Gender Differences in Spiritual Experiences, Religious Practices, and Congregational Support for Individuals with Significant Health Conditions

Figures & data

TABLE 1 Comparison of Demographic Characteristics by Gender

	Male		Female
Variable	N	%	N	%	Test Statistics (χ^2)
Marital status					4.38
Married	34	47.9	45	46.4
Cohabiting	5	7.0	2	2.1
Divorced	10	14.1	17	17.5
Single	18	25.4	22	22.7
Other	4	5.66	11	11.3
Education					1.65
Some high school (HS)	12	17.1	12	12.4
HS diploma	25	35.7	40	41.2
1–2 years post HS	14	20.0	15	15.5
3–4 years post HS	10	14.3	16	16.5
>4 years post HS	9	12.9	14	14.4
Annual income					2.70
<$10,000	10	16.1	16	18.6
$10,001 to $20,000	14	22.6	11	12.8
$20,001 to $30,000	7	11.3	11	12.8
$30,001 to $50,000	14	22.6	19	22.1
>$50,000	17	27.4	29	33.7
Religious Affiliation					6.52
Protestant	38	53.5	53	55.8
Christian	19	26.8	14	14.7
Catholic	7	9.9	20	21.1
Other	1	1.3	2	2.2
None	6	8.5	6	6.3
BMMRS
Significant faith gain					0.75
Yes	46	64.8	64	66.0
No	25	35.2	33	34.0
BMMRS
Significant faith loss					1.75
Yes	14	19.7	27	27.8
No	57	80.3	70	72.2
Age, years (M = 47.5; SD = 19.3)					1.96
<31	17	23.9	15	15.5
31–50	26	36.6	40	41.2
51–70	20	28.2	29	29.9
>70	8	11.3	13	13.4
Health condition					11.36*
Family medicine	4	5.6	21	21.6
Cancer	8	11.3	17	17.5
SCI	12	16.9	13	13.4
TBI	32	45.1	29	29.9
Stroke	15	21.1	17	17.6
Mental health treatment					2.35
Yes	31	43.3	53	56.4
No	39	55.7	41	43.6
*p < 0.05.
Note. Spinal cord injury (SCI); Traumatic brain injury (TBI).

TABLE 2 t-Tests for Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS), and SF-36 General Health Perception (GHP)

	Male		Female
	(n = 71)		(n = 97)
Variable	M	SD	M	SD	t test
BMMRS
Spiritual Experiences
Daily spiritual experiences	20.35	7.48	15.45	6.96	0.92
Meaning	3.86	1.31	3.66	1.28	0.99
Values and beliefs	3.51	1.23	3.31	1.04	1.13
Forgiveness	5.13	1.91	4.88	1.73	0.89
Religious/Spiritual coping	13.28	4.63	12.20	4.14	1.59
Religious Practices
Private religious practices	21.78	8.66	21.03	8.59	0.55
Organizational religiousness	8.17	3.00	7.38	3.07	.66
Congregational Support
Religious support	5.77	1.98	5.91	2.08	−0.36
SF-36
General Health Perception	13.59	4.81	14.51	4.91	−1.20
General Mental Health	12.86	5.58	13.28	5.54	−0.48
*p < 0.05.

TABLE 3 Pearson Correlations among Measured Variables by Gender

	Male		Female
BMMRS	GHP	GMH	GHP	GMH
Spiritual Experiences
Daily spiritual experiences	.22	.23	.02	.29 **
Meaning	.19	.11	.13	.19
Values/beliefs	.22	.09	.10	.11
Forgiveness	.05	.11	.11	.29 **
Religious/spiritual coping	.15	.23 *	.06	.29 **
Religious Practices
Organizational religiousness	20	.21	.16	.21 *
Religious practices	.17	.06	.02	.16
Congregational Support
Religious support	.31 *	.33 *	.08	.33**
*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01; GHP, General Health Perception; GMH, General Mental Health.

TABLE 4 Deconstructing Significant Gender by BMMRS Coping Interactions—Regression Analyses for General Mental Health and General Health Perception

Variable	Women Only	Men Only
General Mental Health
Forgiveness	F(2,85) = 7.67, p = .001	F(2,61) = 3.16, p = .05
	Forgiveness, B = .28, t = 2.45**	Forgiveness, B = −.002
	Income B = −.30, t = −2.96***	Income, B = −.31, t = −2.50**
Daily experiences (DyExp)	F(2,84) = 7.93, p = .001	F(2,59) = 4.37, p < .05
	DyExp, B = .26, t = 2.54**	DyExp, B = .17
	Income B = −.31, t = −3.10***	Income, B = −.31, t = −2.49**
Religious/Spiritual (R/S) coping	F(2,84) = 7.66, p = .001	F(2,61) = 3.41, p < .05
	R/S coping, B = .25, t = 2.45**	R/S coping, B = .08
	Income B = −.30, t = −2.94***	Income, B = −.30, t = −2.41***
Organizational	F(2,85) = 6.52, p < .01	F(2,59) = 4.37, p < .05
Religiousness (OrgRelig)	OrgRelig, B = .20, t = 1.97*	OrgRelig, B = .04
	Income B = −.33, t = −3.20***	Income, B = −.33, t = −2.49**
Religious support (ReligSpp)	F(2,66) = 9.35, p < .001	F(2,41) = 4.19, p < .05
	ReligSpp, B = .34, t = 3.09***	ReligSpp, B = .16
	Income B = −.33, t = −3.03***	Income, B = −.34, t = −2.25**
General Health Perception
Religious Support (ReligSpp)	F(2,74) = 1.03, n.s.	F(2,47) = 3.49, p < .05
	—	ReligSpp B = .33, t = 2.34**
	—	Age, B = .20, t = 1.42
*p = 0.05, **p < 0.05, ***p < 0.01.