Religiosity and psychological well-being

Religious affiliation and oral health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study based on a nationally representative survey in Germany

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown an association between a person's religiosity, and physical as well as psychological, health status. However, results differ between certain religious affiliations. While good oral health is important for our overall health and wellbeing, research on religious affiliation and oral health status, specifically oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), is lacking. Thus, our aim was to investigate the association between religious affiliation and OHRQoL.

METHODS

A nationally representative online survey (n = 3,075 individuals) was conducted in August/September 2021. The mean age was 44.5 years (SD: 14.8 years, 18 to 70 years) and 51.1% of the individuals were female. OHRQoL was measured using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-G5). Religious affiliation served as key explanatory variable. Several covariates were included in regression analyses.

RESULTS

Regressions revealed that compared to individuals with no religious affiliation, individuals belonging to Christianity had poorer OHRQoL (β = 0.31, p < 0.01), individuals belonging to Islam had poorer OHRQoL (β = 2.62, p < 0.01) and individuals belonging to another religious affiliation also had poorer OHRQoL (β = 1.89, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrated an association between religious affiliation and OHRQoL. Individuals with specific religious affiliations should be addressed to avoid low OHRQoL.

Religiosity, Identity Confusion, and Psychological Well-Being in Turkish University Students: The Moderating Role of Religious Orientation

Research conducted in industrialized democracies where Christianity is the prevailing religion has suggested that religiosity may play an important role in identity development and well-being. This study examined the associations between religiosity, religious orientation, identity confusion, and psychological well-being in 488 Turkish university students. The results revealed that extrinsic religious orientation was positively associated with identity confusion. On the other hand, religiosity, extrinsic religious orientation, and identity confusion were negatively associated with psychological well-being, while intrinsic religious orientation was positively associated with psychological well-being. Moderation analysis indicated that extrinsic religious orientation could facilitate psychological well-being in the midst of severe identity confusion.

A “random group of misfits” or being “part of something bigger”? Exploring experiences of attending a non-religious congregation

Purpose

Religion is an important part of many people’s lives and there is some evidence that attending church or other religious congregations is positively associated with psychological well-being. However, religious participation is declining in Western Europe and North America. Sunday Assembly is a non-religious gathering that intends to provide a similar communal experience and a sense of spirituality to the church, but without the religious element. In the current study, we aimed to explore the experiences of and motivations for attending a non-religious congregation in relation to well-being.

Methods

A qualitative approach was taken, gathering data through semi-structured interviews with participants from Sunday Assembly congregations across England.

Results

Thematic analysis was used and three key themes were found: (1) searching for meaning and community, (2) Sunday Assembly as protective of mental health, and (3) loneliness in a crowd.

Conclusions

Sunday Assembly can provide a sense of belonging and improvement in mental health through shared experience and spirituality, and it can act as a coping mechanism during difficult times. Further research could explore the benefits of Sunday Assembly upon attendee’s mental health, test the effectiveness of Sunday Assembly as a coping mechanism, and whether continued attendance improves mood over time.

The Impact of Listening to, Reciting, or Memorizing the Quran on Physical and Mental Health of Muslims: Evidence From Systematic Review

Objectives: Listening to or memorizing the Quran has been suggested to affect the psychosocial health and well-being of Muslims. Muslims who memorized Quran have a higher quality of life (QoL) and lower anxiety and stress. Hence, this systematic review was conducted to evaluate the studies that assessed the effect of listening to, reciting, or memorizing the Quran on physical and mental health.

Methods: This review was performed on articles published from the inception and April 2021. Databases including ProQuest, PubMed and Web of Science were searched on 19 April 2021. Keywords such as “Quran”, “al- Quran,” “al- Kareem,” “Holy Quran,” “memori,” “Tahfiz,” “Huffaz,” “listening” and “reciting” were used for databases searching. The risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane risk of bias tool and Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). Only 20 articles were included in data synthesis out of a total of 230.

Results: The findings revealed that listening to, reciting or memorizing the Quran had a favorable effect on depression, anxiety, physiologic parameters, quality of life, quality of sleep and intelligence quotient.

Conclusion: The current evidence suggests that, listening to, reciting or memorizing the Quran may be useful as an intervention to improve physical and mental health.

