Faith Maturity and Mental Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study of Indian American Followers of a Guru Tradition.

This article is based on a longitudinal study of Indian Americans devoted to a guru tradition, aiming to explore how faith contributes to their mental well-being. Respondent sample size at phase 1 (2003-2004) was 1872 and at phase 2 (2013-2014) was 1764. Two scales were used to measure faith maturity and well-being. Results showed that phase 2 well-being scores of the devotees were higher, influenced by faith maturity and engagement regularity, thereby corroborating the faith-religiosity-well-being link, further reinforced by the structural equation model. Faith emerges as critical variable in working with this cohort and planning interventions towards promoting their well-being.