Belief Salience, Religious Activities, Frequency of Prayer Offering, Religious Offering Preference and Mental Health: A Study of Religiosity Among Muslim Students

The Relationship Between Temporal Sense and Psychopathologies of College Students with Sensory Impairments: Mediation of Religions

Previous studies on the relationship between temporal sense and negative mental health symptoms have focused primarily on healthy college students, overlooking the role of religion. This study sought to examine the impact of religion on college students with sensory impairment and fill a gap in the research on the relationship between temporal sense and negative mental health symptoms in this population. The results were obtained from a cross sectional survey of 540 participants, including 370 hearing-impaired students and 140 visually impaired students. The survey investigated the mediating effect of religion on the relationship between temporal sense and negative mental health symptoms in impaired students. The rates of negative mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress) detected were 18.9%, 31.1%, and 2.9%, respectively. Students with different types of sensory impairments showed significant differences in their perception of time. The percentages of students with sensory impairments who attended church and practiced religion were 2.0%, 6.0%, and 1.0%, respectively. The results revealed a significant positive correlation between temporal sense and negative mental health symptoms, with religion serving as a mediating factor.

Faith Activities in the Home Scale: A Validity and Reliability Study in Turkey

The main purpose of this study is to adapt both the reliability and validity of the Faith Activities in the Home Scale into Turkish. Among the 355 university students, 190 female and 165 male students participated in this study, which was conducted using data obtained from Sakarya University students. The Faith Activities in the Home Scale are evaluated in two different aspects: importance and frequency. The fit indices obtained in confirmatory factor analysis according to frequency scoring (x2 = 65.50, SD = 21, RMSEA = 0.076, NFI = 0.92, NNFI = 0.90, IFI = 0.94, CFI = 0.94, RFI = 0.87, GFI = 0.96, AGFI = 0.92, SRMR = 0.046) and good fit indices (x2 = 56.31, SD = 21, RMSEA = 0.068, NFI = 0.95, NNFI = 0.95, IFI = 0.97, CFI = 0.97, RFI = 0.92, GFI = 0.97, AGFI = 0.93, SRMR = 0.042) obtained from confirmatory factor analysis according to importance scoring. The internal consistency reliability coefficient of the Faith Activities in the Home Scale for frequency scoring was 0.81, and the internal consistency reliability coefficient for importance scoring was 0.84. The corrected item-total correlation coefficients of the scale ranged between 0.41 and 0.55 for frequency scoring and between 0.36 and 0.63 for importance scoring. These findings imply that the Turkish version of the Faith Activities in the Home Scale can be considered a valid and reliable measurement tool that can be used in research.

Evaluation of healthcare-related factors influencing mental health of Taiwanese citizens among different age groups

The issue of mental health has gained heightened recognition as a significant public health concern due to its potential to significantly impact various aspects of individuals' lives. Numerous factors may influence mental health, and this study seeks to investigate and compare potential healthcare-related factors that affect the mental health of Taiwanese individuals across different age groups. Data for this study were taken from the Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS), conducted in 2021. Descriptive statistics were calculated to compare the three age groups. Then, multiple regression models were constructed with mental health conditions as the dependent variable and demographics and other key healthcare-related components as independent variables, respectively. Results showed that, among the three age groups, the middle-aged adults had the highest BMI, and the older adults had significantly better mental health. As compared with the other age groups, the older adults had significantly better perceptions of fair distribution of healthcare resources, and their trust in the healthcare system was the highest. With regard to searching for online healthcare information, the frequency reported by the older adults was the lowest. The regression model showed that, religious belief, trust in the healthcare system and searching for online healthcare information were significantly associated with mental health of middle-aged adults. In the younger group, searching for online healthcare information was significantly negatively associated with mental health. The study's findings provide insight into how to provide Taiwanese citizens of different age groups with proper and targeted mental health promotion activities.

The Relationship between Religion, Spirituality, Psychological Well-Being, Psychological Resilience, Life Satisfaction of Medical Students in the Gaziantep, Turkey

Religion and spirituality have been associated with better psychological health. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the psychological well-being, psychological resilience, life satisfaction and religion/spirituality. An online cross-sectional study was conducted at the Gaziantep University School of Medicine, Turkey. The data were collected by using Personal Information Form, Individual Religion Inventory (IRI), Psychological Wellbeing Scale (PWBS), Brief Psychological Resilience Scale (BPRS), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). A total of 399 students participated in the study, 84% of them stated that they were Muslim. The perception of good psychological health was significantly higher among Muslims (32.7%) than non-Muslims (14.3%) (p = 0.013). The PWBS, BPRS, SWLS scores were significantly higher in those who attached very importance to religious/spiritual practices compared to those who attached little importance. While PWBS scores and BPRS scores did not differ, the SWLS scores was significantly higher in Muslims compared with the non-Muslims. A positive correlation was found between the IRI scores and PWBS (r = 0.446 p < 0.001), BPRS (r = 0.252 p < 0.001), and SWLS scores (r = 0.450 p < 0.001) for Muslim participants. The study showed that giving importance to religious/spiritual practices is associated with better psychological health.

