Online Religious Involvement, Spiritual Support, Depression, and Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

A growing body of research has shown that religious involvement is related to individuals’ mental health outcomes. This study aimed to understand how online religious involvement impacts depression and anxiety mediated by spiritual support among Korean adults during the COVID-19 pandemic using structural equation modeling. The study also examined gender differences in the latent variables and pathways using a latent mean analysis and multigroup structural analysis. The results showed that Korean men had greater online religious involvement and spiritual support and less depression and anxiety than women. Further, it was found that the relationship between online religious involvement and depression was fully mediated by spiritual support only for Korean men, which suggests the importance of online religious involvement and spiritual support in predicting depressive symptoms during a pandemic.