Higher church attendance predicts lower fear of falling in older Mexican-Americans. Adjustment to termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly: a longitudinal study in women at 4, 8, and 16 months. Rasic DT, Belik SL, Elias B, Katz LY, Enns M, Sareen J. Spirituality, religion and suicidal behavior in a nationally representative sample. A significant factor in the spread of AIDS in Africa is the lack of power exercised by women; both religion . We identified 95 studies that examined relationships between R/S and risky sexual activity (sex outside of marriage, multiple partners, etc.). Of those, 240 (86%) reported inverse relationships and only 4 studies (1%) indicated a positive relationship. Of those, 82 (79%) reported significant inverse relationships (five at a trend level), whereas three (3%) found positive relationships with more delinquency/crime. Relationships between R/S, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases or disease risk factors ought to translate into a lower risk of stroke. Religious attendance and mortality: implications for the black-white mortality crossover. Trevino KM, Pargament KI, Cotton S, et al. Is it helpful? Might R/S, perhaps because it is related to greater optimism and hope, influence one's self-perceptions of health in a positive way? One of the most common barriers to addressing spiritual issues is health professionals' discomfort over discussing such issues. An 83-year-old woman with chronic illness and strong religious beliefs. Shmueli A. The experience of negative emotions may be like pouring hydrochloric acid on the brain's memory cells [422]. Poor coping has adverse effects on medical outcomes, both in terms of lengthening hospital stay and increasing mortality [583]. Lopes Cardozo B, Bilukha OO, Gotway Crawford CA, et al. Second, R/S influences the patient's ability to cope with illness. Ross LE, Hall IJ, Fairley TL, Taylor YJ, Howard DL. Prevalence of partner violence in same-sex romantic and sexual relationships in a national sample of adolescents. This is reflected in teachings from the pulpit and influences what is considered appropriate within religious social groups. Koenig HG, Cohen HJ, George LK, Hays JC, Larson DB, Blazer DG. The impact of devotionalism and attendance on ordinary and emergency helping behavior. Frequency of attendance at religious services and mortality in a U.S. national cohort. Oxman TE, Freeman DH, Manheimer ED. Third, R/S beliefs affect patients' medical decisions, may conflict with medical treatments, and can influence compliance with those treatments. Idler EL. Of those, 68 (86%) found R/S related to greater marital stability and no studies reported an association with greater marital instability. Of those, 272 (61%) reported significant inverse relationships with depression (including nine studies at a trend level), and 28 (6%) found relationships between R/S and greater depression (including two studies at a trend level). Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Preacher KJ, MacCallum RC, Atkinson C, Malarkey WB, Glaser R. Chronic stress and age-related increases in the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6. Krause N. Common facets of religion, unique facets of religion, and life satisfaction among older African Americans. Steffen PR, Masters KS. Race, gender and body mass index among U.S. adults. Uppal S. Impact of the timing, type and severity of disability on the subjective well-being of individuals with disabilities. Persons who are depressed, unmotivated, or without hope are less likely to make attempts to maintain their physical functioning, particularly after experiencing a stroke or a fall that forces them into a rehabilitation program to regain or compensate for their losses. Factors associated with rehospitalization among veterans in a substance abuse treatment program. Although one might expect R/S to correlate positively with an external locus of control (i.e., the Transcendent controlling events), and some studies confirm this, the majority of research finds a positive correlation with an internal not an external sense of control. Sixth, R/S influences the kind of support and care that patients receive once they return home. Church attendance mediates the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive functioning among older Mexican Americans. Adolescent-to-young adulthood heavy drinking trajectories and their prospective predictors. that loves and cares about humans and is responsive to their needs. Religion, body weight, and well-being. Lapane KL, Lasater TM, Allan C, Carleton RA. as to whether religion has a positive, negative, or any effect on health and wellbeing in adulthood has continued in modern research literature. At least 36 studies have examined the associations between weight (or body mass index) and R/S involvement. Safiya GD, Marcia MH, Colleen D, Laderman G. Spiritual well-being, depressive symptoms, and immune status among women living with HIV/AIDS. This, then, is the one health behavior that places R/S individuals at greater risk for medical illness. Kim D, Kawachi I. Our review uncovered 19 studies that examined associations between R/S and CHD. C-reactive protein, diabetes, and attendance at religious services. Date July 12, 2022. Ehman JW, Ott BB, Short TH, Ciampa RC, Hansen-Flaschen J. Martin KR, Levy BR. Religion Provides Emotional Boost to Worlds Poor. Belief that illness is the result of punishment for sin mediated the relationship between 1) religious beliefs and higher vegetable consumption and lower binge drinking; and 2) religious behaviors and lower vegetable consumption and higher binge drinking. Fitchett G, Burton LA, Sivan AB. government site. Krause N. Church-based social support and health in old age: exploring variations by race. Kennedy GJ, Kelman HR, Thomas C, Chen J. I took good care of myself, the way he wanted me to. Brief and to the point. