SEARCH · Search PubMed
Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
The editor considers some definitions of research, mental health, religion and religiosity. Reviews some studies of the benefits of religion to mental and physical health. Discusses nursing aspects and invites readers to contribute to this relatively underdeveloped area of knowledge. In a future article the editor will review some links between religion, depression and suicide.
Between 1905 and 1910, several Dutch scholars independently "discovered" the rapidly growing psychology of religion. The "empirical" character of this psychology as developed in America provoked very diverse reactions, the differences in which arose from the very different mentalities existing within religiously different segments of Dutch society. This paper focuses on an illustrative example: a dissertation by Johannes G. Geelkerken (1879-1960), which remains one of the best sources of information on the presuppositions and foundations of the early empirical psychology of religion. The ideological, institutional, and national context of Geelkerken's work is discussed. Although the pattern of early development of psychology of religion in The Netherlands was atypical for Europeanized cultures, it has persisted into the present.
Using emergent theme analysis of qualitative interview data in combination with quantitative survey data, the role of religion in the lives of immigrant youth was explored. Latino, Haitian, and Chinese teenagers described, in their own rich words, the significance of religion to them; their responses are reflected in themes that point to the potential protective role of religion for some immigrant groups.
Many of the early founders of America were concerned with religious issues, and some of their concerns continue in contemporary science. Psychology of religion has a long history in American psychology, but one marred by neglect and misguided claims about the nature of science. Psychology of religion offers a chance for an expansion of behavioral science into realms of importance to many people. For example, both development during adolescence and the implications of gender differences may be illuminated by a consideration of the role of religion in human life. Particular topics discussed include conversion and religious mobility, religious experience, images of God, identity, and mental health and coping.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have presented religious appeals and testimony about a defendant's religious activities in order to influence capital jurors' sentencing. Courts that have objected to this use of religion fear that religion will improperly influence jurors' decisions and interfere with their ability to weigh aggravators and mitigators. This study investigated the effects of both prosecution and defense appeals. Prosecution appeals did not affect verdict decisions; however, use of religion by the defense affected both verdicts and the weighing of aggravators and mitigators. These results could be due to differences in perceived sincerity and remorse that are conveyed in the various appeals.
Religion and its effects on morbidity and mortality (with particular emphasis on mortality) are reviewed as are special issues which have in the past made the study of religion and death difficult. The morbidity and mortality experience of various religious groups is portrayed, including Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, the clergy, Seventh-day Adventists, Latter-day Saints, Parsis, Jehovah's Witnesses and Hutterites. Studies of religious effects on morbidity and mortality have broadened in focus from the study of specific health practices, or health-related behaviors, to include the study of social support, religious participation and health-related attitudes. Gaps in the literature are identified and a preliminary model of religion's effect on morbidity and mortality is discussed.
The nursing literature published from 1963 to 1989 was screened for definitions to distinguish the concept of religion from that of spirituality. Following concept analysis procedures, definitions were selected from journal articles and textbooks and the key words in the definitions were listed in order of frequency. In definitions of religion, six words appeared most frequently--system, beliefs, organized, person, worship, practices; in definitions of spirituality, nine words appeared most frequently--personal, life, principle, animator, being, God (god), quality, relationship, transcendent. Only the word person(al) appeared on both lists. Using these two lists, the words (defining attributes) that appeared most frequently were formed as consensus definitions. It was concluded that spirituality is currently the broader term and may subsume aspects of religion. If these concepts are not clearly defined, the care related to personal life principles, relationships, and transcendent experiences may be confused with care for personal beliefs and worship practices.
Too few studies have assessed the relationship between youth risk behaviors and religiosity using measures which captured the varied extent to which youth are engaged in religion. This study applied three measures of religiosity and risk behaviors. In addition, this study ascertained information about youths' participation in religious activities from a parent or caretaker. Based on a national random sample of 2004 teens (ages 11-18), this study indicates that youth perceive religion as important, are active in religious worship and activities, and further shows that perceived importance of religion as well as participation in religious activities are associated with decreased risk behaviors. Looking at ten risk behaviors, religiosity variables were consistently associated with reduced risk behaviors in the areas of: smoking, alcohol use, truancy, sexual activity, marijuana use, and depression. In the case of these six risk variables, religiosity variables were significantly associated with reduced risk behaviors when controlling for family background variables and self-esteem. The study highlights the importance of further understanding the relationship between religious variables, background variables, self-esteem, and youth risk behaviors.
Religion's effects on mental health have been debated for years, yet only in the last half century have these theories been empirically tested. While a number of mental health constructs have been linked to religion, one of the most prevalent and debilitating mental health indices, anxiety, has been largely ignored. This paper categorizes and critically reviews the current literature on religion and general indices of anxiety in terms of findings linking decreased anxiety to religiosity, increased anxiety to religiosity, and those finding no relation between anxiety and religiosity. Results from 17 studies are described and synthesized. Conceptual and methodological weaknesses that potentially threaten the validity and generalizability of the findings are discussed. Finally, conclusions and directions for future research are provided.
