Buffering role of positive religious coping against the helplessness of elderly people under Covid stress
ISSN: 1366-3666
Article publication date: 1 April 2022
Issue publication date: 9 February 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the relationship between Covid stress and helplessness among the elderly people in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, a southern state of India, and moreover, whether positive religious coping can have any influence on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a field study approach, data were collected from 187 elderly people aged more than 60 years in different parts of the Tirunelveli district. Moderated regression analysis was carried out to examine the moderating role of positive religious coping on the relationship between Covid stress and helplessness.
Findings
In line with the formulated hypotheses, the findings reveal a significant positive contribution of Covid stress toward the helplessness of elderly people. However, despite Covid stress, the helplessness gets reduced for elderly people executing a higher level of positive religious coping.
Research limitations/implications
The findings substantiate the conservation of resources theory and suggest the role of positive religious coping as a personal resource against the stress experienced by the elderly.
Practical implications
The findings of the present study indicate the responsibility of government agencies, community leaders, family members as well as religious leaders in providing the scope to the elderly for religious interactions as well as practices that may facilitate positive religious coping among them.
Originality/value
The present study is one of its kind to be carried out among community-dwelling elderly under the pandemic crises. Moreover, the buffering role of positive religious coping as a personal resource to withstand the difficult situation has been examined in this study in an empirical manner.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: No funding was received for carrying out this study.Conflicts of interest/competing interests: There is no conflict of interest.Availability of data and material: Data generated and analyzed during the study will be available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Ethics approval: The present study was carried out fulfilling the principles of Helsinki Declaration. Approval for the study was accorded from the Institutional Ethics Committee (Human Studies) of Pondicherry University, India.Consent to participate: Informed consent was taken from all the participating respondents in the study.Consent for publication: Both the authors have given their consent for the publication of the present work.
Citation
Wilson, M.J.A. and Sia, S.K. (2023), "Buffering role of positive religious coping against the helplessness of elderly people under Covid stress", Working with Older People, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 26-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-02-2022-0006
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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