| The purpose of this cross-sectional, correlational study was to examine the relationships between chronic pain, the use of religious and non-religious coping, and the health outcomes of functional ability, depression, and spiritual well being. Specifically, three research questions were addressed: (1) What are the relationships between background contextual factors, pain intensity, and the use of religious and nonreligious coping, (2) What is the relationship between pain intensity and the three health outcomes, and (3) Does the use of religious and nonreligious coping strategies mediate the relationship between pain and the three health outcomes? Structural equation modeling was used to test a middle-range theory of adaptation to chronic pain (ACP), derived from the Roy Adaptation Model.;The study sample consisted of 200 community-dwelling older adults from a Midwestern city. The mean age was 76 years. 77% were female and 23% were male; 79.5% were Caucasian and 20.5% were Non-white. The results of correlational analyses indicated that age, gender, and race were not significantly related to the level of pain intensity experienced by the elders. Women (β = .16) and Non-white participants (β = .36) reported using religious coping strategies more often than did men and Whites. Higher pain intensity was found to be related to higher levels of functional disability (β = .46), depression (β = .27), and lower levels of spiritual well-being (β = −.16), after controlling for other variables in the model. Elders with higher pain intensity reported using more collaborative religious coping strategies and non-religious behavioral coping strategies to manage their pain. The use of religious coping and non-religious coping strategies did not mediate the relationship between total pain intensity and the three health outcomes. However, elders that reported using religious coping more often were less functionally disabled (β = −.11), less depressed (β = −.26), and had higher levels of spiritual well-being (β = .58). Elders that were more functionally disabled used more non-religious coping strategies. Thus, the results of this study supported the importance of both religious and non-religious strategies for coping with chronic pain among elderly adults. Implications for nursing research and practice will be discussed. |
