Religiosity and Health: A Holistic Biopsychosocial Perspective

Sin in the Digital Flesh? Religiosity and the Sexting Behavior of Women and Men in the United States

Scholars have noted a rise in sexting behavior in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the association between religion and sexual behavior has been widely studied, researchers have yet to consider whether sexting behavior might vary according to levels of religiosity. Building on prior research, this study uses national survey data to formally test whether several dimensions of religiosity (religious attendance, divine control, and religious/spiritual struggles) are associated with the sexting behavior of women (n = 619, Mage = 40.28, SD = 11.50) and men (n = 548, Mage = 40.04, SD = 11.51). Results suggest that the odds of sexting are lower among women who report higher levels of in-person religious attendance (not virtual attendance) and greater perceptions of divine control. Among women and men, the odds of sexting are higher among those who report more religious/spiritual struggles. This study is among the first to show how various dimensions of religiosity might influence sexting behavior in different ways for women and men during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important for future research to replicate our findings and to consider whether other dimensions of religiosity might also contribute to the likelihood of sexting in an increasingly digital world.

Do Religion and Spirituality Buffer the Effect of Childhood Trauma on Depressive Symptoms? Examination of a South Asian Cohort from the USA

Asian Americans have been identified as a racial group that is disproportionately affected by childhood trauma. The goal of this study was  to assess if religion/spirituality moderate the effects of childhood trauma on adult depressive symptoms among a sample of South Asians in the USA. Our analysis drew from the study on stress, spirituality, and health (SSSH) questionnaire fielded in the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) study (n = 990) during 2016-2018. A series of regression models with multiplicative interaction terms were conducted. Emotional neglect, emotional abuse, and physical neglect were associated with higher depressive symptoms. Higher religious attendance and negative religious coping techniques were found to exacerbate this relationship. There were two findings conditional on gender. Among men, gratitude and positive religious coping also exacerbated the relationship between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms. Negative religious coping also exacerbated the association between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms for women. This is the first community-based study of US South Asians to consider the association between various forms of childhood trauma and depressive symptom outcomes. South Asians remain an understudied group in the religion and health literature, and this study sheds light on the important differences in the function and effectiveness of religion/spirituality for those faced with early life trauma.

Self-Reported Religiosity and Spirituality of Registered Nurses in Virginia

ABSTRACT

The professional nurse cares for an increasingly diverse population, varying in ethnicity, culture, and faith beliefs that influence health and wellness. The moral obligation of the nurse to provide individualized, holistic care of clients includes spiritual care. Supported by the Agape Model of Nursing, nurses should understand their personal religiosity and its impact on the care they provide. The purpose of this study was to better understand the self-reported religiosity and spirituality of registered nurses licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Health and Social Care Outcomes in the Community: Review of Religious Considerations in Interventions with Muslim-Minorities in Australia, Canada, UK, and the USA

The aims of this integrative review included examining the intervention characteristics, religious tailoring, and behavioural outcomes of health and social care interventions with Muslim-minorities in Australia, Canada, UK, and the USA. Nineteen articles were included, and each showed some level of improved health and social care outcomes associated with interventions that were religiously tailored to Islamic teachings, and when notions of health were extended to physical, psychological, spiritual and social domains. Future studies should measure levels of religiosity to understand whether religiously tailored interventions produce a significant intervention effect when compared to non-religiously tailored interventions with Muslims.

Attachment to God, Contingent Self-Worth, and Mental Health Outcomes in U.S. Collegiate Athletes

Scholars and practitioners have recently devoted increased attention to the psychological well-being of student-athletes. However, sparse research has examined the role of religion/spirituality in well-being in athletic populations. In a sample of U.S. collegiate athletes (N = 415), the present study assessed how the divine relationship, measured by attachment style to God, associates with depressive and anxiety symptoms in a sample of collegiate student-athletes, as well as the mediating role of contingent self-worth based on the approval of others in this process. Results show that secure attachment to God is associated with fewer mental illness symptoms, whereas avoidant and anxious attachment to God are associated with greater mental illness symptoms. Contingent self-worth based on others' approval partially mediates each of these associations. Implications for the religion and health literature and sport practitioners are discussed.

