Belief in Faith Healing and HbA1c: Exploring the Mediating Role of Meaning in Life

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between belief in divine healing and HbA1c (a biomarker of blood glucose control). Three major findings emerged from our analysis of data from a nationwide survey. First, a set of descriptive analyses suggest that faith healing beliefs are not...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of psychology and theology
Authors: Krause, Neal (Author) ; Ironson, Gail (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publishing 2024
In: Journal of psychology and theology
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Miraculous healing / Faith / Health / Hemoglobin / Blood glucose
RelBib Classification:AE Psychology of religion
CB Christian life; spirituality
Further subjects:B belief in faith healing
B HbA1c
B meaning in life
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between belief in divine healing and HbA1c (a biomarker of blood glucose control). Three major findings emerged from our analysis of data from a nationwide survey. First, a set of descriptive analyses suggest that faith healing beliefs are not the sole province of Conservative Christians. Instead, belief in divine healing is more widely spread in the general population. Second, our analyses indicate there is a nonlinear relationship between belief in divine healing and HbA1c values: HbA1c scores are relatively high (i.e., less desirable) among study participants with low levels of belief in faith healing. However, levels of HbA1c are lower among study participants with a stronger belief in the divine. Third, our analyses further indicate that a religious sense of meaning in life, but not a general sense of meaning, mediates the relationship between belief in faith healing and HbA1c values.
ISSN:2328-1162
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of psychology and theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/00916471231206360