12. Faith:

12. Faith: Help your children develop faith and let them see faith exercised in your own life. Help them build a foundation of faith through; a. love (Gal. 5:6), b. truth, c. works (James 2:26), and d. humility (Moro 7:39, Ether 12:27, Alma 37:33). Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote in Mormon Doctrine (p.262); “Faith and truth cannot be separated: if there is to be faith, saving faith, faith unto life and salvation, faith that leads to the celestial world, there must first be truth.” (see also Alma 32:21) “You will be asked to exercise faith in truths you have not yet come to prove through your own experience or through the sacred witness of the Holy Ghost. Enduring happiness is rooted in unchangeable truth lived in faith.” (Richard G. Scott: To Acquire Knowledge and the Strength to Use It Wisely: Ensign June 2002.)

Work is an absolute requirement of faith. Few things cause or exacerbate stress more than inaction when action is needed. If something needs to be done. Do it. Do not procrastinate. D & C 88: 124 “Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.”
Remember: “The Good is the Greatest Enemy of the Best.” Do what needs doing, when it needs doing. If you are unsure of a direction. Study it out, discuss with people you trust, come up with a plan and take it to your Father in Heaven. When you have direction, “Do IT”!
Religion, Stress, and Mental Health in Adolescence: Findings From ADD Health
"A growing body of multidisciplinary research documents associations between religious involvement and mental health outcomes, yet the causal mechanisms linking them are not well understood.  Ellison and his colleagues (2001) tested a series of hypotheses derived from the life stess paradigm which linked religious involvement to adult well=being and distress.  In the present study those proposed mechanisms are tested in a population of adolescents, a particularly understudied group in religious research. Analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) reveals that religious involvement works to prevent the occurrence of school and health stressors, which reduces depression. For sucide ideation, religious involvement works to mobilize social resources.  Implications for theory and research are discussed."
http://www.jstor.org/pss/3512165

The influence of religiosity on positive and negative outcomes associated with stress among college students

"Abstract:

This study presents the impact of religious coping on promoting positive outcomes and minimizing negative outcomes associated with stress among college students. Analyses are based on 742 college students at a large, church-sponsored school in the Western United States who completed a cross-sectional survey. Religiosity had a beneficial influence on both positive and negative outcomes associated with stress among college students. Among the negative outcomes associated with stress, religiosity had the greatest influence on lowering feelings of anger when things happen outside of one's control or minimizing upset feelings because of an unexpected event. Among the positive outcomes associated with stress, religiosity had the greatest effect on promoting feelings of confidence in one's ability to handle personal problems. Thus, higher levels of religiosity have the potential to prevent negative outcomes but promote positive outcomes associated with stress."
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cmhr/2009/00000012/00000005/art00006

Happily Ever After?: Religion, Marital Status, Gender and Relationship Quality in Urban Families

"Abstract:

Researchers have found that religious participation is correlated with marital satisfaction. Less is known about whether religion also benefits participants in nonmarital, intimate relationships or whether religious effects on relationships vary by gender. Using data from the first three waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we find that religious participation by fathers, irrespective of marital status, is consistently associated with better relationships among new parents in urban America; however, mothers' participation is not related to relationship quality. These results suggest that religious effects vary more by gender than by marital status. We conclude that men's investments in relationships appear to depend more on the institutional contexts of those relationships, such as participation in formal religion."

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/sof/summary/v086/86.3.wolfinger.html

Fewer Rainy Days for Those Who Praise: A Psychological Examination of Religion and Depression
"Abstract
Current research indicates paucity in studying the intersection between specific facets of religion and psychological functioning. The current study addresses symptoms commonly manifested in university students adjusting to new expectations. The study addresses the interface between religion and mental health, particularly depression, which is a complex and multifaceted issue. The foundation of the current research was the Dollahite and Marks (2009) model which identified religion as a meta-variable based on three identified dimensions: beliefs, practices, and faith community. The purpose of the current study is to explore the complex relationships between religion, stress, and depression. The hypotheses predict (1) an inverse relationship between religion and depression, (2) a direct relationship between stress and depression, and (3) a buffering effect of religion on the relationship between stress and depression. In light of the rising needs in research, these predictions were based on a look at specific facets of religion. The participants provided survey data comprised of 212 psychology students in a convenience sample. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that females show higher levels of depression than do males and that social support is negatively related to depression. The current research showed significant findings in (1) the negative relationship between spiritual beliefs and depression, (2) the positive relationship between stress and depression, (3) the buffering impact of religious practices and faith community involvement as these variables interact with stress in relation to depression. The findings contributed to the existing body of research in that the negative relationship between beliefs and depression supported the Marks (2006) research. The positive relationship between stress and depression supported the research of Lee (2007) and the meta-analysis of Liu and Alloy (2010). Finally, the buffering effects of religious practices and faith community involvement on the relationship between stress and depression contributed to the complex findings of the research of Strawbridge, Shema, Cohen, Roberts, & Kaplan (1998). Above all, this study showed the dire need for future studies on religion and pathology and well-being using groundwork models such as the Dollahite and Marks (2009) conceptual model."
http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-06272011-152252/

Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: A meta-analysis

Abstract

"A growing body of literature suggests that people often turn to religion when coping with stressful events. However, studies on the efficacy of religious coping for people dealing with stressful situations have yielded mixed results. No published studies to date have attempted to quantitatively synthesize the research on religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress. The purpose of the current study was to synthesize the research on situation-specific religious coping methods and quantitatively determine their efficacy for people dealing with stressful situations. A meta-analysis of 49 relevant studies with a total of 105 effect sizes was conducted in order to quantitatively examine the relationship between religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress. Four types of relationships were investigated: positive religious coping with positive psychological adjustment, positive religious coping with negative psychological adjustment, negative religious coping with positive psychological adjustment, and negative religious coping with negative psychological adjustment. The results of the study generally supported the hypotheses that positive and negative forms of religious coping are related to positive and negative psychological adjustment to stress, respectively. Implications of the findings and their limitations are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol."
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jclp.20049/abstract

The link between religion and health: psychoneuroimmunology and the faith factor (online book)

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wuWh0eWk8ZwC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=faith+stress&ots=NpHsceWhNt&sig=tuDn7256ZfkfXVl4yYUo9Uy8Quw#v=onepage&q=faith%20stress&f=false