Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Disclosure During Private Prayer As A Mediator Between Prayer Type And Mental Health In An Adult Christian Sample., Stephanie Winkeljohn Black, Patrick Pössel, Benjamin Jeppsen, Annie C. Bjerg, Don T. Wooldridge

Faculty Scholarship

According to Poloma and Pendleton’s (1991) prayer model there are four prayer types (colloquial, meditative, petitionary, and ritual), all of which have varying associations with mental health. However, few studies have examined what mechanisms explain these associations. The literature demonstrates that disclosing distressing information can improve mental health. Thus, the current study examined self-disclosure as a mediating variable between Poloma and Pendleton’s (1991) prayer types and mental health. It was hypothesized that self-disclosure would mediate the association between prayer types involving meaningful communication with God (colloquial and meditative prayer types) and mental health and would not mediate associations between petitionary …