Relationship Between Spiritual Involvement, Social Support and Perceived Stress among the Christian Clergy in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

This study investigated the relationship between spiritual involvement and social support on perceived stress among the Christian clergy in Makurdi, Benue State. The study adopted a correlational survey design. One hundred and sixty (160) participants were sampled using stratified sampling technique. The spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale, Perceived Stress Scale and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were used for data collection. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The result of hypothesis one indicated a negative significant relationship between spiritual involvement and perceived stress among the Christian clergy in Makurdi, Benue State. Also, the result of hypothesis two indicated a negative significant relationship between social support and perceived stress among the Christian clergy in Makurdi, Benue State. For hypothesis three, it was observed that there was a significant positive relationship between spiritual involvement and social support among the Christian clergy in Makurdi, Benue State. It was concluded that spiritual involvement and social support are resources that help to strengthen the Christian clergy in the storms of stress. The study therefore recommended among others that churches should collaborate with family therapist to offer sessions to all members of the clergy.