Rider

The Anorexia-Religion Connection: Views of God’s Grace and Religious Coping Style as Predictors of the Severity of Anorectic Symptomology

Katie A. Rider

Abstract

A review of the literature concerning the relationship between anorexia nervosa (AN) and religion reveals two disparate themes: religion as a cultivator and preserver of anorectic symptomology and religion as an advantageous treatment adjunct and recovery benefactor. The purpose of the present study was to address this discrepancy in order to gain insight into how religion might best be integrated into AN treatment by exploring two factors – views of God’s grace and religious coping style – suspected to influence the role that religion assumes in the lives of individuals with AN. A sample of 134 women (M = 27.9, SD = 8.61) who self-identified as 18 years of age or older, of the Christian religious orientation, and having received an AN diagnosis completed measures of views of God’s grace, religious coping style, and anorectic symptomology through means of an online assessment. Analyses revealed that religious coping style, but not views of God’s grace, significantly predicted severity of anorectic symptomology.

These findings suggest that religion should be integrated into AN treatment and that at least a portion of this integration should be devoted to assessment of patients’ religious coping styles and to the equipping of patients with the tools necessary to apply their religion constructively.

Keywords: anorexia nervosa, religion, grace, coping style