Date

8-9-2024

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Chair

Jerry Green

Keywords

stress, spirituality, coping, healthcare, rural, urban, mental health, COVID-19 pandemic, spiritual well-being, mental well-being, rural healthcare workers, urban healthcare workers

Disciplines

Psychology

Abstract

In recent years, stress has become an unspoken epidemic that has affected many working adults. Many adults spend much of their waking hours working, contributing to their stress. This quantitative study examined the relationship between spirituality and stress among rural and urban healthcare workers. The data for this study was collected through social media platforms, email, and word of mouth. An online survey consisting of ten demographic questions, twenty questions from the Spiritual Well-Being Scale, and ten questions from the Perceived Stress Scale was administered to healthcare workers at least 18 years old through an anonymous survey. Pearson correlations were used to analyze relationships between stress and spirituality among rural and urban healthcare workers. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine if there were differences in stress and spirituality levels between rural and urban healthcare workers. The results confirmed the hypotheses that there would be a significant negative relationship between stress and spirituality among healthcare workers (r(171) = -.33, p < .001), a significant negative relationship between stress and spirituality among urban healthcare workers (r(81) = -.28, p = .010), and a significant negative relationship between stress and spirituality among rural healthcare workers (r(88) = -.34, p = .001). Finally, MANOVA did not find a difference in stress levels between rural and urban healthcare workers. These findings indicate a commitment to spirituality as a coping mechanism, promoting mental health benefits and improving one’s well-being.

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