Religious Coping and Depressive Symptoms among Religious Belgian Hospitalized Patients: The Mediating Role of Hope

Research on the pathways through which positive/negative religious coping (PRC/NRC) styles work, is sparse. This cross-sectional study examined hope as a mediating pathway in the association between PRC/NRC and depressive symptoms in 155 hospital inpatients in Belgium that self-reported to be religious (mostly Catholic, Christian or religious without affiliation to a religious institute). Patients relying more on NRC tend to have more depressive symptoms through the mechanism of hope. Interestingly, the direct relationship found between NRC and depressive symptoms points to the likelihood of an omitted mediator requiring further research. Patients more often using PRC tend to have fewer depressive symptoms through the mechanism of hope. No direct relationship between PRC and depressive symptoms was found.