Uncertainty, Spiritual Well-Being, and Psychosocial Adjustment to Chronic Illness

Abstract

This research was undertaken to assess spiritual wellbeing as an internal coping resource to buffer the effects of uncertainty on psychosocial adjustment among 94 persons with diabetes mellitus. Five instruments were used to collect data; descriptive, correlational, multivariate, and content analysis procedures were used for data analysis. A predicted negative relationship between uncertainty and spiritual wellbeing was supported, with a stronger relationship between the existential well-being component of spiritual wellbeing and uncertainty than the religious wellbeing component. Uncertainty explained 43% of the variance in psychosocial wellbeing; existential wellbeing added an additional 10%, suggesting that it serves as a buffer between uncertainty and psychosocial wellbeing. The findings suggest that spiritual well-being may be an important internal resource for persons forced to adjust to uncertainty related to longterm health problems such as diabetes mellitus.