The Mediating Effects of Religious Problem-solving on the Relationship Between Religious Orientation and Mental Health in Marriage Immigrant Women

Abstract

This study aims to verify the mediating effects of religious problem-solving on the relationship between religious orientation and mental health in married immigrant Christian women. Study subjects included 408 married immigrant women (224 Protestant women and 184 Catholic women), and survey research was conducted with the Religious Orientation Scale(individual religious predisposition), the Religious Problem-Solving Scale (coping behavior), and a mental health scale based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health, Fifth Edition (DSM-V). Findings were as follows. First, no significant differences were found in the mental health of married immigrant Christian women (Protestants and Catholics) in Korea. Second, a negative correlation was found between the extrinsic religious orientation and mental health of married immigrant Christian women, while a positive correlation was found between intrinsic religious disposition and mental health in these women. Third, religious problem-solving styles (e.g., deferring or collaborative) had partial mediating effects on the relationship between religious orientation and mental health. Subsequent studies require qualitative analysis of the religious lives of married immigrant Christian women and a study to verify the difference between religious and non-religious people in mental health.