Holistic Nursing and Quran Recitation and its Impact on Floods Survivors in Indonesia

Purpose: The purpose of the study was aimed to explore the trajectory of thoughts and feelings related to religiosity and spirituality using a holistic approach following attendance at group-Quran Recitation (QR) sessions among annual flood victims. Design: This is a qualitative study with an in-depth retrospective interview conducted data in 2019. Methods: The purposive sampling was applied to conduct face-to-face individual video-recorded semistructured interviews. Seventeen participants followed six QR chanting sessions in Bandung, Indonesia. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using inductive analysis. Findings: After extracting evidence expressions of participants, the research team generated the central theme of "Holism of Religiosity and Spirituality," using three influential sub-themes, including obedience to God's will, growing a positive mindset through spirituality and life started to be delighting from nine categories. Conclusion: The relationship of body-mind concepts of holism through QR among flood sufferers was explored. The effect of QR chanting is beneficial to change awareness about the wisdom of spirituality. The holistic approach of religiosity and spirituality in nursing care is recommended to promote all service settings, especially community and disaster nursing in the Indonesian context. Future research is needed to develop QR chanting activities among multiethnic and socio-cultural groups as alternative therapy quantitatively.

Between Presence and Commitment: A Qualitative Exploratory Study of People with Visual Impairment in Polish Religious Communities

This article aims to identify factors that may be important in the inclusion process of people with disabilities in religious communities. This text was based upon the interviews conducted with 10 respondents who belonged to Christian communities. They were characterised by a diverse approach, and are therefore referred to in this article as spiritual settlers, spiritual pilgrims and spiritual wanderers. These were then associated with theoretical terms such as presence, affiliation and commitment, to analyse the procedures of the respondents' self-reported functioning in these religious communities.

Prevalence and associated factors of experimentation with and current use of water pipes and electronic cigarettes among medical students: a multicentric study in Brazil

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the prevalence of and factors associated with experimentation with and current use of water pipes and e-cigarettes among medical students.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional multicentric study involving a convenience sample of students from medical schools in most Brazilian geographic regions. Information about experimentation with and current use of conventional cigarettes, water pipes, and e-cigarettes; beliefs and attitudes toward tobacco products; religiosity; and demographics were collected by means of an online structured questionnaire. We used descriptive statistics and logistic regression to analyze the association of those factors.

RESULTS

Our sample comprised 700 individuals from four Brazilian regions. Prevalence of experimentation with and current use of cigarettes, water pipes, and e-cigarettes were, respectively, 39.1% and 7.9%; 42.6% and 11.4%; and 13.1% and 2.3%. Water pipe experimentation was higher among those who had a sibling (adjusted OR = 2.64; 95% CI, 1.24-5.61) or friends (adjusted OR = 2.33; 95% CI, 1.63-3.31) who smoke. The same occurred regarding e-cigarette experimentation: siblings (adjusted OR = 2.76; 95% CI, 1.17-6.50) and friends (adjusted OR = 2.47; 95% CI, 1:45-4.22). Curiosity and scent/taste were the major reasons for water pipe use and e-cigarette experimentation. Although 93% of the responders learned about health damages of smoking during medical school classes, 51.4% reported having experimented with at least one of these tobacco products. Most responders who reported feeling the presence of God/the Holy Spirit in their lives were never experimenters of water pipes (59.2%) or e-cigarettes (55.3%).

CONCLUSIONS

There is a high prevalence of experimentation with tobacco products among medical students whose siblings or friends smoke, despite their knowledge about smoking harms.

Changes in Spiritual but Not Religious Identity and Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood in the United States: Pathways to Health Sameness?

