The Religious Support Scale
Construction, Validation, and Cross‐Validation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11053754 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William E Fiala (Azusa Pacific University), Jeffrey P Bjorck (0000-0001-6466-7136, Graduate School of Psychology Fuller Theological Seminary USA, corresponding author), Richard L Gorsuch (Fuller Theological Seminary), Richard Gorsuch (Graduate School of Psychology Fuller Theological Seminary USA) |
| Year | 2002 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 761-786 |
| Publication date | 2002-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Community Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0091-0562 • E-ISSN: 1573-2770 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1023/a:1020264718397 |
| PMID | 12385482 |
| OpenAlex | W161016116 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 96 |
| References cited | 74 |
Cutrona and Russell's social support model was used to develop a religious support measure (C. E. Cutrona & D. W. Russell, 1987), including 3 distinct but related subscales respectively measuring support from God, the congregation, and church leadership. Factor analyses with the main sample's data (249 Protestants) and cross‐validation (93 additional Protestants) supported the scales' reliability and validity. All 3 types of religious support were related to lower depression and greater life satisfaction. Moreover, several relationships between the 3 subscales and psychological functioning variables remained significant after controlling for variance because of church attendance and social support. Results suggest that religious attendance does not automatically imply religious support, and that religious support can provide unique resources for religious persons, above and beyond those furnished by social support. Findings are discussed regarding relevance to community psychology
Attendance · Church attendance · Health psychology · Psychometrics · Public health · Reliability (semiconductor) · Religiosity · Scale (ratio) · Social support · Test validity · Clinical Psychology · Community Health and Development · Medicine · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology
The relationship of religiosity, spirituality and health in Spanish cancer patients
Assessing religious support in Christian adolescents
Uniting and dividing influences of religion in marriage among highly religious couples
Poloma and Pendleton’s (1989) Prayer Types Scale in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim praying adults
Religious attendance and major depression among Asian Americans from a national database
Development and validation of the five-factor Lambi measure of God representations
Religious support mediates the racial microaggressions–mental health relation among Christian ethnic minority students
A Perspective on the Development of Knowledge of Spirituality and Aging in Nursing and Pastoral Care
Core religious beliefs and providing support to others in late life
The Challenges of Research in the Psychology of Religion among Jewish (Israeli) Samples
The Afghan Symptom Checklist
Handbook of Religion and Health
Church-Based Health Promotion Interventions
Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress
Two impact pathways from religious belief to public disaster response
Is Depression a Sin or a Disease? A Critique of Moralizing and Medicalizing Models of Mental Illness
A Structural Model of Racial Discrimination, Acculturative Stress, and Cultural Resources Among Arab American Adolescents
Expanding the Boundary Conditions of the Communicative Ecology Model of Successful Aging to Include Communication About Religion
Profiles of perceived resources among low‐income, rural mothers
The Importance of Spirituality in the Lives of Domestic Violence Survivors
Research
Detrimental Effects of Discrimination on Mental Health in Asian Americans
Predictors of Growth and Decline Following Spiritual Struggles
Differentiating the Impact of Spiritual Experiences, Religious Practices, and Congregational Support on the Mental Health of Individuals With Heterogeneous Medical Disorders
Religious Support and Emotional Functioning in India across Three Major Religions
Measuring Children's Church‐Based Social Support
Spiritual Support and African American Breast Cancer Survivors
Measuring Religiousness in Health Research
Predicting Attitudes towards Lesbians and Gay Men
Church Support as a Predictor of Children's Spirituality and Prosocial Behavior
Religious Support, Motives for Having Large Families, and Psychological Functioning Among Religious Jewish Mothers
The Impact of Religiosity on Suicidal Ideation Among Youth in Central Mexico
Differential Associations of Religious Involvement with the Mental Health of Asian-American Subgroups
Physicians in the USA
Assessing the Role of Spirituality in Coping Among African Americans Diagnosed with Cancer
Cross-Cultural Differences in the Influences of Spiritual and Religious Tendencies on Beliefs in Genetic Determinism and Family Health History Communication
Spirituality and Support
Psychological and Social Characteristics Associated with Religiosity in Women’s Health Initiative Participants
The Influence of Religious Coping and Religious Social Support on Health Behaviour, Health Status and Health Attitudes in a British Christian Sample
Belonging and longing to belong
Dimensions of Religion, Depression Symptomatology, and Substance Use Among Rural African American Cocaine Users
Religiosity, Refusal Efficacy, and Substance Use Among African-American Adolescents and Young Adults
The Role of Religious Service Attendance, Psychosocial and Behavioral Determinants of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Adherence
Religiosity and Depressive Episodes among African Migrant HIV-positive
Prayer and Subjective Well-Being
Religiosity Scales
Religious Coping in Stressful Situations
Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality
Religious support and psychosocial well-being among a religious Jewish population
Perceived religious support for problem gambling
Relationship stigma and Black-White interracial marital satisfaction
The hijab as a protective factor for body image and disordered eating
Religious coping, religious support, and psychological functioning among short-term missionaries
