Journal of personality and social psychology
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Parents (N = 124) who had lost an infant to sudden infant death syndrome were interviewed 3 weeks and 18 months postloss. Two components of religion (religious participation and religious importance) were assessed, and their relations with 3 coping-process variables (perceived social support, cognitive processing of the loss, and finding meaning in the death) were examined. ⋯ Furthermore, through these coping-process variables, religious participation and importance were indirectly related to greater well-being and less distress among parents 18 months after their infants' deaths. Results suggest that further study of the social and cognitive aspects of religion would be profitable.