The "spiritual but not religious" (SBNR) are a growing group in the religious landscape of the United States. Thousands of studies to date have been devoted to the study of religion and health, but far less attention has been given to the study of the "spiritual but not religious." In this study, we address this gap by using two waves of longitudinal data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (2005-2008). We assess whether within-person changes in SBNR identity are associated with health and mental health in emerging adulthood and consider several pathways that may account for observed differences. Results suggest that consistently identifying as SBNR was associated with worse physical and mental health relative to youth that were consistently religious. Using parametric mediation analyses, we found evidence that three of our four proposed mediators (religious attendance, sense of closeness to God, and religious doubt, but not life meaning) partially explained these mental health differences. This study therefore makes an important advance in assessing the health implications of (non)-religion/spirituality early in the life course.

Social Trust, Religiosity, and Self-Rated Health in the Context of National Religious Pluralism

Trust and religiosity have been individually linked to better health outcomes, but little existing research examines how they may combine to shape health. Drawing on data from the 6th and most recent wave of the World Values Survey, we examine the relationship between particularized and generalized social trust, two dimensions of religiosity (religious attendance and one's belief in the importance of God), and self-rated health across 27 countries. Findings from multilevel models suggest that trust tends to be higher in more religiously pluralistic national contexts, while religiosity in these contexts helps individuals maintain good health. In particular, a higher importance of God (but not religious attendance) can offset the negative health effects of holding low trust in strangers and non-family members (generalized trust), but only in highly pluralistic national contexts. We conclude by offering future research directives that may shed light on the cultural complexities of the various national contexts and their religious compositions.

Is it the Sermon or the Choir? Pastoral Support, Congregant Support, and Worshiper Mental Health

BACKGROUND

Although religious involvement tends to be associated with improved mental health, additional work is needed to identify the specific aspects of religious practice that are associated with positive mental health outcomes. Our study advances the literature by investigating how two unique forms of religious social support are associated with mental health.

PURPOSE

We explore whether support received in religious settings from fellow congregants or religious leaders is associated with participants' mental health. We address questions that are not only of interest to religion scholars, but that may also inform religious leaders and others whose work involves understanding connections between religious factors and psychological outcomes within religious communities.

METHODS

We test several hypotheses using original data from the "Mental Health in Congregations Study (2017-2019)", a survey of Christian and Jewish congregants from South Texas and the Washington DC area (N = 1882). Surveys were collected using both paper and online surveys and included an extensive battery of religious and mental health measures.

RESULTS

Congregant support has more robust direct associations with mental health outcomes than faith leader support. Increased congregant support is significantly associated (p < 0.001) with fewer symptoms of psychological distress (β = - 0.168), anxiety (β = - 0.159), and anger (β = - 0.190), as well as greater life satisfaction (β = 0.269) and optimism (β = 0.283). However, faith leader support moderates these associations such that congregant support is associated with better mental health only in cases where faith leader support is also high. When leader support is low, congregant support and mental health are not associated.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

At the conceptual level, our study adds to an extensive literature on the relationship between religious social support and mental health. Additionally, our work may provide important insights to religious leadership in terms of communications strategies, services, and resources that might enhance overall congregant mental health and well-being.

A Scoping Review on Biopsychosocial Predictors of Mental Health among Older Adults

This review aims to map the available evidence on biopsychosocial predictors of elderly mental health. The articles were independently screened in three selected databases, namely Pubmed, Proquest and Google Scholar. The stages consist of identifying the research questions, seeking and selecting relevant evidence, mapping data, and concluding and reporting results. The PRISMA flowchart was used to show the PEOS evidence search flow. A total of 23,722 articles were obtained from all databases during the initial search, where 458 titles fulfilled the eligibility criteria at the title screening stage. Furthermore, 383 articles passed through abstract screening, where 75 met the inclusion criteria and were included for full-text screening. Based on the full-text screening stage, 28 articles were excluded and the remaining 47 articles that matched the search process were included for data extraction. This review creates biopsychosocial variables related to the mental health of the elderly. The biological factors consist of age, biomarkers, female, health conditions, chronic diseases, and physical function. Variables related to psychological factors are affect, personality traits, and subjective well-being. Meanwhile, social factors include smoking, sleep quality, physical activity, daily living, social support, marital status, loneliness, religiosity, spirituality, and early life conditions.

