Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Psychology 1-1-2010 Resolving anger toward God : lament as an avenue toward attachment Kimberly N. Snow George Fox University This research is a product of the Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) program at George Fox University.Find out moreabout the program. Recommended Citation Snow, Kimberly N., "Resolving anger toward God : lament as an avenue toward attachment " (2010).Doctor of Psychology (PsyD). Paper 96. http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/psyd/96 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Psychology at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. Resolving Anger Toward God: Lament as an Avenue Toward Attachment by Kimberly N. Snow Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology George Fox University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology Newberg, Oregon May 2010 Resolving Anger toward God 2 Resolving Anger toward God: Lament as an A venue toward Attachment by Kimberly N. Snow has been approved at the Graduate School of Clinical Psychology George Fox University As a Dissertation for the Psy.D. degree Approval -- Mark McMinn, PhD, Chair Date:,_S--=.I_''L_{2l>_0'__ Rodger Bufford, P Resolving Anger toward God iii Resolving Anger Toward God: Lament as an Avenue Toward Attachment Kimberly N. Snow Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology at George Fox University Newberg, Oregon Abstract Preliminary investigations have found anger toward God to be positively related to various psychological problems, as well as physical, spiritual and religious problems (Exline & Martin, 2005). Until recently, however, the topic of anger toward God has been vastly overlooked by psychologists. Within the psychological literature, interventions specifically targeting negative feelings toward God remain to be explored. The current study tested an intervention based on the biblical psalms of lament (Zornow, 2009). The lament psalm intervention consisted of 20 devotional readings and weekly experiential assignments, delivered electronically over a four-week period. The study was completed by 192 college students at Christian institutions across the United States. The majority of participants, 76%, were female, and 84% of the sample was of European American descent. Overall, participants ascribed a high level of importance to their religious beliefs. Religious affiliation was predominantly Christian. It was hypothesized that the intervention would result in decreased feelings of anger and complaint toward God, as well as increased intimacy with God over time, as demonstrated by a Resolving Anger toward God iv significant time by experimental condition interaction effect. It was also hypothesized that the intervention would be related to changes in religious coping over time, also tested by an interaction effect. Furthermore, it was believed that participants who scored high on measures of both communion with God and complaint with God at Time 1 would receive the greatest benefit from the intervention (Beck, 2006). In order to test these hypotheses, participants in the lament psalm intervention were compared with participants in two control groups. Contrary to the hypotheses, repeated measures ANOVAs revealed no significant interaction effects. Further analysis was conducted in order to examine participants who reported a high level of compliance with the intervention. Maximum compliance with the lament psalm intervention was related to increased ratings on Communion with God, as measured by a subscale of the Attachment to God Inventory, F (2, 101) = 3.71, p < 0.05. No other significant interaction effects were found. Findings suggest that full participation in a lament psalm intervention may result in benefits such as increased feelings of intimacy toward God. Resolving Anger toward God v Acknowledgments This work is dedicated to Adam Snow, Mary Starr and Michelle Watson. And to all of my loved ones who believe in the power of authentic relationship. Resolving Anger toward God vi Table of Contents Approval Page.................................................................................................................................ii Abstract.. ......................................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgments...........................................................................................................................v Table of Tables.............................................................................................................................viii Table of Figures..............................................................................................................................ix Chapter 1: Introduction...................................................................................................................1 Relevance of Anger Toward God........................................................................................2 Suffering and Anger Toward God.......................................................................................5 Resolving Anger Toward God.............................................................................................7 Emotions in Relationship to God........................................................................................8 Chapter 2: Methods......................................................................................................................13 Participants........................................................................................................................13 Instruments........................................................................................................................13 Procedure...........................................................................................................................17 Chapter 3: Results.........................................................................................................................20 Demographics....................................................................................................................20 Hypothesis 1......................................................................................................................21 Hypothesis 2......................................................................................................................22 Hypothesis 3......................................................................................................................22 Additional Analyses: Hypotheses 1 and 2 Revisited.........................................................25 Resolving Anger toward God vii Chapter 4: Discussion...................................................................................................................30 Limitations of the Current Study.......................................................................................33 Implications and Future Research.....................................................................................33 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................35 References ....................................................................................................................................37 Appendix A: Informed Consent for Research..............................................................................42 Appendix B: Intervention Measurements.....................................................................................44 Appendix C: Intervention Material..............................................................................................51 Appendix D: Curriculum Vita......................................................................................................79 Resolving Anger toward God viii Table of Tables Table 1 Subscale Items and Internal Consistency....................................................................16 Table 2 Instruments and Procedure..........................................................................................19 Table 3 Amount of Religious Activity.....................................................................................21 Table 4 Summary of Repeated Measures ANOVAs................................................................23 Table 5 ANOVAs (2 x 3) High-Communion/High-Complaint Participants’ Mean Change Scores Compared to Other Participants by Experimental Group Condition...............26 Table 6 Repeated Measures ANOVAs for the Maximum Participation Group (Participation Level = 7)....................................................................................................................27 Table 7 Items Comprising the AGI Communion Subscale......................................................31 Table 8 Pretest Means for Communion and Complaint Scales................................................32 Resolving Anger toward God ix Table of Figures Figure 1 Beck’s Communion and Complaint Circumplex Model with Quadrant Labels ..........9 Figure 2 AGI Communion for the Maximum Participation Group...........................................29