An exploratory study of prayer as a coping mechanism for chronic pain

Studies of chronic pain and prayer that used the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) found that prayer was related to increased reports of pain. In these studies, then, prayer was seen as a maladaptive coping strategy. In other research, prayer has been associated with health and healing. I hypothesized that prayer is maladaptive in pain patients because the CSQ is an inadequate measure of prayer. CSQ has only two prayer items measuring one type of prayer. To test this hypothesis, I asked 82 chronic pain sufferers about their use of prayer. Most participants indicated that they prayed about their pain, some believed in the power of their prayer, and some believed that prayer helped them cope with their pain. Participants made use of a variety of prayers to cope with their pain, including prayer types not assessed by the CSQ. Therefore, prayer may not be a maladaptive coping strategy.