Does Religious Participation Predict Future Expectations About Health? Using a Life Course Framework to Test Multiple Mechanisms

Though an impressive array of health outcomes has been studied, research within the field of religion and health has not yet considered how religious involvement may affect future expectations about health. This is a significant shortcoming because the teachings of many religions direct adherent's focus to the distant future, and future self-ratings of health are a known predictor of subjective life expectancy and eventual mortality risk. Recognizing the need for a life course approach to conceptualizing patterns of religious involvement, we assess how stability or change in religious attendance from childhood to adulthood structures individual expectations of future health. Drawing on data from the 2017 Values and Beliefs of the American Public Study (Baylor Religion Survey Wave 5), we find that stable high (weekly) attendance between childhood and adulthood is associated with higher future health expectations. Parametric mediation analyses conducted in the counterfactual framework suggest that this association is explained by the tendency of frequent stable attenders to have (a) higher levels of beliefs in the sense of divine control and (b) a lower likelihood of engaging in harmful health behaviors (smoking).

"His Main Problem Was Not Being in a Relationship With God": Perceptions of Depression, Help-Seeking, and Treatment in Evangelical Christianity

Some Christian communities may understand mental illness as the result of spiritual causes, such as sin, demons, or a lack of faith. Such perceptions are likely to influence how Christian individuals conceptualise and experience their mental health and enact help-seeking behaviours. This study explores perceptions of depression and mental health help-seeking in evangelical Christianity by using a novel qualitative story completion task. A convenience sample of 110 Christian participants from the United Kingdom completed a third-person, fictional story stem featuring a male with depression who entered his local church. A contextualist-informed thematic analysis illustrated how the disclosure of depression was represented as eliciting negative social reactions, potentially rendering individuals with depression as socially dislocated. Stories suggested that, increasingly, evangelical Christians may perceive a spiritualisation of mental illness, which negates reference to psychological, social, and biomedical representations, as unhelpful. Findings reveal the risks of a solely spiritual aetiology of depression and highlight how existing mental ill-health can be exacerbated if fundamentalist beliefs and approaches to therapeutic care are prioritised over holistic models of care. Methodologically, this study demonstrates the value of a rarely-used tool in psychology—the story completion task—for examining socio-cultural discourses and dominant meanings surrounding stigmatised topics or populations.

Trust in God and/or Science? Sociodemographic Differences in the Effects of Beliefs in an Engaged God and Mistrust of the COVID-19 Vaccine

At present, COVID-19 vaccines are widely available in the USA, but large proportions of the American populace remain unvaccinated. One possible source of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is a lack of trust in science. In this study, drawing from the large literature at the intersection of science and religion, we ask whether beliefs in an engaged God (the belief that God is involved in daily human affairs) predict mistrust of the COVID-19 vaccine and whether any observed association differs across race, gender, and education. Using nationally representative data from Wave 6 of the Baylor Religion Survey (2021), our results suggest that beliefs in an engaged God were associated with greater mistrust in the COVID-19 vaccine. This association was amplified for Hispanic and lower educated Americans. We argue that beliefs in an engaged God may promote a distrust of science, reduce motivation to get vaccinated, and derive comfort and strength by placing control over one's life in the hands of a loving, involved deity. We also situate our findings within an emerging body of work on the "dark side" of religion and reflect on their implications for understanding the broader religion/health connection.

Religious/spiritual struggles and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: Does "talking religion" help or hurt?

BACKGROUND

Research to date has suggested that religion might be a source of comfort and strength in times of crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it may also be a form of stress if spiritual struggles are experienced. We posit the discussion of religious and spiritual matters as a potential feature of religious life that may be helpful or harmful for dealing with the impacts of spiritual struggles.