Differences in Nurse Burnout Rates Based on Spiritual Aspects through Self-Leadership Training and Emotional Intelligence Mentoring

BACKGROUND: Burnout is one of the problems that often arise in nurses. This condition needs prevention and one of the ways is a self-leadership approach and emotional intelligence mentoring from spiritual aspects. Spirituality has been shown to be a protective factor among a number of health service-providing populations. AIM: This study aimed to analyzing differences in nurse burnout rates based on spiritual aspects through self-leadership training and emotional intelligence mentoring. METHODS: This study used a quasi-experimental method using a pretest-posttest. The population of this study was nurses at RSUD Noongan and RSU GMIM Bethesda Tomohon. Sampling used simple random sampling and a sample of 159 nurses was obtained. This study used the Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire on nurses to see the level of fatigue experienced before the intervention was given and the Revised Self-Leadership Questionnaire was adapted to measure nurses’ self-leadership and a questionnaire to see the knowledge of research subjects (nurses) related to emotional intelligence. Furthermore, to see the spirituality levels, we used Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality. Data analysis methods used in this study were t-test. RESULTS: The results show that before the intervention, the results of statistical tests also showed an indirect effect of spirituality on burnout with p = 0.004. Furthermore, before the intervention, the results of statistical tests also showed an indirect effect of spirituality on burnout with p = 0.004. Meanwhile, after the intervention, p = 0.000 is obtained. CONCLUSION: It can be seen that there are differences in the burnout rates of nurses before and after intervention at the hospital.

The role of perceived discrimination in linking religious practices and well-being: A study among Muslim Afghan refugees in the Netherlands

Minorities facing adverse intergroup contact can experience both increased identification with their ethnic group and decreased identification with a host majority group. First, we argue it is important to understand what is associated with adversity, particularly in previously overlooked samples. Muslim refugee samples are often treated differently and experience more adversity than other immigrants. Second, we combine insights on the role of religiosity in acculturation with the observation that religiosity may not have positive effects in societies that do not value (a specific) religion (religiosity‐as‐social‐value hypothesis) as well as insights from rejection (dis)identification models, to understand which domains of being a Muslim are associated with discrimination, (dis‐)identification and well‐being. We hypothesized that Muslim religious practices, but not beliefs, coping or values, are associated with increased perceived discrimination, and suggest that this is because practices are highly visible. Data from Muslim Afghan refugees in the Netherlands (N = 183) revealed that indeed only religious practices were related positively to perceived discrimination. Perceived discrimination in turn mediated the relationship between religious practices and dis‐identification with the majority group, as well as the relationship between religious practices and well‐being. We suggest that the visibility of one's religious behaviour is relevant for acculturation outcomes.

Societal Emphasis on Religious Faith as a Cultural Context for Shaping the Social-Psychological Relationships Between Personal Religiosity and Well-Being

How does a society’s religious context affect the relationships between personal religiosity and well-being? To explore this question, we used two measures of personal religiosity, the absolute importance of religion, and the importance of religion relative to the importance of six life domains, viz., family, friends, work, politics, leisure, and religion. To test the generalizability of relationships between these two measures of personal religiosity and well-being, we tested them across representative samples of 66,992 persons from 47 societies varying in their emphasis on socializing children for religious faith. Pan-societally, personal religiosity predicted many of the five well-being measures including satisfaction with life, happiness, subjective health, trust of strangers, and trust of known others, but in opposite directions depending on whether the absolute or the relative importance of personal religiosity was used. Controlling for wealth, a societal emphasis on socializing children for religious faith moderated the links of personal religiosity with happiness, trust of strangers, and trust of known others, but most evidence revealed that a societal emphasis on religious faith attenuated the strength of these linkages. We argue that measuring an individual’s religiosity in the context of their daily living yields a more realistic view of religion’s role in personal life and social living and suggest that there are both personal and social costs for investing strongly in religion relative to other domains of daily life. Societal religious context must also be assessed to provide a more nuanced understanding of personal religiosity and its associated correlates.

