Mental Distress, Stigma and Help-Seeking in the Evangelical Christian Church: Study Protocol

A large body of research supports the central importance of religious and spiritual belief systems for personal wellbeing. Many religious communities hold beliefs about the causes and suitable treatments for mental health conditions, which can influence how an individual experiences their mental health, as well as the likelihood of seeking professional or religious help for their psychological difficulties. Research suggests that this is especially the case for evangelical Christians, who are more likely to view mental illness as caused by demons, sin, diminished faith, or generational curses. Whilst recent qualitative evidence suggests that such beliefs can hold negative effects for evangelical Christians, there is little research exploring quantitative pathways. This study protocol paper presents a pilot study, which aims to explore how beliefs about the causes of mental illness, religious fundamentalism, help-seeking, stigma and mental health are related in evangelical Christian communities. Whilst there is some existing research exploring this area, most is drawn from a US context. The findings of the present study, therefore, will uniquely apply to a UK context. A quantitative design is proposed, which will involve statistical analyses such as correlation, regression, moderation and path analysis, to explore associations between these variables. Ethical considerations and dissemination plans are discussed, with awareness of characteristics of our target sample.

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