Influence of Religious Coping Styles on Psychological Health of Hepatitis B Patients in Kumasi Metropolis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of religious coping styles on depression and anxiety levels in persons living with Hepatitis B Virus in the Kumasi Metropolis. One hundred and forty-three Hepatitis B patients were conveniently sampled for the study. Brief RCOPE was used to measure the level of positive and negative religious coping. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were used respectively to measure the depression and anxiety levels of respondents. Majority of the respondents 80 (55.6%) were females, 45 (31.3%) fellowshipped with Orthodox churches, 47 (32.6%) were Pentecostals, 44 (30.6%) were Muslims, while 8 (5.6%) were Traditionalists. In terms of religious coping, majority of the respondents used positive religious coping. Negative religious coping was positively associated to anxiety and depression, respectively (b = .43, p = .001, b = .53, p <.001), but positive religious coping was not linked to anxiety and depression (b = -.30, p = .046, b = -.10 p = .500). The findings revealed a statistically significant difference in the religious coping styles with respect to their religious background. Conversely there was no statistically significant difference in religious coping practice with respect to gender. Finally, gender moderated only the relationship between positive religious coping and depression while religious background only moderated the relationship between positive religious coping and anxiety. It is therefore recommended that assessment of religious coping should be integrated into Hepatitis B Virus health care.