Scholarly Commons

Does Participation in Religious Organizations Lead to Better Coping for College Students?

Religious faith can help students cope with stress, but will participation in religious organizations confer additional benefits? Undergraduates (N = 102) completed a survey measuring religiosity, use of positive and negative coping strategies, level of stress, and involvement in specific extra-curricular activities, including religious organizations. Participation in religious groups was negatively correlated with use of negative coping, whereas measures of religiosity did not correlate with coping, which suggests that religious programming can enhance the benefits of religious faith. However, after running a partial correlation, that relationship appeared to be due to religiosity itself and not involvement.