Committee Chair

Cunningham, Christopher J. L.

Committee Member

Hood, Ralph W., Jr.; Black, Kristen Jennings, 1991-

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

In many ways, clergy and religious leaders are an ignored yet high-risk population. A clergy member unable to cope with challenges in his or her own life may be ineffective at helping church members to cope with their stress. The purpose of the present study was to develop and test an operational model of clergy holistic health, including occupational demands, and personal and job-related resources. Data were collected from clergy (N = 418) and analyzed using correlational and regression based techniques. Results from the present study provided support for the demands-control-support model (Johnson & Hall, 1988). Specifically, clergy mental health may be improved by (a) an increase in the work-related social support needed to take advantage of job control followed by (b) an increase in job control.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my thesis chair, Dr. Chris Cunningham, for his quick wit, eager feedback, and constant support with this project, as well as with my academic endeavors in general. I would also like to thank Drs. Kristen Black and Ralph Hood for their support with this project, as well as with my overall development as an academician. I would like to thank The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for supporting this work with a Provost Student Research Award. I would like to thank my parents for their love and support which know no bounds. I would like to thank my friends and classmates for encouraging me throughout this process. Finally, I would like to thank Stephanie Chance, one of my former students, for helping me organize contact lists.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2018

Subject

Clergy -- Conduct of life; Clergy -- Psychology; Job stress -- Religious aspects; Clergy -- Job stress; Clergy -- Mental health

Keyword

Clergy; Occupational health; Job demands; Job resources; Pastor; Minister

Discipline

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xiii, 119 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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