TY - JOUR
T1 - Disappointment with and Uncertainty about God Predict Heightened COVID-19 Anxiety among Persian Muslims
AU - Saraei, Mohammadamin
AU - Johnson, Kathryn A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Religiosity is often associated with positive mental health outcomes. Religiosity may also mitigate COVID-19 concerns. In a sample of 553 Persian-speaking Muslims, we investigated the extent to which specific beliefs about God (Allah) were associated with four negative mental health outcomes: depression, anxiety, stress, and COVID-19 anxiety. Consistent with the results of English-speaking samples, we found that religiosity, belief in God’s benevolence, psychological closeness to God, and positive attitudes toward God were negatively correlated with depression, stress, and anxiety yet uncorrelated with COVID-19 anxiety. Belief in God’s authoritarian attributes was positively correlated with depression, stress, and anxiety yet, again, uncorrelated with COVID-19 anxiety. In contrast, uncertainty about God’s attributes and negative attitudes toward God were positive predictors of COVID-19 anxiety, even after controlling for general religiosity, depression, stress, anxiety, and sex. We conclude that, whereas religiosity and belief in God had very little influence, uncertainty about and disappointment with God were likely associated with greater anxiety about COVID-19.
AB - Religiosity is often associated with positive mental health outcomes. Religiosity may also mitigate COVID-19 concerns. In a sample of 553 Persian-speaking Muslims, we investigated the extent to which specific beliefs about God (Allah) were associated with four negative mental health outcomes: depression, anxiety, stress, and COVID-19 anxiety. Consistent with the results of English-speaking samples, we found that religiosity, belief in God’s benevolence, psychological closeness to God, and positive attitudes toward God were negatively correlated with depression, stress, and anxiety yet uncorrelated with COVID-19 anxiety. Belief in God’s authoritarian attributes was positively correlated with depression, stress, and anxiety yet, again, uncorrelated with COVID-19 anxiety. In contrast, uncertainty about God’s attributes and negative attitudes toward God were positive predictors of COVID-19 anxiety, even after controlling for general religiosity, depression, stress, anxiety, and sex. We conclude that, whereas religiosity and belief in God had very little influence, uncertainty about and disappointment with God were likely associated with greater anxiety about COVID-19.
KW - COVID-19
KW - God representations
KW - Muslim
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146518290&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85146518290&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/rel14010074
DO - 10.3390/rel14010074
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85146518290
SN - 2077-1444
VL - 14
JO - Religions
JF - Religions
IS - 1
M1 - 74
ER -