Despite an increasing interest in Buddhism in the West, the topic of Buddhist coping has been mostly neglected. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the frequency of Buddhist coping strategies, as well as the relationship between Buddhist coping practices and psychological functioning and well-being among end-of-life caregivers. Ninety-two caregivers were recruited primarily through contemplative end-of-life caregiver training programs to assess the relationships between Buddhist methods of coping and psychological outcomes. Subjects completed measures of spiritual well-being, burnout, depression and post-traumatic growth, as well as demographic questions.
As hypothesized, end-of-life caregivers who made more use of positive Buddhist coping methods reported lower levels of negative outcomes such as depression and burnout and higher levels of positive outcomes such as spiritual well-being and stress-related growth. On the other hand, caregivers who made more use of negative Buddhist coping methods reported higher levels of negative outcomes and lower levels of positive outcomes. In addition, Buddhist coping methods were able to be categorized into positive and negative Buddhist coping subscales, which were also related to psychological outcomes in the hypothesized direction.
The findings of this study add support to the initial validity of the BCOPE as a measure of Buddhist coping. The current study also provides support for the distinction between positive and negative styles of Buddhist coping, which differentially predict psychological outcomes. In addition, this study provides initial evidence for the benefits of specific Buddhist practices and ideas, specifically those that influence the ways in which Buddhists cope with stress. These findings suggest that coping theory, heavily researched in other religious traditions, is also a valuable concept which applies to Buddhism as well.
Future research should further assess the differences between the outcomes of positive and negative styles of Buddhist coping, particularly among various sub-groups of Buddhist practitioners, as well as among other Buddhist populations besides end-of-life caregivers.