Closeness to God, Spiritual Struggles, and Wellbeing in the First Year of College

Madison Kawakami Gilbertson; Shannon T Brady; Tsotso Ablorh; Christine Logel; Sarah A Schnitker

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.742265

Closeness to God, Spiritual Struggles, and Wellbeing in the First Year of College

Front Psychol. 2022 Mar 31:13:742265. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.742265. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Madison Kawakami Gilbertson¹, Shannon T Brady², Tsotso Ablorh³, Christine Logel⁴, Sarah A Schnitker⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, United States.
² Department of Psychology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, United States.
³ Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, United States.
⁴ Department of Social Development Studies, Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
⁵ Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States.

Abstract

Spirituality is an important, but oft-overlooked, aspect of the self that may affect college students' wellbeing and belonging. Few studies have systematically examined closeness to God and spiritual struggles as predictors of college student wellbeing during early college, which is a critical window for identity development. Moreover, research exploring interactions between spiritual struggles and closeness to God in predicting wellbeing outcomes is scarce. We address these gaps in the literature with an analytic sample comprised of 839 first-year college participants who identify as religious. The results of correlational analyses and linear mixed effect models are presented. Closeness to God was associated with greater wellbeing and belonging, and spiritual struggles were associated with lower wellbeing and belonging. In exploratory analyses, a moderating effect of closeness to God on the relation between spiritual struggles and negative outcomes was observed. Implications for higher education and college student development are discussed.

Keywords: belonging; closeness to God; college; spiritual struggles; spirituality; wellbeing.