Abstract
Stress resilience is the ability to bounce back from stress. Religious vocal chanting has been known to have a positive effect on stress. This study explored the impact of Taizé prayer as a religious vocal chanting on stress reduction and stress resilience improvement. A nonrandomized controlled trial was conducted. Thirty-six Christian university students in Indonesia were recruited and included in the intervention and control groups without randomization. Subjects in the intervention group performed 30-min Taizé prayer for 28 days. The stress level was examined using the Perceived Stress Scale, and stress resilience was examined using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-25. Differences within groups were analyzed using a paired t-test, while differences between groups were analyzed using an independent t-test. The intervention group showed a significant improvement in stress resilience (p < 0.01), while the control group did not experience any change (p = 0.80). Further, the stress scores decreased in the intervention group (p = 0.03), whereas no significant change was observed in the control group (p = 0.22). Changes in stress resilience were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (p = 0.01), while changes in stress scores did not differ significantly between the two groups (p = 0.33). Taizé prayer might have positive effects on stress and stress resilience in young adulthood.
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Acknowledgements
We extend our thanks to the university and faculty leaders for the opportunity to do this research. We also thank the research assistant and all parties who have supported this study.
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This study was funded by Duta Wacana Christian University.
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All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Yanti Ivana Suryanto and Denny Agustiningsih. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yanti Ivana Suryanto and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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All participants completed the informed consent form before the intervention or filling out the questionnaires. The study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Medical and Health Research Ethics Committee (MHREC) Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing Universitas Gadjah Mada – Dr. Sardjito General Hospital with number KE/FK/1127/EC.
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Suryanto, Y.I., Agustiningsih, D. & Sofro, Z.M. The Effect of Taizé Prayer on Stress and Stress Resilience of Young Adults in Nonclinical Settings. Pastoral Psychol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-024-01144-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-024-01144-9