BUDDHIST COPING STUDY

Thank you for your interest in the Buddhist coping study! At this time we are no longer collecting data. We are currently in the process of writing up our results. Some preliminary results are noted below. We expect to collect more data in the spring of 2009, following up with our participants from the spring and summer of 2008.

Introduction:

We have been studying religious coping for years, and there currently is no scale for Buddhists. Previous research has noted the effects of Buddhist practices, such as meditation and mindfulness (see Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004, for a review). However, these practices are rarely taught in the Buddhist tradition, but are used as secular /psychological tools to cope with stress. A few qualitative studies have noted certain ways that individuals use Buddhism to deal with stress (Cassaniti, 2006; de Silva, 2006; Soonthornchaiya & Dancy, 2006). But these studies focus on eastern populations and do not comprehensively examine Buddhist forms of coping. We think Buddhism is relevant in the west, as it is estimated there are 2 million Buddhists in the U.S. alone (Smith, 2002). Our goal was to create a reliable and valid scale of Buddhist coping to complement the scales for Jews and Christians (Pargament, Koenig, & Perez, 2000), Hindus (Tarakeshwar, Pargament, & Mahoney, 2003), and Muslims (Abu Raiya, Pargament, Mahoney, & Stein, in press). We recognize that the major goal of Buddhism is not to cope with stress in the secular sense of the words (though some might argue that nirvana or cessation of suffering could be viewed as 'big coping' - a way to prevent stress). However, we believe it is important to examine how Buddhism might be used by everyday people do deal with stress, as has been studied in other spiritual and philosophical traditions. We note below three recent studies we conducted to create a measure of Buddhist coping, examining Buddhists in the United States.

Study One: Colvin, S., Abarr, A., Dunn, M., Reed, A., & Phillips, R.E. III (2007) Buddhist coping: A thematic analysis on coping with stress. Poster presented at the Missouri Western State University Summer Research Institute Symposium.

To create a scale of Buddhist coping, we thought it important to speak to American Buddhists, and not assume that we knew how this population involves Buddhism in the coping process. So we interviewed 24 Buddhists from across the United States and from various Buddhist sects (Zen, Tibetan, Theravadan). We made sure to obtain individuals who were experienced and could speak thoroughly about how Buddhism was involved in coping. We recruited participants from Buddhanet, which lists Buddhist organization leaders, and Facebook social groups of Buddhists. We interviewed the 24 participants by phone, exploring how Buddhism was involved in the coping process. We recorded their answers verbatim and analyzed them using a qualitative technique known as thematic analysis and grounded theory. We found seven major forms of Buddhist coping with stress. All 24 participants used techniques of awareness, practicing meditation and mindfulness to cope with stress. The 24 participants also looked to Buddhist concepts to interpret the meaning of stressful events. Fifteen Buddhists expressed struggles with their religion as they dealt with difficulties, such as feeling that their practice was inadequate. Fourteen participants reported engaging in acts of lovingkindness to cope with stress. Twelve individuals practiced equanimity, or striving for balance, when faced with difficulties. Ten Buddhists tried to act in moral ways. Finally, seven participants looked to their sangha for support.  We presented the findings of this study at the Missouri Western State University Summer Research Institute Symposium in July of 2007, and we are currently submitting this study to a professional conference and academic journal.

Study Two: Hietbrink, L. (2008). Lovingkindness as a predictor of general outcomes from a stressful event. Poster presented at the Missouri Western State University Spring Multidisciplinary Research Day Symposium.

Based on study one, and a review of the psychological literature on Buddhist coping, we created 18 different types ('subscales') of Buddhist coping, with ten items for each type. We then gave ten experienced Buddhists these items and asked them to identify which items fit with which subscale. These Buddhists also provided feedback on the items. We kept 5-8 items per subscale, based on the feedback. The items that were kept had to be classified in the correct subscale 80% of the time by our ten Buddhists (a standard figure for reliability). We then recruited 550 Buddhist participants living in the United States to take our survey online. The online survey asked participants to consider a recent stressful event, and note on a four point scale (1 meant 'Not at All', up to 4, which meant 'A Great Deal') how often they used each item to cope with stress. We conducted a statistical procedure called exploratory factor analysis to determine if science upheld our theory on what items belonged to which scale. What we found was that only 14 subscales were scientifically derived, and those subscales contained a total of 66 items. The subscales included using Buddhist concepts such as impermanence, inter-being, not-self, and right understanding to deal with stress. Buddhists also turned to the dharma and to their sangha for help with stress. There were two karma subscales - some Buddhists looked at how they could change the current stressor and the consequences that would follow (we called this scale active karma), and some Buddhists considered how there was nothing they could do to avoid their karmic fate (called passive karma). We recognize that this second type of karma is not accurate to Buddhist teachings. Remember, we are studying how individuals use Buddhism to cope with stress, and some do not practice the philosophy very accurately, as they themselves acknowledge. Another subscale noted this - some Buddhists felt they were not practicing correctly. This subscale was called Bad Buddhist. (they felt they were a bad Buddhist). Another subscale was "its not easy being Buddhist". In this subscale, items described how Buddhists found it difficult to practice - it was not easy being mindful, kind to others, or engaging in a spiritual tradition foreign to others in America. Finally, four other subscales included the Buddhist practices of morality (practicing right speech, action, and livelihood), lovingkindness, meditation, and mindfulness.  We presented these results at the Missouri Western State University Multidisciplinary Research Day Symposium in April of 2008, and have submitted the study to a professional conference. We plan to write up the results for publication in the spring of 2009.

Study Three: Hietbrink, L., Turner, H., Ussher, R., & Phillips, R.E. III (2008). The prevalence and implications of religious coping in U.S. Buddhists. Poster presentation at the Missouri Western State University Summer Research Institute Symposium.

We created an online survey that contained the 14 Buddhist coping subscales and 66 items (the measure is called the BCOPE), along with demographic questions and five different surveys exploring adjustment to a particular life stressor. We found that our BCOPE subscales did a better job predicting adjustment to life stress than demographic variables such as gender and age, and general spiritual variables such as years practicing Buddhism and how spiritual a person believed themselves to be. Ten of our BCOPE subscales related to better outcomes from stress - impermanence, inter-being, not-self, right understanding, dharma, meditation, mindfulness, lovingkindness, morality, and sangha support. One had mixed implications - active karma. Three subscales related to poorer adjustment to life stress - passive karma, its not easy being Buddhist, and bad Buddhist. We presented these findings at the Missouri Western Summer Research Institute in July of 2008, and have submitted the study to a professional conference. We plan to write up the results for publication in the spring of 2009.

Conclusions

We have learned a good deal about Buddhism along the way. We look forward to learning more! Email us at buddhistcopingstudy@gmail.com or rphillips2@gmail.com if you have questions.

Sincerely,

The Buddhist Coping Study Research Team

Dr. Russ Phillips, Assistant Professor and Lead Investigator

Students Lisa Hietbrink, Erica Buczek, Robin Ussher, Hillary Turner, Destiny Ferris, Natalie McQuinn, Randy Riddle, Wendy Hickman, Michael Dunn, Ashley Abarr, Ashlee Reed