A large body of research indicates that worry, anxiety, and depression are present in the modern American psyche at increasingly high levels. Everyday worry can lead to further mental health issues, interpersonal problems, and reduced physical wellbeing and should be reduced when possible. Previous research has examined the benefits of church attendance with varied results; however, understanding the relationship between church attendance and everyday worry could be useful in reducing the effects of worry on this population.
The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure self-reported levels and causes of everyday worry among church-goers from three congregations and to examine the relationship among peers when sorted by frequency of church attendance and demographic group. Participants completed demographic questions and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire online. The survey was distributed among 3 congregations in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. The 3 congregations represented a spectrum of churches from the Baptist tradition in an attempt to determine if there were significant differences among conservative, moderate, and liberal churches. Two hundred sixty-six usable surveys were returned, an 84% response rate.
Results from the statistical analysis indicated that more frequent church attendance was associated with less worry. Women tended to worry more than men, and younger people tended to worry more than older people. There was no significant relationship between level of worry and church type (conservative, moderate, or liberal).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-4952 |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| Creators | Lee, Jennifer |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright by the authors. |
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