Religious and Spiritual Experiences, Discrimination, and Stress Among Midlife Women in the USA: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation

Marilyn J D Barnes; Imke Janssen; Sheila A Dugan; Howard M Kravitz; George Fitchett

doi:10.1007/s10943-024-02189-z

Religious and Spiritual Experiences, Discrimination, and Stress Among Midlife Women in the USA: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation

J Relig Health. 2024 Dec 4. doi: 10.1007/s10943-024-02189-z. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Marilyn J D Barnes¹, Imke Janssen², Sheila A Dugan^{2

3}, Howard M Kravitz^{2

4}, George Fitchett^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Patient Counseling, Virginia Commonwealth University, 900 E. Leigh Street, Suite 7009, Box 980664, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA. barnesmj5@vcu.edu.
² Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
³ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁵ Department of Religion, Health, and Human Values, College of Health Science, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.

PMID: 39630215
DOI: 10.1007/s10943-024-02189-z

Abstract

The harmful effects of perceived discrimination for physical and mental health are well documented. Evidence identifies how dimensions of religious/spiritual (R/S) involvement may reduce these harmful effects. This study examined how R/S experiences are associated with the effects of discrimination on perceived stress. With data from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), we examined the offsetting and buffering effects of daily spiritual experiences on the relationship between everyday discrimination and perceived stress among 2,221 US midlife women from 5 racial/ethnic groups. Regression analysis identified a positive association between perceived discrimination and perceived stress (p < .001). Daily spiritual experiences were inversely associated with perceived stress (p < .001) for the whole sample and in the subsample of Black women. For this subsample, there was an inverse association between daily spiritual experiences and discrimination. R/S experiences may be one of the ways that R/S reduce the harmful effects of discrimination on health.

Keywords: Perceived discrimination; Religion; Spiritual experiences; Stress.