Authors' Affiliations

Ashley Sexton, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. Victoria Jones, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. Robyn Dolson, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. Diana Morelen Ph.D., Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Psychology

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Diana Morelen

Classification of First Author

Undergraduate Student

Type

Poster: Competitive

Project's Category

Psychology

Abstract or Artist's Statement

Research suggests those with high religiosity have better social support and lower stress levels (Gao, 2015), and more frequent attendance of religious services is related to larger social networks and higher variety and perceived quality of social support (Ellison & George, 1994). Furthermore, research has shown that the quality of religious social support protects against symptoms of anxiety and depression (Desrosiers, 2012; Lewis, 2019). However, the relationship between perceived religious support in childhood and internalizing symptoms in adulthood have not been thoroughly investigated in the literature. Therefore, we hypothesize that perceived religious support in childhood correlates with lower levels of anxiety, stress, and depression in adulthood. Data was collected at a public university in rural Appalachia (N = 769, 70.9% female, M age = 20.43, SD = 4.51) using online, self-report survey. Pearson correlations indicated a significant inverse relationship between perceived religious support in childhood and depression (r(612) = -0.30, p = 0.01), anxiety (r(629) = -0.20, p = 0.01), and stress (r(630) = -0.26, p = 0.01). These findings suggest that perceived religious support during childhood may have a small protective effect against depression, anxiety, and stress in early adulthood and that religious support in childhood may be more of a buffer for depression in adulthood compared to stress and anxiety.

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The Effects of Perceived Religious Support in Childhood on Internalizing Symptoms in Early Adulthood

Research suggests those with high religiosity have better social support and lower stress levels (Gao, 2015), and more frequent attendance of religious services is related to larger social networks and higher variety and perceived quality of social support (Ellison & George, 1994). Furthermore, research has shown that the quality of religious social support protects against symptoms of anxiety and depression (Desrosiers, 2012; Lewis, 2019). However, the relationship between perceived religious support in childhood and internalizing symptoms in adulthood have not been thoroughly investigated in the literature. Therefore, we hypothesize that perceived religious support in childhood correlates with lower levels of anxiety, stress, and depression in adulthood. Data was collected at a public university in rural Appalachia (N = 769, 70.9% female, M age = 20.43, SD = 4.51) using online, self-report survey. Pearson correlations indicated a significant inverse relationship between perceived religious support in childhood and depression (r(612) = -0.30, p = 0.01), anxiety (r(629) = -0.20, p = 0.01), and stress (r(630) = -0.26, p = 0.01). These findings suggest that perceived religious support during childhood may have a small protective effect against depression, anxiety, and stress in early adulthood and that religious support in childhood may be more of a buffer for depression in adulthood compared to stress and anxiety.