Table 2.
OLS Regression Predicting Effects of Afterlife Beliefs on Psychological Adjustment of Bereaved Spouses 6 Months Postloss, Changing Lives of Older Couples, 1987–1994
| Depressive symptoms | Anger symptoms | Intrusive thoughts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model 1 | Model 2 | |||
| Afterlife beliefs | ||||
| Yes, believes in afterlife | 0.68** (0.21) | |||
| Don’t know if afterlife exists | 0.48† (0.26) | |||
| Loved ones are reunited in afterlife | ||||
| Agree strongly | 0.284 (0.21) | 0.20 (0.17) | 0.43* (0.18) | |
| Agree somewhat | 0.068 (0.23) | 0.006 (0.19) | 0.27 (0.20) | |
| Disagree | 1.09** (0.35) | 0.486† (0.29) | 0.588* (0.31) | |
| Psychological characteristics | ||||
| Religious coping | −0.17† (0.10) | −0.21* (0.09) | −0.20* (0.09) | −0.15† (0.09) |
| Marital quality | 0.067 (0.11) | −0.036 (0.094) | 0.06 (0.10) | 0.08 (0.10) |
| Constant | −1.02 (1.67) | 2.29 (1.40) | −0.084 (1.45) | 0.202 (1.48) |
| Adjusted R 2 | .136 | .108 | .035 | .015 |
Notes. OLS = ordinary least squares. Betas and standard errors are presented. Coefficients not shown for demographic characteristics (age, race, and gender), socioeconomic status (education, income, and home ownership), baseline well-being (depressive symptoms, anxiety, and self-rated health), or the number of months elapsed between baseline interview and spousal death.
† p ≤ .10. *p ≤ .05. **p ≤ .01. ***p ≤ .001.