Unexpected death, religious coping and conjugal bereavement outcomes in Africa (Togo)
Intersecting cultural identities and help-seeking attitudes
A church-based peer-led group intervention for mental illness
Do church-based social relationships influence social relationships in the secular world
Religious support and psychological well-being
Religious conversion among high security hospital patients
Social support, organisational support, and religious support in relation to burnout in expatriate humanitarian aid workers
Assessment of mental health, religion and culture
Perceived God support as a mediator of the relationship between religiosity and psychological distress
Demon or disorder
Religious support and psychological functioning in a Polish sample
Religiosity and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among African American Cocaine Users in the Rural South
Who benefits from network intervention programs? TERGM analysis across ten Philippine low-income communities
Expanding the Nomological Network of Religious-Based Constructs
Religious Attendance Serves as a Protective Variable Against Suicidal Ideation During Treatment
The Mechanism Underlying the Relationship Between Positive References to God and Sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous in Poland
Dispositional Resiliency and Adjustment in Protestant Pastors
Processes of Religious and Spiritual Influence in Adolescence
Religiosity and Adolescent Substance Use in Central Mexico
Religious Congregations and Social Justice Participation
A Social Network Analysis of Friendship and Spiritual Support in a Religious Congregation
Thriving Among African‐American Adolescents
The Role of Sense of Community and Conflict in Predicting Congregational Belonging
Profiles of Anticipated Support
Gratitude to God, Self-Rated Health, and Depressive Symptoms
Negative Life Events, Patterns of Positive and Negative Religious Coping, and Psychological Functioning
An Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties and Criterion Validity of the Religious Social Support Scale
Acculturation of Migrant Latinos in a Positive Psychology Framework
Obesity Treatment Tailored for a Catholic Faith Community
Mediation Analysis of the Relationships between God Locus of Control and Health Behaviors in College Students
Spiritual Influences on Jewish Modern Orthodox Adolescents
Extrinsic Religious Orientation and Well-Being
Self-reported Racial Discrimination and Healthy Behaviors in Black Adults Residing in Rural Persistent Poverty Areas
Religion and Life Satisfaction of Polish Female Students Representing Roman Catholic Affiliation
Online Religious Involvement, Spiritual Support, Depression, and Anxiety during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Sexuality beyond Chastity
Professional and Personal Well-Being Among Members of a Christian Organization for Healthcare Providers
Protocol for a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial to Compare the "Taste & See" Programme-A Church-Based Programme to Develop a Healthy Relationship with Food-With a Wait-List Control
Religious Struggle and Psychological Well-Being
The Impact of Religion on Family Functioning in Low-Income African American Families With Adolescents
Adaptation and Psychometric Testing of Multiple Measures of Religion Among African Americans Who Use Cocaine
Buffers of Racial Discrimination
Religiosity and Migration Aspirations among Mexican Youth
One Nation Under God
The psychology of religion and coping
Social Ties and Susceptibility to the Common Cold
Psychology of Religion
The Use of Religion and Other Emotion-Regulating Coping Strategies Among Older Adults
Religious and nonreligious coping with the death of a friend
Stress, coping, and high-risk sexual behavior.
Further Validation of the Satisfaction With Life Scale
The Satisfaction With Life Scale
The CES-D Scale
A Study of the Relationship of Parent-Adolescent Communication, Self-Esteem, and God Image
The Church as an Agent in Rural Mental Health
The relationship between social support and physiological processes
Death Anxiety in Religiously Very Involved Persons
Assessing Perceptions of Self and God
Community settings as buffers of life stress? Highly supportive churches, mutual help groups, and senior centers
Organizational characteristics of empowering community settings
Social support, organizational characteristics, psychological well‐being, and group appraisal in three self‐help group populations
God help me
Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and models
The psychosocial climate of religious congregations
Life‐style and substance use among male African American urban adolescents
Before the beginning
Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests
The Relationships Between Religion and Mental Health
Religion as a Community Resource for Well‐Being
Situational determinants of coping responses
Ratings of social support by adolescents and adult informants
Psychological Adjustment and Religiousness
Religion's role in adjustment to a negative life event
Perceived parental social support and academic achievement
Social Support as a Moderator of Life Stress
Merely a Defense? The Variety of Religious Means and Ends
Who Is Happy
The Concept of God
Religious Commitment and the Quality of Life in American Society
Relation of sample size to the stability of component patterns
Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis
The Clergy as a Resource for Those Encountering Psychological Distress
Religiosity, Anxiety, and Meaning and Purpose
Is frequent religious attendance really conducive to better health
Loneliness, Social Support, and Perceived Relationships with God
Does Religious Commitment Contribute to Individual Life Satisfaction
Religious Involvement and Subjective Well-Being
Church-Based Emotional Support, Negative Interaction, and Psychological Well-Being
Religious Involvement and Social Resources
The Stress-Buffering Role of Spiritual Support
Religious Involvement, Social Ties, and Social Support in a Southeastern Community
Methods of Religious Coping with the Gulf War
God and the Just World
The Conceptualization of God as Seen in Adjective Ratings
God Image as a Function of Self-Esteem and Locus of Control
| Unique citing works | 96 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,17 |
| Citation span | 2003 - 2025 (23) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 85 |