PURPOSE

This study has two objectives. First, we assess the association between religious/spiritual struggles and both perceptions of psychological distress and self-rated health, affording attention to the prevalence of religious struggles during this time. Second, drawing from social penetration theory, we consider both the potential helpful and harmful role of discussing religion with friends and family members for the well-being of those experiencing various degrees of religious/spiritual struggles.

METHODS

Using data from a nationally representative sample of Americans collected in January 2021, nearly a year after the onset of the pandemic (N = 1,711), we conduct a series of OLS and ordinal logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Results suggest that religious/spiritual struggles were somewhat common among Americans during COVID-19 and were associated with greater psychological distress and worse perceived self-rated health during the pandemic. In the context of high R/S struggles, both psychological distress and perceived self-rated health were more favorable when religious and spiritual matters were discussed very frequently, several times a week or more. Unlike for psychological distress, however, we found no evidence that discussion of religious matters in the face of greater R/S struggles exacerbated their ill effect on health. Supplemental analyses showed that these findings are not being driven by religious denominational differences across our focal variables.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Encouraged by discussions of faith with close network confidants, people experiencing R/S struggles might seek help in the form of counseling in both secular and/or religious settings. Exploring potential resilience factors, such as religious discussion, may help inform broader or more local strategies aimed at economic recovery. Our results therefore invite future investigation into the role of religious coping in mitigating the health effects of pandemic hardship.

Religiosity is Associated with Motivation to Start and Stop Smoking Among Adolescent Students in Brazil

This study aimed to estimate associations between adolescents' religiosity and their motivation to start and stop smoking. A school survey was carried out in Midwestern Brazil. Participants were never-smokers (n = 2073) and smokers (n = 116) aged 13-19 who answered a questionnaire. Religiosity was measured with the Duke Religion Index, and motivation with questions based on the Prime Theory of Motivation. Organizational, non-organizational, and intrinsic religiosity were associated with motivation to start smoking among never-smokers. Intrinsic religiosity was associated with smokers' motivation to quit. Findings indicate the protective role of religiosity in the motivational system that prompts smoking initiation and cessation during adolescence.

Psychometric Properties of the Five-Item Francis Attitude Towards Christianity Scale in Colombian Psychiatric Outpatients

This study aimed to know the psychometric properties of the five-item Francis scale of the attitude towards Christianity (Francis-5) by assessing psychiatric outpatients in Santa Marta, Colombia. A sample of 260 adult patients participated. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed an excellent one-dimensional structure with high internal consistency. It was concluded that the Francis-5 exhibited good indicators of validity and reliability in Colombian psychiatric outpatients.

Undergraduate Nursing Students' Spirituality and Perceived Ability to Provide Spiritual Care: A Mixed-Method Study

Study purpose: This study's purpose was to explore nursing students' spirituality and perceived ability to provide spiritual care. Design and methods: A convergent mixed method, cross-sectional design was used. A convenience sample included traditional nursing students in their second quarter (n = 53) and final quarter (n = 43) attending a faith-based university and accelerated final quarter nursing students (n = 45) attending a private secular university from two accredited nursing programs. Quantitative data were analyzed using a pairwise Spearman rank correlation and multivariate analysis of variance. Open-ended questions were analyzed using content analysis. Results: Quantitatively, as a student's spirituality increases, their perceived ability to provide spiritual care decreases. Qualitative findings revealed three categories: guidance to recognize spiritual needs, empathy and openness, and intertwined with religion. Conclusion: Quantitatively, nursing students reported their spirituality did not influence their perceived ability to provide spiritual care. Yet, qualitatively, students reported their spirituality assisted in their ability to provide spiritual care. However, students were unable to differentiate between spirituality and religion. Colleges of nursing need to ensure students learn the art of holistic nursing, which includes spirituality and religion along with opportunities to apply and reflect on their spirituality and perceived ability to provide spiritual care.

Perceived barriers to providing spiritual care among psychiatric mental health nurses

BACKGROUND

Although nurses typically view spiritual care as important, it is provided infrequently.

