Existential relatedness in light of eudemonic well-being and religious coping among middle-aged and older cardiac patients.

This study examined the prediction of preoperative faith factors for perceived spiritual support, indicating existential relationship as a dimension of eudemonic well-being (EWB), at 30 months after cardiac surgery (N=226). The study capitalized on data from preoperative surveys and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons' National Database. Controlling for demographics, cardiac indices, and mental health, hierarchical regression showed that preoperative prayer coping, subjective religiousness, and internal control were positive predictors of spiritual support.

Posttraumatic growth in patients who survived cardiac surgery: the predictive and mediating roles of faith-based factors.

Despite the growing knowledge of posttraumatic growth, only a few studies have examined personal growth in the context of cardiac health. Similarly, longitudinal research is lacking on the implications of religion/spirituality for patients with advanced cardiac diseases. This paper aims to explore the effect of preoperative religious coping on long-term postoperative personal growth and potential mediation in this effect.

Pathways to postoperative hostility in cardiac patients: mediation of coping, spiritual struggle and interleukin-6.

Using structural equation modeling, we estimated major pathways from preoperative distress, indicated by anxiety and other factors, to postoperative hostility in cardiac patients. Sequential interviews were conducted before and after surgery. Standardized medical and surgical indices were selected from a national database.

Prayer and reverence in naturalistic, aesthetic, and socio-moral contexts predicted fewer complications following coronary artery bypass.

This prospective study explores prayer, reverence, and other aspects of faith in postoperative complications and hospital length of stay of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Alongside traditional religiousness measures, we examined sense of reverence in religious and secular contexts. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 177 patients 2 weeks before surgery at a medical center.

Private prayer and quality of life in cardiac patients: pathways of cognitive coping and social support.

Despite the growing evidence linking faith with health and well-being, national leaders noted the need to explore the mechanism underlying these linkages. The goal of this prospective study was to investigate the psychosocial mechanisms involved in the preoperative use of private prayer for coping and the effects of such act on short-term quality of life (SPQOL) in 294 patients following open-heart surgery. Using established instruments, three interviews were conducted with middle-aged and older patients (average age 62) at two weeks and two days preoperatively, then 36 days postoperatively.

The influence of prayer coping on mental health among cardiac surgery patients: the role of optimism and acute distress.

To address the inconsistent findings and based on Hegel's dialectic contradictive principle, this study tested a parallel mediation model that may underlie the association of using prayer for coping with cardiac surgery outcomes. Three sequential interviews were conducted with 310 patients who underwent open-heart surgery. A structural equation model demonstrated that optimism mediated the favorable effect of prayer coping.

Psychosocial mediation of religious coping styles: a study of short-term psychological distress following cardiac surgery.

Although religiousness and religious coping styles are well-documented predictors of well-being, research on the mechanisms through which religious coping styles operate is sparse. This prospective study examined religious coping styles, hope, and social support as pathways of the influence of general religiousness (religious importance and involvement) on the reduced postoperative psychological distress of 309 cardiac patients. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that controlling for preoperative distress, gender, and education, religiousness contributed to positive religious coping, which in turn was associated with less distress via a path fully mediated by the secular factors of social support and hope.

Differential effects of faith-based coping on physical and mental fatigue in middle-aged and older cardiac patients.

Purpose: This analysis investigated the effect of faith-based coping used by cardiac patients undergoing surgery on physical and mental fatigue, symptoms which have significant prognostic implications for mortality. Particularly, we explored whether this faith effect is independent or explained by positive mediators.

Methods: Two weeks preoperatively, 481 patients (male, 58%; mean age = 62 years) were recruited for three sequential interviews.

Faith factors and internal health locus of control in patients prior to open-heart surgery.

This study explored the relationships between faith factors and internal health locus of control (IHLC) beliefs. Based on a review of different relationships of perceived control, spiritual surrender and faith factors in the liberation, we assumed a multivariate association among them. Using data from two sequential interviews and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons' Adult Cardiac Database, we tested these associations in a final sample of 202 middle-aged and older patients undergoing open-heart surgery.

Effects of faith and secular factors on locus of control in middle-aged and older cardiac patients.

The complex relationships between faith factors and health locus of control were explored. Different from general expectancy, internal control was conceptualized as event-specific self-efficacy. Both control and faith are multidimensional phenomena and affect an individual's health and wellbeing.

Prayers, spiritual support, and positive attitudes in coping with the September 11 national crisis.

This study was designed to help fill gaps in faith-related and positive psychology research. Psychologists have called for precise assessment of effective faith factors inherent within spiritual experiences that may explain their beneficial effects. Positive psychologists suggest the need to examine social and faith-related origins of optimism.

Faith-based and secular pathways to hope and optimism subconstructs in middle-aged and older cardiac patients.

This study was designed to fill gaps in the new field of positive psychology. Using data from two sequential interviews, this study examined the effect of faith-based and secular pathways to hope and optimism among 226 middle-aged and older patients facing a major medical crisis-cardiac surgery. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that religious faith factors contributed to the agency component of hope and dispositional optimism indirectly through the use of prayer as a coping strategy.