Authors: Gilbert Sepaiyan, Elizabeth Ngozi Okpalaenwe, David K. Mbugua
Spirituality and Religious Formation, Tangaza University,
P.O. Box 150055 – 00509, Langata, Nairobi.
Corresponding email: gsepaiyan@rocketmail.com
Abstract: This study explored the psychological effects of COVID-19 on the psycho-spiritual well-being of priests and religious in Ngong Diocese, Kenya. The study used Carol Ryff’s theoretical model of psychological well-being. A convergent parallel research design (mixed method) was adopted in which quantitative and qualitative data were independently collected and analyzed. The target population consisted of 162 participants. A stratified sampling procedure was used to select 68 priests and 43 religious and a purposive sampling method was used to select the 8 superiors. In total, the sample size was 119 participants. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from the priests and religious; a semi-structured interview guide was used to collect qualitative data from the superiors. Quantitative data was analyzed using the SPSS version 21and presented in charts and tables: qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis and presented in a narrative form. The study established that the psychological effects of COVID-19 had a positive and significant correlation with the psycho-spiritual well-being of the priests and religious (r=0.490, p=.000<0.05). It was concluded that psychological effectsexplained a 24.0% variation in the psycho-spiritual wellbeing of priests and religious in the Catholic Diocese of Ngong. Moreover, a unit increase in the psychological effect of COVID-19 affected the psycho-spiritual wellbeing by 0.599 units. The study recommends that the church administration create and establish psycho-spiritual counseling programmes in the diocese and religious communities to provide for the psychological needs of the priests and religious.
Keywords: Psychology, COVID 19 effect, Priests Psycho-Spiritual Wellbeing, Covid Psychological effects
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Suggested Citation
Sepaiyan,G., Ngozi, E.O., and Mbugua, D. K. (2024). Psychological Influence of Covid-19 on the Psycho-Spiritual Wellbeing of Priests and Religious in Ngong Diocese, Kenya. African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 11(3), 15-29. Available online at http://arjess.org/social-sciences-research/psychological-influence-of-covid-19-on-the-psycho-spiritual-wellbeing-of-priests-and-religious-in-ngong-diocese-kenya.pdf