Religious Transitions Among Baby Boomers From Young Adulthood to Later Life: Associations with Psychological Well-Being Over 45 Years

We used classification analysis to examine change in religiosity among baby boomers from young adulthood to early old age and how religiosity transition patterns are associated with psychological well-being in later life. In addition, we tested the gender difference in the above association. We applied latent class and latent transition analysis to 392 baby boomers who participated in the Longitudinal Study of Generations in Wave-1 (1971) and Wave-9 (2016). We identified three classes describing religiosity at each wave (strongly religious, doctrinally religious, and weakly religious), and considered five types of change or stability in religious class membership from Wave-1 to Wave-9. Multiple regression with gender interactions revealed that men who stayed strongly religious over the period reported better psychological well-being compared to men who declined in their religiosity; no such pattern was found for women. Our findings suggest that maintaining strong religiosity over the life course was beneficial for baby boom men in later life.

Spirituality and Well-Being of Children, Adolescent, and Adult Students: A Scientific Mapping of the Literature

This study aims to map the selected literature on students' spirituality and well-being to reveal the current and historical research trends in the relevant literature. Bibliographic coupling of the journals, countries, authors, and organizations, and co-occurrences of author keywords were illustrated through VOSviewer. Moreover, citation analysis was done, and h-classics publications were reviewed. The researchers did the initial search on January 5, 2020, and updated all the records on August 14, 2021. Most of the studies showed that students' spirituality was positively associated with their well-being. Most of the researchers preferred to work on samples of adult and adolescent students rather than children. The current and historical trends in the relevant literature are discussed in the paper.

Religion and Life Satisfaction of Polish Female Students Representing Roman Catholic Affiliation: Test of Empirical Model

Religion is an important factor of life satisfaction for adolescents. This relationship is complex and depends on religiousness indicators used, religious affiliation, sex, age, and some cultural aspects. The aim of the study was to examine whether positive religious coping moderates the relationships between religious practices, as well as God’s support and life satisfaction. Additionally, the mediating role of religious commitment between faith and life satisfaction was tested. Methods: The sample in this study consisted of 315 Polish Roman Catholic female students. The following tools were used: the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORFQ), the Brief Religious Coping Scale (Brief RCOPE), the Religious Support Scale (RSS), and two one-item measures regarding frequency of prayer and Mass attendance. Results: The moderating role of positive religious coping between prayer, as well as God’s support and life satisfaction, was confirmed. Additionally, positive religious coping, God’s support, prayer, and Mass attendance mediated between faith and life satisfaction. Conclusion: The research has proven that faith negatively influenced adolescents’ life satisfaction both directly and directly through positive religious coping and Mass attendance. A beneficial indirect effect of faith on life satisfaction through God’s support and prayer was confirmed. It was also found that using positive religious coping with an above-average frequency of religious practices improved the life satisfaction among female students.

Mental Health and Religiosity in the Sardinian Blue Zone: Life Satisfaction and Optimism for Aging Well

This study evaluated the impact of the sociocultural context on dispositional optimism and resilience, life satisfaction, and religiosity in late adulthood. Moreover, the associations between those psychological measures and religiosity were investigated. Ninety-five older individuals recruited in the Sardinian Blue Zone and Cagliari completed a battery of tools assessing cognitive and mental health, and religiosity. Life satisfaction correlated with resilience and religiosity, whereas resilience correlated with optimism. Furthermore, participants of the rural area reported greater optimism and life satisfaction than peers living in the urban area. In conclusion, optimism and hedonic well-being favor optimal aging in the Blue Zone.

Current Mental Health Clients’ Attitudes Regarding Religion and Spirituality in Treatment: A National Survey

Over the last several years, there has been a growing interest in clients’ views toward integrating their religion and spirituality (RS) into mental health treatment. However, most of these studies have been limited to small samples and specific populations, regions, and/or clinical issues. This article describes the first national survey of current mental health clients across the US regarding their attitudes towards integrating their RS in treatment using a revised version of the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Practice Assessment Scale-Client Attitudes, version 2 (RSIPAS-CAv2) with a sample of 989 clients. Our findings indicate mental health clients have overwhelmingly positive attitudes regarding integrating their RS into mental health treatment. Additionally, we explored what background characteristics predict clients’ attitudes toward this area of practice and found the top predictor was their intrinsic religiosity, followed by whether they had previously discussed RS with their current provider, age, gender, organized and non-organized religious activities, belief in God/Higher Power, and frequency of seeing their mental health provider. The reliability and validity of the RSIPAS-CAv2 was also explored and this scale is recommended for future use. Implications and recommendations for practice, research, and future training efforts are discussed.

