dc.rights.license | CC-BY-NC-ND | |
dc.contributor.advisor | Vrijmoeth, C. | |
dc.contributor.author | Bieser, Nele | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2025-06-16T23:04:41Z | |
dc.date.available | 2025-06-16T23:04:41Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/49041 | |
dc.description.abstract | Negative Life Events (NLE) and Psychological Distress (PD) have been strongly linked by literature. Still, not everyone who experienced NLE develops PD. The role of religious and spiritual (R/S) struggles is underexplored, particularly in a more secular setting like the Netherlands. This study aimed to investigate whether R/S struggles, especially the subdimension ultimate meaning struggles, partially mediate the relationship between NLE and PD. Further, the study examined whether UM struggles were a stronger mediator of NLE and anxiety symptoms compared to stress or depressive symptoms. A cross-sectional questionnaire was filled out by a non-clinical sample of people living in the Netherlands (N=191). The survey included the List of Threatening Experiences (LTE) for assessing NLE, the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSSS) for R/S struggles, and the DASS-21 to measure PD. Three separate mediation models tested the hypotheses using SPSS Process. The findings indicated a significant weak direct effect. Neither R/S struggles nor UM struggles partially mediated the link between NLE and PD, as NLE did not predict R/S nor UM struggles. UM struggles were strongly linked to all PD subscales, but the most to depression. Although no mediation was confirmed, the strong association found between both R/S struggles and UM struggles with PD showcases their clinical relevance, even in less religious populations. The results demonstrate the need to integrate R/S struggles in psychological assessment and therapy. | |
dc.description.sponsorship | Utrecht University | |
dc.language.iso | EN | |
dc.subject | This thesis investigated the relationship between negative life events and psychological distress, focusing on how religious and spiritual struggles acts as a potential moderator. It further examined ultimate meaning struggles, one dimension of the struggles, as a mediator. The study hypothesised that both religious and spiritual struggles as well as ultimate meaning struggles partially mediate the main relationship. The variables used were examined via an online questionaire. | |
dc.title | Negative Life Events and Psychological Distress: The Mediating Role of Religious and Spiritual Struggles | |
dc.type.content | Master Thesis | |
dc.rights.accessrights | Open Access | |
dc.subject.keywords | negative life events; R/S struggles; psychological distress; ultimate meaning; mediation analysis | |
dc.subject.courseuu | Clinical Psychology | |
dc.thesis.id | 46324 | |