OBJECTIVES

This research investigated psychiatric mental health nurses' perceived barriers to providing spiritual care, and how these barriers were associated with frequency of spiritual care and demographic factors.

METHODS

This cross-sectional correlational study of 159 psychiatric mental health nurses used questionnaires to measure frequency of spiritual care and barriers to spiritual care.

RESULTS

The most frequent barriers to providing spiritual care were lack of education and fear of exacerbating psychiatric symptoms. Psychiatric mental health nurses provided spiritual care infrequently.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses need education about providing spiritual care to those with psychiatric mental health needs.

How Do Migrant Nursing Home Staff Relate to Religion in Their Work With Patients Who Are Approaching Death?

AIM

To investigate how migrant nursing home staff relate to religion in their care for patients who are approaching death.

METHOD AND THEORY

Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 migrant health care workers from five nursing homes in Norway. The overall analytic approach was hermeneutical. The parts and the whole were interpreted in light of each other to gain a "thick description" of the data material in order to show the ways in which experiential meaning-making draws on cultural webs of sign ificance.

FINDINGS

Religion held various meanings for the migrant health care workers interviewed. Religious and cultural competence and knowledge of migrant nursing home staff was neither asked for by the management nor discussed in the staff group. The way our participants related to religion at work was therefore based on individual preferences and internalized practices.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE

Organized reflection groups among staff are needed in order to integrate and develop religious literacy in the multicultural nursing home setting. Such reflection groups can help the individual staff member to perform holistic nursing, that is, to be attentive of the interconnectedness of biological, social, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects in a human being.

Religiosity, Well-Being and 'Slowing Down' Ageing Damage: A Literature Review

Telomere length (TL) represents an important marker of cellular aging. Its shortening affects human health and longevity by inducing senescence, apoptosis, and oncogenesis. Advanced ageing and negative behavioral and lifestyle factors decrease TL. The relationship between positive psycho-social factors and longer telomeres has given rise to a growing number of research efforts. Among these, religiosity poses a particular interest since it is associated with a wide range of favorable health outcomes. In this direction, recent literature reports, suggest a positive link between religiosity and TL. Underlying mechanisms for this association are not yet clarified.

In this review, we would like to summarize the current knowledge on the link between religiosity and TL. Taking this opportunity, we recall findings from a cohort study in rural Crete, Greece that adds evidence on the discussion of potential psycho-social mediators which some may prevent shortening of TL.

Validation of the Belief Into Action Scale (BIAC) in Portuguese Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Background: A large proportion of the world's population have religious beliefs, with 84.0% indicating an affiliation with a specific religious group. Few comprehensive measures to assess religious involvement currently exist in Portugal, particularly for the assessment of religiosity in cancer patients. Objective: To translate, adapt, and validate the 10-item Belief Into Action Scale (BIAC) in Portuguese cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Method: The methodological guidelines provided by Sousa and Rojjanasrirat were used to examine the psychometric properties of the BIAC. Results: The linguistic and conceptual equivalence of the scale was determined. The internal consistency was acceptable (Cronbach's α = .86). Varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization identified two factors made up of nine items. Conclusion: The European Portuguese version of the BIAC is a reliable and valid measure for assessing religiosity in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy to provide holistic care.

Assessing spirituality: is there a beneficial role in the management of COPD?

Here,we report on the role of spirituality assessment in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although a positive effect of addressing spirituality in health care has been proved in a number of chronic diseases, its potential in COPD has received less attention. Although limited, available evidence suggests that spirituality may play an important role in improving quality of life of patients with COPD. The fruitful results in other long-term conditions may lay the foundation for further research on addressing spirituality in COPD. This should focus where the burden of COPD is greatest, including low-resource settings globally. Implementation research should include exploration of an acceptable consultation process to identify patients who would welcome spiritual discussions; how to integrate spiritual approaches into health care professional curricula so that they are aware of its importance and have the confidence to raise it with patients and how to integrate spiritual approaches into holistic COPD care.