Centrality of Religiosity as a Resource for Therapy Outcome?

Abstract

The present intervention study tested the following hypothesis: the influence of one’s personal religious construct system is more intense and broader on therapy outcome if it stays central within the personality or becomes more central throughout psychotherapeutic in-treatment. The clinic concept included standard psychotherapy and religious contents. In a pre–post design, participants (N = 208) completed measures of centrality of religiosity and mental health. The hypothesis was tested by treating centrality of religiosity as a categorical variable with reference to a typological distinction. The results indicate that therapy outcome is statistically significantly higher for the groups in which the religious construct system stayed or became more central throughout psychotherapeutic treatment in comparison to the groups with a subordinate position of the religious construct system. These results suggest that the importance and intensity of an individual’s religiosity can play an important role in answering the question of whether religiosity is a resource for improved therapy outcome.