Prayer and Pain: The mediating Role of positive Re-AppraisalJessie Dezutter Background: The present study explored the role of prayer as a possible individual factor in pain management. Framed in the transactional theory of stress and coping we tested first, whether prayer was related with pain severity and pain tolerance and second, whether cognitive positive re-appraisal was a mediating mechanism in the association between prayer and pain. We expected that prayer would be related to pain tolerance in reducing the impact of the pain on patient’s daily life, but not necessarily to pain severity. Furthermore, we assume that positive re-appraisal can be an underlying mechanism in this association. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire design was adopted in order to measure demographics, prayer, pain outcomes (i.c. pain severity and pain tolerance), and cognitive positive re-appraisal. Two hundred and two chronic pain (CP) patients, all members of a national patients association, completed the questionnaires. Results: Correlational analyses showed that prayer was significantly related with pain tolerance, but not with pain severity. Furthermore, mediation analysis revealed that cognitive positive re-appraisal was indeed an underlying mechanism in the relationship between prayer and pain tolerance. Conclusion: This study affirms the importance to distinguish between pain outcomes and indicates that prayer is especially important for pain tolerance. Further, the findings can be framed within the transactional theory of stress and coping and the results indicate that positive re-appraisal might be an important underlying mechanism in the association between prayer and pain.
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