The Links Between Insecure Attachment to God, Divine Struggles, and Happiness and Depressive Symptoms Among Muslims and Jews in Israel

Abstract

AbstractThis investigation aimed to explore a theoretical model that examines the relationship between patterns of insecure attachment to God (i.e., anxious, avoidant), God-focused religious coping (i.e., divine struggles, positive religious coping), and mental health and well-being (i.e., happiness, depressive symptoms). The study's participants were 340 Israeli Jewish and Muslim individuals who completed electronic self-report questionnaires to assess the main variables of the study. The theoretical model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling. The analysis' findings indicated that there were no direct links between both patterns of insecure attachment to God and both happiness and depressive symptoms. Additionally, both anxious and avoidant attachment to God were found to be positively associated with divine struggles, and the latter mediated the relationship between both anxious and avoidant attachment to God and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, there were no significant associations between positive religious coping and any of the other variables in the study. Moreover, a comparative analysis revealed that the pattern of associations between the variables in the study was not dependent on gender or religious affiliation. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.