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted The author declares that he has no conflict of interests. The majority of studies report significant relationships between R/S and better health. Dein S, Cook CCH, Powell A, Eagger S. Religion, spirituality and mental health. using the search words religion, religiosity, religiousness, and spirituality to identify studies on the R/S-health relationship. In: Strachey J, editor. The graphs plot the number of studies published in peer-reviewed journals during every noncumulative 3-year period from 1971 to 2012. At least 45 studies have examined relationships with R/S, and 42 (93%) reported significant positive relationships. : national data from the high school classes of 1976 through 1997. We located nine studies that examined this relationship, of which four reported a lower risk of stroke, all having quality ratings of seven or higher [414417]. What about religious involvement? The impact of religion on mens blood pressure. Bear in mind that many, many more qualitative studies have been published on the topic that were not included in this review. Goldbourt U, Yaari S, Medalie JH. http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/tbacig/studproj/is3099/pplfrst/Untitled1.html, http://instruct.uwo.ca/english/234e/site/bckgrnds/maps/lndnmpbedlam.html, http://friendshospital.com/about/timeline/, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0002_0_01417.html, http://www.answers.com/topic/islam-and-the-body, http://www.gallup.com/poll/148361/Religion-Party-Strongly-Linked-Among-Whites-Not-Blacks.aspx, https://www.cms.gov/manuals/downloads/som107ap_m_hospice.pdf. Stavig GR, Igra A, Leonard AR. There are at least three basic pathways: psychological, social, and behavioral (see Figure 3). Rabins PV, Fitting MD, Eastham J, Zabora J. Some benefits of having religious values can include a stronger form of resilience in challenging circumstances, a larger support system, an increase of one's sense of meaning and hope, and a perceived control over situations (Jackson and Bergeman, 2011, as cited in Avent Harris, Garland Mckinney & Fripp, 2019). Her reply: God. Of the 38 methodologically most rigorous studies, 35 (92%) reported significant relationships between R/S and greater marital stability [255265]. Religious scriptures in other faith traditions also emphasize the person's responsibility to care for and nourish their physical body [282284]. Giving up by withdrawing life support or agreeing to hospice care may be viewed as a lack of faith or lack of belief in the healing power of God. Religion is also an organized system of beliefs, practices, and symbols designed (a) to facilitate closeness to the transcendent, and (b) to foster an understanding of one's relationship and responsibility to others in living together in a community. [21]. Depressive symptoms and other psychosocial factors as predictors of stroke in the elderly. A brief description of beliefs and practices for health professionals related to birth, contraception, diet, death, and organ donation is provided elsewhere [599]. Pearce LD, Haynie DL. By Sandra Feder Age and the sense of control among older adults. Koenig HG. The conflict has continued to the present day. Koenig HG, Kvale JN, Ferrel C. Religion and well-being in later life. As with self-esteem, mental health professionals have argued that R/S might increase guilt by focusing on sin and could thus lead to depression. By reducing stress and depression through more effective coping, R/S may produce a physiological environment that has favorable effects on cognitive functioning. Cruz M, Pincus HA, Welsh DE, Greenwald D, Lasky E, Kilbourne AM. With regard to alcohol use, abuse, and dependence, at least 278 studies have now examined relationships with R/S. We located 32 studies examining relationships with R/S, and of those, 26 (81%) reported significant positive relationships. This is a time when patients and families may demand medical care (often very expensive medical care) even when continued treatment is futile. Religiosity and depression among nursing home residents: results of a survey of ten states. Stulberg DB, Dude AM, Dahlquist I. Koenig HG. Ten of the 12 studies had quality ratings of 7 or higher; of those, seven (70%) reported significant inverse associations with infection/viral load [440, 441, 449454]. Sixth, health professionals should learn about the R/S beliefs and practices of different religious traditions that relate to healthcare, especially the faith traditions of patients they are likely to encounter in their particular country or region of the country. Ironson G, Stuetzle R, Ironson D, et al. Koenig HG. Scholte WF, Olff M, Ventevogel P, et al. Physiological changes that occur with stress and depression (elevated blood cortisol, in particular) are known to adversely affect the parts of the brain responsible for memory [419421]. Religion, health, and nonphysical senses of self. This is not to say that R/S always does so. Over the years, as secular authorities took control over the institution, the hospital became famous for its inhumane treatment of the mentally ill, who were often chained [5],dunked in water, or beaten as necessary to control them. For some topics, such as well-being and depression, there are too many high-quality studies to cite, so only a few examples of the best studies are provided. Yong HH, Hamann SL, Borland R, Fong GT, Omar M. Adult smokers perception of the role of religion and religious leadership on smoking and association with quitting: a comparison between Thai Buddhists and Malaysian Muslims. Trinitapoli J, Regnerus MD. Belief in a deity engenders hope, which has been linked to positive physiological changes, Krause said. Segerstrom SC, Miller GE. In addition, there have been at least 16 studies examining relationships between R/S and cardiovascular reactivity, heart rate variability, outcomes following cardiac surgery, and other cardiovascular functions. Musick MA. Suicidal feelings in the general population: a prevalence study. Of those, 22 (36%) reported better physical functioning among those who were more R/S, 14 (23%) found worse physical functioning, and six studies reported mixed findings. Brown KW, Levy AR, Rosberger Z, Edgar L. Psychological distress and cancer survival: a follow-up 10 years after diagnosis. