Coping with daily stress: Differential role of spiritual experience on daily positive and negative affect

Abstract

Objectives. On the global-level, spiritual experiences have been shown to buffer against the negative effects of stress on well-being for older adults, but this global-level analysis may not reflect the day-to-day processes at work. The present project uses a daily paradigm to examine the potential moderating effect of everyday spiritual experience (ESE) on the deleterious impact of a given day's perceived stress (PS) on that day's positive and negative affect (PA/NA). Method. Participants were 244 older adults aged 55-80 years who completed daily assessments for up to 56 days. Results. Results partially support the moderating hypothesis: ESE buffered the negative effect of PS on same-day NA but had a positive direct effect on same-day PA. Discussion. These results point to a differential function of ESE - that it serves a coping function for NA but enhances PA directly - in the day-to-day lives of older adults, shedding light on the nuanced role of religiousness and spirituality when it comes to coping with daily stress. © 2011 The Author.