This study aimed to examine the impact of a pilgrimage on the Way of St. James on psychological distress and subjective well-being, and to compare these outcomes with a control group on non-pilgrimage vacations. Additionally, the study explored psychological process variables that may mediate the pilgrimage's beneficial effects. A nonrandomized pretest-posttest design was used, involving 444 pilgrims and 124 controls. Participants completed baseline and post-experience self-reported measures of psychological distress, subjective well-being, and psychological processes (i.e., mindfulness, nonattachment, engaged living). A 3-month follow-up was conducted only in the pilgrim group. Mediation analyses examined psychological processes as potential mediators of pre-post change in the pilgrim group (vs. control). Within-group analyses revealed that the pilgrim group experienced improvements in psychological distress, subjective well-being, and psychological processes immediately post-experience, with most measures sustaining improvement at the 3-month follow-up. Compared to the control group, pilgrims showed significantly greater increases in positive affect, life satisfaction, and valued living, alongside greater reductions in anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. Valued living partially mediated the relationship between pilgrimage and positive affect, and fully mediated the effects on perceived stress, negative affect, life satisfaction, and subjective happiness. Pilgrimage on the Way of St. James effectively reduced psychological distress and enhanced subjective well-being, with greater benefits observed compared to a non-pilgrimage vacation control group. Consistent with the concept of pilgrimage as a transformative experience, significant improvements in valued living were noted, which mediated some of the positive outcomes post-pilgrimage. The Way of St. James may serve as a valuable complementary approach for alleviating distress and promoting well-being. Further studies exploring the effects of this pilgrimage on specific populations and using more robust study designs are warranted.

Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04141813.

本研究旨在检查圣詹姆斯之路朝圣对心理困扰和主观幸福感的影响，并将这些结果与非朝圣假期的对照组进行比较。此外，该研究还探讨了可能介导朝圣有益影响的心理过程变量。使用非随机前测后测设计，涉及 444 名朝圣者和 124 名对照。参与者完成了心理困扰、主观幸福感和心理过程（即正念、不依恋、参与生活）的基线和经验后自我报告的测量。仅在朝圣者组中进行了 3 个月的随访。中介分析检查了心理过程作为朝圣者群体前后变化的潜在中介 （vs. 对照）。组内分析显示，朝圣者组在经历后立即经历了心理困扰、主观幸福感和心理过程的改善，大多数措施在 3 个月的随访中保持改善。与对照组相比，朝圣者在积极影响、生活满意度和价值生活方面表现出显着更大的增长，同时焦虑、抑郁和感知压力的减少更大。价值生活部分中介了朝圣与积极情感之间的关系，并完全中介了对感知压力、消极情感、生活满意度和主观幸福感的影响。圣詹姆斯之路上的朝圣有效地减少了心理困扰并增强了主观幸福感，与非朝圣度假对照组相比，观察到的好处更大。 与朝圣作为一种变革性体验的概念一致，人们注意到有价值的生活有了显着改善，这介导了朝圣后的一些积极结果。圣詹姆斯之路可以作为减轻痛苦和促进福祉的有价值的补充方法。有必要进一步研究探索这种朝圣对特定人群的影响并使用更稳健的研究设计。

试验注册 ClinicalTrials.gov 标识符 NCT04141813。