Identifying well-being profiles and resilience characteristics in ex-members of fundamentalist Christian faith communities

Myriam V Thoma; Shauna L Rohner; Eva Heim; Rahel M Hermann; Melanie Roos; Keegan W M Evangelista; Urs M Nater; Jan Höltge

doi:10.1002/smi.3157

Identifying well-being profiles and resilience characteristics in ex-members of fundamentalist Christian faith communities

Stress Health. 2022 Dec;38(5):1058-1069. doi: 10.1002/smi.3157. Epub 2022 May 11.

Authors

Myriam V Thoma^{1

2}, Shauna L Rohner^{1

2}, Eva Heim^{1

3}, Rahel M Hermann¹, Melanie Roos¹, Keegan W M Evangelista¹, Urs M Nater⁴, Jan Höltge^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Psychology, University of Zürich, Psychopathology and Clinical Intervention, Zürich, Switzerland.
² University Research Priority Program "Dynamics of Healthy Aging", University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
³ Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Zürich, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Australia.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA.
⁶ School of Social Work, Dalhousie University, Resilience Research Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Abstract

There is a lack of empirical research on the heterogeneity in well-being of individuals who disaffiliated (i.e., left or were expelled) from an exclusionary and demanding faith community. Thus, little quantitative knowledge exists on factors related to resilience in these individuals. Therefore, the study aims were twofold: (1) to identify profiles of well-being in ex-members; and (2) to examine the characteristics of the identified profiles. A cross-sectional online survey assessed ex-members of various fundamentalist Christian faith communities. Latent profile analysis identified latent heterogeneity within the sample. Well-being profile indicators included perceived stress, psychopathological symptoms, affect, and satisfaction with life. Profile-related characteristics included socio-demographics (i.e., gender, age), membership (i.e., reason for joining, duration, extent of involvement, reasons for exit, social support during exit, and time since the exit), and resilience-supporting resources (i.e., social support, self-esteem, sense of coherence, personality, socio-economic status). In the final sample (N = 622, Mage = 41.34 years; 65.60% female), four distinct profiles were identified: resilient (25.70%), normative (36.40%), vulnerable (27.20%), and adverse (10.70%). The resilient profile was characterised by higher age, lower reporting of abuse or maltreatment as exit reason, and highest levels of resilience-supporting resources. Ex-members of fundamentalist Christian faith communities differ substantially in their well-being. Membership aspects were only weakly related to current well-being, with the exception of the exit reason of abuse or maltreatment. This study provided novel quantitative insights into the well-being profiles of individuals who disaffiliated from a fundamentalist Christian faith community in German-speaking countries.

Keywords: ex-members; fundamentalist Christian faith community; latent profile analysis; profiles; resilience; well-being.

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Health Status*
Humans
Male
Social Class
Social Support*

Grants and funding

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung