A longitudinal study published in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality suggests that while religious and spiritual struggles are linked to higher anxiety among college students, developing patience for daily irritations can predict a reduction in general anxiety over time. The research followed undergraduates at a large Christian university in the southern United States and was led by Laura Upenieks of Baylor University, with colleagues contributing to the analysis.
Religion and spirituality often provide meaning and social support, yet these belief systems are not uniformly beneficial for psychological well-being. Many individuals experience tensions, doubts and negative emotions related to their faith, what psychologists describe as religious and spiritual struggles.
These struggles can take many forms, from anger toward a divine figure to clashes within a religious community or deep concerns about moral failures.
The study tracked 274 undergraduate students at a large Christian university in the southern United States across four years. Students completed surveys in their first semester and again in their senior year, assessing the frequency of religious and spiritual struggles and generalized anxiety over the past week, alongside three types of patience.
Researchers employed latent change score modelling, a technique that separates baseline levels from changes over time to better understand the direction of associations between traits.
At the outset, students reporting more frequent spiritual struggles also reported higher anxiety, and this pattern persisted as the cohort progressed through college. Those whose spiritual struggles intensified over the four years were more likely to experience rising anxiety.
The team looked for a buffering effect from patience, hypothesising that a patient disposition might lessen the impact of spiritual doubts on anxiety. The analysis found no statistically significant interaction between patience and spiritual struggles, indicating patience did not alter the trajectory linking struggles to anxiety.
Nevertheless, patience stood as an independent predictor of mental health. In the first semester, higher levels of interpersonal patience and life hardship patience were associated with lower initial anxiety.
Over time, changes in interpersonal and life hardship patience did not predict changes in anxiety. Instead, students who developed more daily hassles patience — the tolerance of everyday irritations — showed a notable decrease in anxiety symptoms by their senior year.
This pattern suggests that tolerating daily annoyances may help prevent a buildup of stress, offering emotional space for better overall mental health, even if it does not resolve existential concerns tied to religious doubt.
The researchers acknowledge several limitations. The sample came from a religiously affiliated university, which may limit applicability to secular institutions or the wider public. Spiritual struggles were measured with a single survey item, potentially overlooking the nuances of different issues, and the study relied on self-reported data. Replication with larger and more diverse populations would help verify the findings.
The authors propose future research to explore behavioural interventions that train people to manage reactions to daily irritations, while recognising that addressing the roots of spiritual struggles may require other support systems, such as community conversations or pastoral care.
The study is titled “Religious/Spiritual Struggles, Patience, and Anxiety: A Longitudinal Examination of Virtue and Vulnerability,” and was authored by Laura Upenieks, Hiroki Matsuo, Kevin D. Dougherty, Perry L. Glanzer, and Sarah A. Schnitker.
