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Sociological Analysis Advance Access published online on November 7, 2009
Sociological Analysis, doi:10.1093/socrel/srp062
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Does Negative Interaction in the Church Increase Psychological Distress? Longitudinal Findings from the Presbyterian Panel Survey*

Christopher G. Ellison

The University of Texas at Austin

Wei Zhang

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Neal Krause

University of Michigan

John P. Marcum

Research Services, Presbyterian Church (USA)

E-mail: cellison{at}prc.utexas.edu


  Abstract

This study examines the effects of negative interaction in church on psychological distress. After outlining a series of theoretical arguments linking negative interaction with health and well-being, relevant hypotheses are tested using longitudinal data from two surveys of the 1997–1999 Presbyterian Panel, a nationwide panel of members and elders (lay leaders) in congregations of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Findings confirm that negative interaction appears to foster or exacerbate distress over the study period. In addition, specific dimensions of social negativity have distinctive effects; the impact of criticisms on distress surface only in cross-sectional models, while the effects of excessive demands emerge only in the longitudinal models. No subgroup variations in these effects are detected. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to (a) research on religion and health and (b) congregational life, and a number of promising directions for future research are elaborated.

Keywords: religion, churches, congregations, social support, negative interaction, health

* Direct correspondence to Christopher G. Ellison, Department of Sociology, 1 University Station—A1700, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. An earlier version of this study was presented at the 2006 annual meetings of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Portland, OR (October 19–21). The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and the Sociology of Religion editor for helpful comments and suggestions. However, we are solely responsible for any errors of fact or interpretation that remain in the manuscript.


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