Does spirituality mediate the relationship between environmental stressors and psychological wellbeing in distressed unemployed people?

Abstract

A sample of 231 unemployed adults was surveyed using scales tapping psychological distress, the latent and manifest benefits of employment and spirituality (connectedness, universality, prayer fulfilment, attendance at worship). It was hypothesized that the latent and manifest benefits would be associated with well-being, spirituality would be associated with well-being, spirituality would be associated with the latent and manifest benefits, and spirituality would mediate the relationship between the latent and manifest benefits and psychological distress. The latent and manifest benefits were associated with psychological well-being in the expected direction, with the strongest associations being between well-being and financial deprivation, social support and time structure. One spirituality dimension, prayer fulfilment, was positively associated with well-being, and those reporting higher spirituality also reported greater access to the latent, but not manifest, benefits. Last, spirituality mediated the relationship between the latent benefits of employment (social support and collective purpose) and well-being. Results are discussed in the context of the latent deprivation and agency restriction theories of well-being and unemployment. Practical implications are highlighted.