The Association of Prayer Frequency and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: A Comparative Study of the USA, India and Turkey

This study explores whether Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Inglehart's values paradigm underlies associations between prayer frequency and happiness. Responses from a comparative analysis of wave six from the World Values Survey for India (n = 4078), Turkey (n = 1605) and the USA (n = 2232) were used to examine associations between prayer frequency and happiness. Prayer frequency interacted with Maslow's model to associate with happiness in India and Turkey. The self-expression variables entirely supplant prayer and are associated with happiness in the USA. The implications are discussed for generating models that impact happiness.

Maternal Health Through the Use of Herbal Medicines and Traditional Medicinal Plants for Public Health and Ancestral Culture

BACKGROUND: The use of traditional medicine for maternal health is very important, to overcome various health problems experienced by mothers, using medicinal plants in the community. Especially with the past modern medicine, the modern one is expensive in medicine compared to the traditional medicine which is much cheaper. METHODS: The criteria used in this study were the existing mothers, carried out by conducting qualitative research, and also conducting a survey that conveyed how the respondents responded to medicinal plants. RESULTS: The purpose of this study was to identify medicinal plants used by mothers for their medicinal plants and recommendations for the use of good medicinal plants among mothers to overcome health problems experienced by mothers. CONCLUSION: Various types of medicinal plants are used by mothers for health and benefits for mothers. Medicinal plants used by mothers are still limited from the information obtained by mothers on the internet, and also for hereditary factors that are culturally lacking, the rest are from neighbors. Recommendations are given to carry out the necessary studies given further studies related to medicinal plants and the preservation of existing traditional cultures.

Religiosity, Emotions and Health: The Role of Trust/Mistrust in God in People Affected by Cancer

Trust in God implies the conviction that God looks after a person’s own interests. The first evidence of a relationship between this construct and people’s psychological and emotional health dates back several centuries. However, the literature on this is limited, especially for people with physical health conditions, such as cancer. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to test the relationships between trust/mistrust in God, social support and emotions in people affected by cancer. The sample consisted of 177 women and men in Spain diagnosed with cancer. The instruments used were the Trust/Mistrust in God Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were performed to compare several explanatory models for the dependent variables: positive and negative emotions. The results show significant relationships between all variables. It was observed that, when trust/mistrust in God is included in the model, only mistrust in God predicts both types of emotions. In addition, both social support and some sociodemographic variables help to predict the dependent variables. This study shows that valuing the religiosity and spirituality of oncology patients in healthcare settings can have a significant positive impact on the health of these individuals. Moreover, it represents an important approach to the study of trust/mistrust in God in the context of a traditionally Catholic country.

What Role Does Religion Have in Shaping Human Consumption?

Religious belief, as an informal social institution, has a significant impact on all aspects of human civilization. Previous literature has studied the effects of religious belief on economic growth, income, education, etc. Therefore, using the case of China as an example, this paper aims to investigate the effect of religious belief on human consumption. An empirical review of cross-sectional data from China’s 28 provinces reveals that religious belief has a detrimental impact on human consumption. Meanwhile, two-stage least squares and substituting the dependent variable (hc2) are employed to perform robustness tests. The new results also support the conclusion that religious belief negatively affects human consumption. In addition, this paper also discusses the heterogeneous effect of religious belief on human consumption in terms of geographical location, income level, and marketization degree. The results demonstrate the existence of the heterogeneous effect. Specifically, in the western area, low income level, and low marketization degree, religious belief negatively affects human consumption the most. On the contrary, in the eastern area, high income level, and high marketization degree, religious belief negatively affects human consumption the least.

The relationship between religious beliefs and mental state, care burden, and quality of life in parents of infant patients with congenital heart disease

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the relationship between religious beliefs and mental state, care burden, and quality of life in parents of infantile patients with CHD.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted at a provincial hospital in Fujian, China. In this study, 114 parents of infant patients with CHD were successfully enrolled. Data were collected using the Duke University Religion Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, and 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey.

RESULTS

The organisational religious activity, non-organisational religious activity, and intrinsic religiosity of parents were significantly related to the care burden and quality of life, and the two dimensions of non-organisational religious activity and intrinsic religiosity of parents were significantly related to their anxiety symptoms. No association was found between parents' religious beliefs and their depressive symptoms. Among Buddhist parents, non-organisational religious activity and intrinsic religiosity reduced the care burden and improved quality of life. Among Christian parents, organisational religious activity and non-organisational religious activity were found to reduce the care burden, while organisational religious activity and intrinsic religiosity were found to improve quality of life. There was no correlation between the sub-dimensions of religious beliefs and a negative impact on the care process in Muslim parents.

CONCLUSION

Religious beliefs have a protective effect on the parents of infant patients with CHD. They help relieve parents' anxiety, reduce their care burden, and improve their quality of life. In addition, different religious beliefs have different dimensions of influence on caregivers.