Religious commitment and health locus of control as moderators of depression and life satisfaction in individuals who have experienced a traumatic health event

A plethora of individual and collective research exists in the areas of religion, locus of control, level of impairment, depression, and life satisfaction. Recent studies support the notion that religious commitment and an internal health locus of control orientation are negatively correlated with depression (Chang, Skinner, & Boehmer, 2001; Koenig. George, & Peterson, 1998; Dalgard, Bjork, & Tambs, 1995) and positively correlated with life satisfaction (Sowell et al., 2001; Flannelly & Inouye, 2001; Chan, 2000). Conversely, level of impairment in activities of daily living frequently exhibits a positive association with depression (Stouffer Calderon, 2001; Ramasubbu, Robinson, Flint, Kosier, & Price, 1998) and a negative association with life satisfaction (Germano, Misajon, & Cummins, 2001; Borman & Celiker, 1999). The high frequency of association among these variables suggests that underlying factors may be contributing to the observed results. In an attempt to expose a possible mechanism to explicate these relationships, the present study endeavored to build on the current body of literature by examining if and how these variables interact within a specific medical population. The present study posited that (1) Internal health locus of control (IHLOC) would moderate the relationship between level of impairment (ADL) and depression (CESD), that is, IHLOC and ADL would interact with one another and account for variance in depression levels over and above the additive combination of their main effects; (2) Religious commitment (RCI) would moderate the relationship between ADL and CESD, that is, RCI and ADL would interact with one another and account for variance in depression levels over and above the additive combination of their main effects; (3) IHLOC would moderate the relationship between ADL and life satisfaction (SWLS), that is, IHLOC and ADL would interact with one another and account for variance in life satisfaction levels over and above the additive combination of their main effects; and (4) RCI would moderate the relationship between ADL and SWLS, that is, RCI and ADL would interact with one another and account for variance in SWLS levels over and above the additive combination of their main effects. Statistical analyses of the hypotheses and ancillary analyses yielded predominately non-significant results. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed, as are directions for future research.