In view of the growing importance of religion in Senegal, 950 Wolof speaking secondary school students were asked to comment upon the meaning and importance they gave to the practice of religion, and whether they believed it had any consequence on their lives and their country at large. An analysis of answers provided shows a large predominance of the practice of religion due to several reasons; historical, political and social, despite a minor trend of peripheral contest (10% of subjects said they don't believe in destiny nor in the importance of religious practice). Likewise the belief in the idea of destiny, i.e. that one's life was decided beforehand, did not seem to contradict the largely expressed need to be actively involved in the economic development of the country.
Parents (N = 124) who had lost an infant to sudden infant death syndrome were interviewed 3 weeks and 18 months postloss. Two components of religion (religious participation and religious importance) were assessed, and their relations with 3 coping-process variables (perceived social support, cognitive processing of the loss, and finding meaning in the death) were examined. Greater religious participation was related to increased perception of social support and greater meaning found in the loss. Importance of religion was positively related to cognitive processing and finding meaning in the death. Furthermore, through these coping-process variables, religious participation and importance were indirectly related to greater well-being and less distress among parents 18 months after their infants' deaths. Results suggest that further study of the social and cognitive aspects of religion would be profitable.
The 4 articles in this special issue make important contributions to both family and religious studies as well as to their interface. This commentary begins by considering 4 unifying themes present across all of the articles, including meaningful religion-family linkages, the importance of gender differences in the faith-family interface, the significance of intergenerational relationships, and the need for better theory. The authors then discuss the unique major strength and secondary limitations of each study. Finally, the commentary focuses on two challenges inhibiting the contemporary study of religion and the family--a relative lack of racial and religious diversity in samples and the lack of a unifying theory of religion-family linkages--and suggests how to adjust the trajectory of future theory and research to address these issues.
OBJECTIVES: Relationships between religion and body weight were examined in a US national sample. METHODS: Data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), collected through telephone and postal questionnaires, were analyzed for 3032 adults aged 25-74. RESULTS: Religious denomination was significantly related to higher body weight in men after accounting for sociodemographic controls. Conservative Protestant men had a 1.1 +/- 0.45 higher body mass index (BMI) than those reporting no religious affiliation. Other religion variables that initially had significant relationships with greater body weight before adjusting for control variables became nonsignificant after smoking was controlled. No significant relationships between religion and body weight were present in women. CONCLUSIONS: Religious denomination was related to body weight in men. Other dimensions of religiosity showing a relationship with higher BMI appeared to be because of the lower rates of smoking among more religious individuals.
Ethical dilemmas pervade modern geriatric medicine. What is considered right or wrong will differ depending on, among other things, the patient's religion. The three Abrahamic monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity (its Catholic variant), and Islam all have carefully considered positions on medical ethics. Although much is held in common, there are significant differences. The authors present three clinical cases, each of which presents ethical dilemmas typical of geriatric care, especially at the end of life. On the basis of these scenarios, the normative ethical position of each religion is compared and contrasted. It is hoped that this approach will offer the geriatrician a useful approach to treating patients in an increasingly multicultural society.
The relationships between age, religious orientation, and perception of death are investigated utilizing a sample of 1428 respondents randomly selected from two larger representative national samples. Although a statistically significant relationship is found between religion and perception of death, when age is introduced as a control the relationship remains only among young adults. The finding that religion mitigates concerns about death concurs with results found in previous studies. The data relative to young adults, however, suggest the need for a broader conceptualization of the relationship between death anxiety and religion, which incorporates developmental influences over the adult life cycle.
A survey of consanguineous marriages in Japan was conducted on 1 September 1983 through questionnaires. The total number of couples studied was 9225, chosen from six widely different areas of Japan. Among six religious groups, the mean inbreeding coefficient (F) is the highest in Buddhists (0.0019), and lowest in 'no religion' (0.0008) and Catholics (0.0009). The F values for Buddhists and individuals with no religion decreased with marriage year in Fukue City and in the five other areas. In the latter group, the F value for Shintoists also decreased with marriage year. In the five areas, the F value is higher in Buddhists than in the 'no religion' group in each marriage year. Among educational groups, the F value was highest in graduates of junior high school for husbands (0.0025) and wives (0.0024), whereas the F value was lowest in graduates of a college, university or graduate course for husbands (0.0006) and wives (0.0005). Occupationally, the F value was the highest in agriculture, forestry and fishery for husbands (0.0035) and wives (0.0032), whereas the rate was the lowest among salesmen, for husbands (0.0006), and in professional occupations and researchers, for wives (0.0004). The causes of the declining F value are discussed.
A recent critique of the growing field of spirituality and medicine suggests that physicians should foster a professional ethic that is deliberately neutral regarding religion. The critique reflects an anxiety that it is almost inherently coercive for physicians to engage their patient's spiritual concerns, and it expresses a parallel admonition to physicians not to impose their values on patients. Although the authors agree that religious coercion is never warranted, they argue that neutrality regarding religion is neither possible nor desirable. They suggest rather that the challenging interface between religion and medicine requires wisdom and character formed by deep self-awareness of the various commitments (religious or otherwise) that shape decisions regarding medical practice, policy, and professional conduct.
The purpose of this review article is to selectively examine research that was designed to evaluate the relation between religious involvement and health among older people. Four facets of religion are examined in detail: church-based social support, religious coping, forgiveness, and prayer. In addition, potential negative effects of religion on health are discussed. Negative interaction in the church as well as religious doubt are evaluated in this respect. Throughout, an effort is made to show how current research on religion and health may be used to provide more comprehensive care for our aging population.