Examining the moderating effects of subclinical religous intrusive thoughts on religion centrality and self-compassion among Christian women

Christianity and religiosity can serve as a protective factor against mental health concerns and can lead to enhanced well-being and happiness, which is positively correlated with self- compassion. The positive link between religiosity and happiness is not consistent across the literature, however, highlighting methodological concerns with this line of research. More research is needed to clarify this relationship, and self-compassion might help elucidate the missing link. Self-compassion is the practice of kindness with oneself during times of pain or failure and has been linked to optimism and happiness. There is currently no research exploring how centrality of religion is correlated with self-compassion, especially among women who already report less self-compassion than men. Additionally, subclinical unwanted religious intrusive thoughts, a common factor noted within Christian women, might impact self- compassion rates in Christian women. Yet there is a dearth of research exploring subclinical religious intrusive thoughts and their impact on individuals. The purpose of this study was to explore how religious intrusive thoughts might impact the relationship between the centrality of religion and self-compassion among Christian women using a hierarchical multiple regression and moderation analysis. I theorized that religious intrusive thoughts would moderate the relationship between religious centrality and self-compassion. I also investigated how religious denominations differ in self-compassion, religious centrality, and subclinical intrusive thought prevalence. When controlling for race/ethnicity, religious intrusive thoughts and centrality of religion predicted Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) women’s self-compassion, although this was not so for White women. Additionally, there were no differences in rates of self-compassion and religious intrusive thoughts for Christian women across denominations, but Evangelical Protestant women reported higher religiosity, which aligns with current research. Of iv note, 99.1% of Christian women reported intrusive thoughts. Findings from this research can be utilized to inform the work of religious leaders, Christian therapists, and pastoral counselors working with Christian women. Further, these findings highlight the need to increase self- compassion and decrease blame and shame around intrusive thoughts and encourage people in power to utilize their position to educate and normalize intrusive thoughts. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.