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Does religion help with depression and anxiety? Impact of transcendental meditation on ambulatory blood pressure in African-American adolescents. Of those, 33 (70%) reported significant associations, whereas five (11%) found less altruism among the more R/S; of the 20 best studies, 15 (75%) reported positive relationships [108113] and two (10%) found negative associations [114, 115] (both concerning organ donations, which some religions prohibit). Wachholtz AB, Pearce MJ. Religious activities and attitudes of older adults in a geriatric assessment clinic. Instead, the health professional should consult a chaplain and either follow their advice or refer the patient to the chaplain to address the situation. Religious belief, depression, and ambulation status in elderly women with broken hips. Studies have shown that R/S beliefs influence medical decisions among those with serious medical illness [584, 585] and especially among those with advanced cancer [586] or HIV/AIDs [587]. An examination of the relationship between multiple dimensions of religiosity, blood pressure, and hypertension. Turning to prayer: social and situational antecedents of religious coping among African Americans. With regard to psychoticism (a trait that assesses risk taking or lack of responsibility, rather than psychotic symptoms), 19 studies have examined its relationship to R/S, with 84% of those reporting significant inverse relationships (and no studies reporting a positive relationship). Factors predictive of long-term coronary heart disease mortality among 10,059 male Israeli civil servants and municipal employees: A 23-year mortality follow-up in the Israeli ischemic heart disease study. Bath PA. Self-rated health as a risk factor for prescribed drug use and future health and social service use in older people. Finally, I discuss what health professionals should do in light of these research findings and make recommendations in this regard. Faith in a time of crisis - American Psychological Association (APA) Religion and remission of depression in medical inpatients with heart failure/pulmonary disease. Finally, standards set by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Hospital Organizations (JCAHO) and by Medicare (in the US) require that providers of health care show respect for patients' cultural and personal values, beliefs, and preferences (including religious or spiritual beliefs) [593]. The systematic review to identify the studies presented in the Handbooks and summarized in this paper was conducted as follows. Firm believers? Writers in the popular press have encouraged the combining of R/S activity and exercise through prayer walking [302, 303] and walking meditation. [304]. These studies were often in populations where there was a challenge to having meaning and purpose, such as in people with chronic disabling illness. Because freedom of religion is a universal fundamental human right, any person can start up a religion and practice its doctrines as long as its practices does not affect a third person or the society negatively. Religious homogeneity and metropolitan suicide rates. Schneider RH, Staggers F, Alexander CN, et al. HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help Religion, pledging, and the premarital sexual behavior of married Young adults. Enstrom JE. The influence of R/S is most evident in it's effects on cigarette smoking. Frequency of attendance at religious services, hypertension, and blood pressure: the third national health and nutrition examination survey. The research on religion and mental health is no exception to this rule. Thus, the protective effects of R/S on substance abuse may have influences on health across the lifespan. Sodergren SC, Hyland ME, Crawford A, Partridge MR. Positivity in illness: self-delusion or existential. Certainly, the religious prohibition on condom use resulted in many people acquiring AIDS. Estimated deaths attributable to social factors in the united states. There are many practical reasons why addressing spiritual issues in clinical practice is important. Survival and health care utilization in elderly medical inpatients with major depression. 1Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, P.O. Commentary on Koenig (2008): Concerns about measuring Spirituality in research. Mountains . Of those, 10 (48%) reported significant positive relationships between R/S and better cognitive functioning and three (14%) found significant negative relationships. Comstock GW. Religious struggle: prevalence, correlates and mental health risks in diabetic, congestive heart failure, and oncology patients. View of God as benevolent and forgiving or punishing and judgmental predicts HIV disease progression. Cutler SJ. Religious observance and plasma lipids and lipoproteins among 17-year-old Jewish residents of Jerusalem. Cronan TA, Kaplan RM, Posner L, Blumberg E, Kozin F. Prevalence of the use of unconventional remedies for arthritis in a metropolitan community. With regard to forgiveness, 40 studies have examined