate a serial relation between DSE, diminished hopelessness, stress reduction, and positive affect. While this serial effect holds not only for the entire sample but also for both subgroups separately, corroborating its generalizability, the serial relation also exists in an additional confirmatory structural equation modelling approach in the transdiagnostic sample. Altogether, our findings have implications for spirituality-based therapeutic practices, and might, prospectively, be considered when assessing coping resources in prevention research.

Keywords: Affective disorders; Daily spiritual experiences; Hopelessness; Positive affect; Reduced stress.