Building Resilience and Sense of Control among Adults with Sensory Disabilities as They Grow Older: Examining the Effect of Prayer

Abstract This article reports a study of the effect of online prayer lessons in building resilience and sense of personal control among adults with sensory disabilities over a six-year period. Data from intervention and control group participants in select Asian and African cities were collected at baseline (T1) (N1=244) and at three-year intervals T2 (N2=217) and T3 (N3=194). Results indicated that the online prayer lessons were effective (Cohen’s d range = 0.34–1.19, p≤.01) thereby indicating that prayer endowed adults with sensory disabilities a distant perspective on their personal problems and helped make progress on it emotionally. Men, middle class, Hindus, single (never married, widowed, divorced), and living with kin/nuclear families responded better to the online prayer lessons. The ordinary least squares regression and Tobit models indicated that maximum variation in outcomes was attributed to intervention adherence: attending of the online lessons and self-recitation/practice. The longitudinal structural equation model indicated a sustained effect of the said predictors as well as a mutual covariance between resilience and personal control outcomes over a period of time. With certain refinements for women, upper class participants, Christians, currently married, and living with extended family or alone, online prayer lessons are an effective resilience-building intervention for adults with sensory disabilities.