Direct and mediated associations between religious coping, spirituality, and youth violence in El Salvador.

Christopher P. Salas‐Wright · René Olate · Michael G. Vaughn · Thanh V. Tran

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Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology Contemporary Christian Leadership and Education Crime Patterns and Interventions

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine the direct and mediated relationships between religious coping, spirituality, social developmental factors, and violence among high-risk and gang-involved youth in a high-crime, Latin American country. METHODS: Using a community sample of 290 high-risk and gang-involved youth in San Salvador, El Salvador, structural equation modeling was employed to examine the relationships between religious coping, spirituality, social developmental factors (e.g., antisocial bond and antisocial beliefs), and violence. RESULTS: Religious coping (β = - 0.14, P < 0.05) and spirituality (β = - 0.20, P < 0.01) were both significantly associated with antisocial bond. Antisocial bond, in turn, was directly associated with violence (β = 0.70, P < 0.001) and was associated with antisocial beliefs (β = 0.54, P < 0.001); however, the path from antisocial beliefs to violence was not statistically significant. No direct paths were identified from religiosity and spirituality to violence. The goodness-of-fit statistics (root mean square error of approximation, 0.034; comparative fit index, 0.974; and Tucker-Lewis index, 0.966) suggest that the final model had acceptable fit. CONCLUSIONS: This study is among the first to shed light on the relationship between religiosity, spirituality, and youth violence in the Latin American context. Elevated levels of religious coping and spirituality are associated with less antisocial bonding, which, in turn, is associated with lower levels of violent behavior among high-risk and gang-involved Salvadoran youth. Study findings suggest that religious coping and spirituality are indirectly protective for youth violence among this high-risk population.

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References

1998Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling 1989The Practice of Social Research 2000The many methods of religious coping: Development and initial validation of the RCOPE 2006Street Gang Patterns and Policies 2003Theorizing Religious Effects Among American Adolescents 2006A systematic review of associations among religiosity/spirituality and adolescent health attitudes and behaviors 2003The Intrinsic Spirituality Scale 2008Identifying Mediators of the Relationship Between Religiousness/Spirituality and Alcohol Use

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