Religiosity as a predictor of mental health in Egyptian teenagers in preparatory and secondary school

BACKGROUND

There have been few studies of religiosity in adolescents and even fewer in Muslim cultures.

AIMS

The present study investigated the associations of religiosity with subjective well-being (WB, and mental and physical health) using samples of Egyptian children and adolescents.

METHOD

Samples of Egyptian preparatory school children and secondary school children were administered questions concerning religiosity, mental and physical health and satisfaction with life.

RESULTS

In study 1, boys obtained significantly higher mean scores than girls did on the self-rating scales of religiosity, mental health, physical health and satisfaction with life. In study 2, boys obtained significantly higher mean scores on the Arabic Scale of Mental Health and the self-rating scales of physical health and happiness. All the Pearson correlation coefficients between religiosity, WB and health were significant and positive in both studies. Predictors of mental health differed for boys and girls, but religiosity played a significant role in the prediction of mental health for the younger boys and for the older girls.

CONCLUSION

Religion plays an important role in the lives of the present two samples of Egyptian adolescents.

SODA: a new questionnaire for the assessment of life satisfaction in late life span

BACKGROUND

Established measures of well-being rarely examine active lifestyle or religious behaviors. Though these could be assessed using individual measures, in older populations, the availability of a brief composite instrument with adequate psychometric properties would be desirable.

AIMS

Two studies were conducted to assess the psychometric properties (i.e., item adequacy, factorial structure, reliability and validity) of a new tool that was developed to self-rate personal satisfaction among Italian elders, the SODdisfazione dell'Anziano (SODA) Questionnaire.

METHODS

135 young adults (mean age = 29.5 years, SD = 7.4) took part in Study 1, whereas Study 2 was carried out with 474 cognitively healthy 60-98-year-old people, that were asked to complete a battery of well-known well-being measures including the SODA one.

RESULTS

Study 1 showed that the SODA questionnaire is a reliable and valid self-report tool defined by three factors, assessing satisfaction about physical and cognitive health, religious well-being, and satisfaction about time spent for leisure activities, respectively. Study 2 replicated the outcomes of Study 1, highlighting the factor structure of the SODA inventory. Moreover, a series of stepwise linear regression analyses pointed out what factors (i.e., education, physical health, social desirability, participation to outdoor leisure activities, gender, and age) predicted the variance relative to the SODA indexes.

DISCUSSION

Current findings show the solid psychometric properties of SODA.

CONCLUSIONS

SODA represents a brief, but reliable and valid, instrument for the assessment of satisfaction (focused on the state level) in late adult span.

The Relationship Between Religiosity and Anxiety: A Meta-analysis

Several research studies from the USA and Western industrialized countries have reported a negative association between religiosity and anxiety. However, Arabic studies using mainly Muslim samples are limited. The objective of the present study was to apply meta-analysis statistical techniques to 10 Arabic studies of this association. All of the respondents were Arab citizens, ranging in age between 14 and 43 years, and the vast majority of them were Muslims. Religiosity and anxiety were assessed with seven different scales. In all of the studies, the administration of the scales was in small group sessions and in the Arabic language. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between the religiosity and anxiety scale scores. All the correlations were negative. All but one were statistically significant, ranging from - 0.16 to - 0.43. The mean effect size was - 0.22, and the impact of age and gender on the correlation was not significant. This result suggests that religiosity may affect anxiety by providing buffering and coping mechanisms.

God, I Can't Stop Thinking About Sex! The Rebound Effect in Unsuccessful Suppression of Sexual Thoughts Among Religious Adolescents

The rebound effect of thought suppression refers to attempts to suppress thoughts that result in an increase of those thoughts. The aim of this three-study research was to investigate the suppression of thoughts and its possible importance in the cognitive model of predicted compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) among Israeli Jewish religious and secular adolescents. Study 1 (N = 661): Do religious and secular adolescents differ in CSB and related psychopathology? Study 2 (N = 522): Does CSB mediate the link between religiosity and well-being? Study 3 (N = 317): Does religiosity relate to suppression of sexual thoughts, which relates to higher CSB and lower well-being? The analyses indicated that religious adolescents are higher in CSB than secular ones, and that sexual suppression and CSB mediate the link between religiosity and well-being. Results are discussed and address the need for a broader understanding of CSB and the function of thought suppression.

