Date of Award

5-2004

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Lynda Cable

Second Advisor

Dr. Winston Seegobin

Third Advisor

Dr. Philip Lawlis

Abstract

Previous studies have found a correlation between parental divorce during childhood and depression during the young adult years. Further, studies have consistently demonstrated that religiosity helps people better deal with negative life events. The present study combined these previous findings and investigated whether college students from divorced families would experience depression in their young adult years and whether religiosity would impact the amount of experienced depression. Two hundred and twenty student volunteers from a Christian liberal arts college completed surveys on religious orientation, spiritual well-being, quest, and depression. A significant relationship was not observed between familial status and depression, nor was there a significant correlation between level of depression and religious orientation, spiritual well-being, quest, gender, and year in school. Results did show, however, that intact parents were more likely to talk positively to their children about Jesus and to take them to church than were divorced parents. It was recommended that future research use a larger divorced sample in order to confirm or disconfirm the present study's findings.

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