Jankowski, Peter J.Sandage, Steven J.Crabtree, Sarah A.2023-10-132023-10-132022P.J. Jankowski, S.J. Sandage, S.A. Crabtree. 2022. "The Moderating Influence of Religiousness/Spirituality on COVID-19 Impact and Change in Psychotherapy" Religions, Volume 13, Issue 6, pp.488-488. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel130604882077-1444https://hdl.handle.net/2144/46954The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a global surge in empirical research examining the influence of the pandemic on individuals’ mental health symptoms and well-being. Within this larger literature is a rapidly growing literature on the associations among religiousness/spirituality, COVID-19 impact, symptoms and well-being. Largely absent from this literature is a specific research focus on psychotherapy clients, and the influence of religiousness/spirituality and COVID-19 impact on change during treatment. One prominent theory in the existing literature centers on the notion that religiousness/spirituality is a coping resource for individuals during times of adversity. Yet, existing empirical findings present mixed evidence for the religious/spiritual coping hypothesis. We expanded upon these emerging research trends to examine the influence of religious/spiritual struggles, religious/spiritual commitment, religious/spiritual exploration, and COVID-19 impact ratings on psychotherapy change in a sample of adult clients (N = 185; Mage = 38.06; SD = 15.78; range = 19–81; 61.1% female; 69.7% White). The results of latent trajectory analysis identified three subgroups that differed on initial levels of symptoms and well-being and the nature of change over three time points. The COVID-19 impact ratings predicted change trajectories. As more positive ratings of COVID-19 impact increased, membership in the no change trajectory was more likely relative to the deterioration trajectory at high levels of both religious/spiritual commitment and exploration. The implications emphasize the need for judicious assessment of religiousness/spirituality and COVID-19 impact before integrating religiousness/spirituality into treatment.488-488en© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Religion and religious studiesReligious studiesTheologyArticle2023-02-2810.3390/rel130604880000-0002-4274-4775 (Jankowski, Peter J)798258