Religion and Life Satisfaction: A Correlational Study of Undergraduate Students in Trinidad

Religious behaviour tends to correlate positively with life satisfaction. The predictive power of this relationship is associated with various socio-demographic factors such as age, gender and religious affiliation. We investigated the relationship between religious involvement and life satisfaction in a multi-religious population of undergraduate medical students of the University of the West Indies. We used a cross-sectional design to assess 228 undergraduates (50 males and 178 females) on religiosity, religious well-being and life satisfaction using the Religious Orientation Test, Religious Well-Being subscale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale, respectively. Respondents also provided socio-demographic information such as age, gender and religious affiliation. "How religious one considers oneself" was the religiosity construct most significantly associated with life satisfaction while "frequency of prayer" was the least. Christians registered higher religiosity and religious well-being but non-Christians reported significantly higher life satisfaction. Muslim and Hindu scores on religiosity, religious well-being and life satisfaction were not statistically different. Females scored higher than males on religiosity (borderline significant, p = .054) and significantly higher on religious well-being (p < .01); however, there was no significant difference between males and females on life satisfaction. The "religious affiliation" group scored significantly higher on religiosity and religious well-being compared with the "no religious affiliation" group but there was no difference between these two groups on life satisfaction. Religiosity and religious well-being were overall significantly and positively associated with life satisfaction. However, in demographic groups where there was higher religiosity, for example females, Christians, people affiliated with a religion and older people, it was not associated with greater life satisfaction.

Comparative Associations Between Achieved Bicultural Identity, Achieved Ego Identity, and Achieved Religious Identity and Adaptation Among Australian Adolescent Muslims

This study examined the comparative roles of biculturalism, ego identity, and religious identity in the adaptation of Australian adolescent Muslims. A total of 504 high school Muslim students studying at high schools in metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, took part in this study which required them to complete a self-report questionnaire. Analyses indicated that adolescent Muslims’ achieved religious identity seems to play a more important role in shaping their psychological and socio-cultural adaptation compared to adolescents’ achieved bicultural identity. Adolescents’ achieved ego identity tended also to play a greater role in their psychological and socio-cultural adaptation than achieved bicultural identity. The relationships between the three identities and negative indicators of psychological adaptation were consistently indifferent. Based on these findings, we propose that the three identity-based forces—bicultural identity development, religious identity attainment, and ego identity formation—be amalgamated into one framework in order for researchers to more accurately examine the adaptation of Australian adolescent Muslims.

Sense of Coherence in Religious Christian Orthodox Women in Greece

Investigation of correlation between the way of life of women-secular and devoted (belonging to a Christian Orthodox fraternity)-and their stress management skills. Sample population consisted of 200 women, 100 belonging to an Orthodox Christian fraternity and 100 secular women, 18 years of age and older from the wider Thessaloniki area (North Greece). Antonovsky's Scale Sense of Coherence (SOC) was used for stress management skills evaluation. The mean SOC score was 138 (95 % CI 133.9-142.1) for secular and 149.9 (95 % CI 144.9-154.9) for devoted women. The presence of a strong sense of coherence for those women belonging to the fraternity (p = 0.004) and older age (p = 0.019) correlate with higher SOC scores. Religiousness appears to enhance stress management skills in women although additional evidence needs in support of the findings of this research.

Does social desirability influence psychological well-being: perceived physical health and religiosity of Italian elders? A developmental approach

OBJECTIVE

This study was mainly aimed at exploring the relationship between psychological well-being and lifestyle, religion, perceived physical health and social desirability of Italian elders.

METHODS

Four hundred and six cognitively healthy 65-99 years old participants were recruited from the Italian isle of Sardinia, where a high prevalence of centenarians is registered. Participants were presented with several tools assessing psychological well-being, lifestyle, social desirability, religiosity and subjective physical health.

RESULTS

A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the social desirability measure is the best predictor of general subjective well-being, whereas further predictors are age, perceived physical health and gardening. A significant but moderate relationship was also found between psychological well-being, subjective physical health and religiosity, while controlling for social desirability.

CONCLUSIONS

Social desirability seems to contaminate the self-rating of psychological well-being in late adulthood. Moreover, from a developmental perspective, age-related factors, life style and perceived physical health are strictly related to and therefore influence the perception of life quality in the third and fourth age.