urrent study focused on two dal and religious identity: religious problem-solving religious coping styles as they correspond to one's relation- With God in a passive, collaborative, or self-initiating approach, as developed by Pargament et al., 1988) and spiritual well-being. The latter (spiritual well-being) consists of a global concept relating to one's own perception of spirituality and well-being, including one's sense of quality of life (Ellison, 1983; Paloutzian & Ellison, 1982). Furthermore, it was the intent of this research study to compare across the spirituality measures to determine which demonstrated a mo more significant relationship with the mea- sures of mental health used in this study (Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory-II). In addition, this study will address any differences noted within the sample population, as some participants were recruited from a private, religiously affiliated university, and other participants were recruited from a public university. The findings of this study could provide critical information for counseling professionals about this relationship, as well as how it relates to psychological and mental health concerns. on ghereoflingle Participants and Sampling Both undergraduate and graduate students from two universities were recruited as a convenience sample to participate in this study: one university is a large, public institution in the Southeast (Southeastern), and the second university is a small, private, religiously affiliated university located in the Midwest (Midwestern). All participants were recruited from both undergradu- ate and graduate courses and were offered extra credit to complete an assess- ment packet. A total of 150 surveys were distributed at the end of a class ses- sion and collected the following class session; in all, 121 survey packets were returned (response rate of 81.3%; there was no follow-up). All responses were anonymous. There were 30 male and 91 female participants. Participant ages ranged from 19 to 56 years (M = 24.50 years). Ethnic diversity among participants was slight as 82% self-reported as Caucasian, 13.1% self-reported as African-American, and 4% self-reported with other distinct ethnicities. Furthermore, religious diversity was low; 96.2% (n = 25) of the Midwestern participants reported to be Christian (3.8% [n = 1] reported to be Messianic Jew) or of a Christian denomination, and 90.6% (n = 87) Southeastern par- ticipants reported to be Christian or of a Christian denomination. Other Southeastern participants reported as Agnostic (4.2%, n = 4), Gnostic (1.0%, n = 1), Jewish (2.1%, n = 2), and Seventh-Day Adventist (1.0%, n = 1).113 The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI; Beck, Epstein, Brown, & Steer, 1988) 112 was used in this study to measure symptom levels of anxiety. The BAI D. R. Brown et al. was created from three existing anxiety assessments to more accurately Participants completed a packet consisting of a demographic ques- discriminate anxiety-related diagnoses from non-anxiety-related diagnoses. tionnaire and four assessment instruments. The demographic questionnaire Consisting of 21 items, the BAI is answered on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = requested grouping data such as age, ethnicity, gender, religious/spiritual not at all to 3 = severely; I could barely stand it) to indicate severity of anxi- affiliation, and the use of the word "God" in their spiritual/religious affil- ety symptoms. Beck et al. (1988) reported that the BAI displayed high levels iation. To counterbalance the presentation of measures and not affect the of internal consistency (a = .92). Furthermore, Dowd and Waller (1998) participant responses, the order of documents placed in half of the survey reported that internal consistency reliability coefficients ranged between envelope packets contained documents in a different order. of . 75. 85 and .94 and test-retest reliability over one week resulted in a coefficient The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) Measures was utilized in this study to evaluate levels of depression in participants. The The Religious Problem-Solving Scale (RPSS) was used to measure religious BDI-II consists of 21 items, each scored on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = not coping and problem-solving styles. This scale was designed by Pargament present to 3 = severe). Beck et al. (1996) reported that the BDI-II exhibits et al. (1988). Consisting of three subscales (Self-Directing, Collaborative, and high Cronbach's alphas: outpatients (a = .92) and college students (a = .93). Deferring), the RPSS contains 36 items on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = never, Internal consistency reliability was measured using corrected item-total cor- 2 = occasionally, 3 = fairly often, 4 = very often, and 5 = always) in which relations for both the clinical (range = .39 to .70) and convenience (range item responses indicate how often the individual engages in an activity. = .27 to .74) samples. The test-retest reliability resulted in a reliability coef- According to Thurston (1999), reliability and validity are reportedly strong: ficient of a = .93. The BDI-II also correlated well with the BAI with a small subject sample (n = 297; r = . 60). Collaborative (r = .94, a = .93), .94 Self-Directing (r = .94, a = .91), and Deferring (r = .91, a = .89). Test-retest reliability returned promising relia- bility estimates: a = .93 (Collaborative), a = .94 (Self-Directing), and a = .87 RESULTS Deferring). According to Pargament et al. (1988), in respect to measures of religiousness, the Self-Directing subscale correlated to a significantly negative Because the spirituality assessments were developed from a Judeo-Christian relationship with a Higher Power, whereas the Collaborative and Deferring perspective, participants were asked to respond to the following on the exhibited a positive relationship. demographics questionnaire: "Does your spiritual/religious identity use The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS; Ellison, 1983; Paloutzian & the word 'God'?" One hundred percent of participants indicated that the Ellison, 1982) was designed to provide a global measure of a respondent's word "God" is used in their spiritual/religious identity. Familiarity with the quality of life and one's perception of spiritual well-being (Boivin, Kirby, word "God" clearly did not invalidate the results. Analysis of assessment Underwood, & Silva, 1999). The instrument is constructed of two subscales: results reported that Midwestern participants reported higher scores on the religious well-being (Religious) and existential well-being (Existential), as Collaborative (M = 43.88; SD = 7.039; a = .88) and Deferring (M = 30.15; well as an overall score of spiritual well-being (SWB). The SWBS is a 20-item SD = 7.358; a = .83) subscale than Southeastern participants (M = 37.31; assessment answered on a 6-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly agree to 6 = SD = 12.531; a = .96 and M = 29.25; SD = 10.595; a = .93, respectively). strongly disagree), where reliability and validity appear to be high (Stanard Conversely, the Southeastern participants reported higher scores on the Self- et al, 2000): Religious (r = .96, a = .96), Existential (r = .86, a = .78), and Directing subscale (M = 25.32; SD = 12.015; a = .96) than the Midwestern SWB (r =.93, a = .89), with a slight correlation between the two subscales participant (M = 21.96; SD = 6.109; a = .87). Overall, the mean responses or (r = .32), a high correlation between SWB and the Religious subscale (r = the Collaborative (M = 38.72, SD = 11.861, a = .96), Deferring (M = 29.45 90), and a moderate correlation between SWB and the Existential subscale SD = 9.967, a = .92), and Self-Directing (M = 24.60, SD = 11.080, a= (r =.59). However, the test-retest reliability coefficients with four samples on 96) subscales suggested that participants were more likely to use a collab a 1-, 4-, 6-, and 10-week interval resulted in high reliability; the SWB global rative relationship with God to address problems and cope with negative li scale ranged from .82 to .99, the Religious subscale ranged from .88 to .99, experiences, as well as demonstrating strong reliability factors. Overall me and the Existential subscale ranged from .73 to .98 (Paloutzian & Ellison, results for the Religious (M = 52.59, SD = 10.061, a = .95) and Exister 1991). Internal consistency reliability coefficients for the two subscales and the global scale reported results for SWB ranging from .89 to .94, results for the Religious subscale ranging from .82 to .94, and results for the Existential subscale ranging from .78 to .86