correlations with R/S, and 34 (85%) reported significant positive relationships and no studies found negative associations. With regard to the latter, there is both qualitative and quantitative research suggesting that R/S helps people to deal better with adversity, either external adversity (difficult environmental circumstances) or internal adversity (genetic predisposition or vulnerability to mental disorders). Koenig LB, Vaillant GE. Cancer in Utah Mormon men by lay priesthood level. Reyes-Ortiz CA, Berges IM, Raji MA, Koenig HG, Kuo YF, Markides KS. Van Ness PH, Kasl SV, Jones BA. A healthy diet here involves increased intake of fiber, green vegetables, fruit, and fish; low intake of snacks, processed foods, and fat; regular vitamin intake; frequent eating of breakfast; overall better nutrition (following recommended nutritional guidelines). All health professionals should be familiar with the research base described in this paper, know the reasons for integrating spirituality into patient care, and be able to do so in a sensible and sensitive way. Wills TA, Yaeger AM, Sandy JM. Miller L, Davies M, Greenwald S. Religiosity and substance use and abuse among adolescents in the national comorbidity survey. Ideally, the physician, as head of the medical care team, should take the spiritual history. Szaflarski M. Gender, self-reported health, and health-related lifestyles in Poland. Occupational stress, personality traits, coping strategies, and suicide ideation in the South African police service. Religiosity, quality of life, and survival in cancer patients. Andersson G. Chronic pain and praying to a higher power: useful or useless? Religious attendance and mortality: an 8-year follow-up of older Mexican Americans. I now summarize the results of the systematic review described above. Prospective associations between delinquency and suicidal behaviors in a nationally representative sample. Exploring black and white perceptions of personal control. Religious delusions in patients admitted to hospital with schizophrenia. Social support, in turn, has long been known to protect against disease and increase longevity [354356]. Krause N. Exploring the stress-buffering effects of church-based and secular social support on self-rated health in late life. However, since only about 10% of physicians in the US often or always do so [595],the task often falls to the nurse or to the social worker. Graham TW, Kaplan BH, Cornoni-Huntley JC. Van Olphen J, Schulz A, Israel B, et al. Political violence, social integration, and youth functioning: Palestinian youth from the Intifada. Markovitz JH, Jonas BS, Davidson K. Psychologic factors as precursors to hypertension. Obisesan T, Livingston I, Trulear HD, Gillum F. Frequency of attendance at religious services, cardiovascular disease, metabolic risk factors and dietary intake in Americans: an age-stratified exploratory analysis. In: Richard Freeman B, Harry Holzer J, editors. Scotch NA. Religion and Health: Public Health Research and Practice In the present paper, I have chosen to cite original reports as examples of the most rigorous studies in each area based on ratings in the Handbooks (i.e., 7 or higher on 010 scale). Arcury TA, Stafford JM, Bell RA, Golden SL, Snively BM, Quandt SA. Does spirituality as a coping mechanism help or hinder coping with chronic pain? A six-year follow-up study of 3,851 older adults. Anterolateral prefrontal cortex mediates the analgesic effect of expected and perceived control over pain. Public and private domains of religiosity and adolescent health risk behaviors: evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Social support and religiosity as coping strategies for anxiety in hospitalized cardiac patients. Community-based prevention of marital dysfunction: multilevel modeling of a randomized effectiveness study. Religion and psychological distress in a community sample. Krull C, Trovato F. The quiet revolution and the sex differential in Quebecs suicide rates: 19311986. John PJ, Sharma N, Sharma CM, Kankane A. Using this method, we identified over 1,200 quantitative original data-based publications during the period 1872 to 2000 and 2,100 studies examining the R/S-health relationship from 2000 to 2010. Thus, there are many possible mechanisms by which R/S may enhance mental and social health. Effects of stress reduction on carotid atherosclerosis in hypertensive African Americans. At least 29 studies have examined relationships between R/S and either the onset or the outcome of cancer (including cancer mortality). The site is secure. Of 30 clinical trials, 19 (63%) found that R/S interventions produced better outcomes than either standard treatment or control groups. Methods of religious coping with the Gulf War: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Coping as a predictor of outcomes following the 1993 midwest flood. Written emotional expression and religion: effects on PTSD symptoms. Religious involvement and mortality risk among pre-retirement aged U.S. adults. A controlled study of the effects of the transcendental meditation program on cardiovascular reactivity and ambulatory blood pressure. Coin A, Perissinotto E, Najjar M, et al. Curlin FA, Lawrence RE, Odell S, et al. Understanding the links between social support and physical health. How Do Religious Beliefs Affect Our Health and Well-Being Berges IM, Kuo YF, Markides KS, Ottenbacher K. Attendance at religious services and physical functioning after stroke among older Mexican Americans. Recent research has validated the multidimensional aspects of religious involvement and investigated how religious factors operate through various biobehavioral and psychosocial constructs to affect health status through proposed mechanisms that link religion and health. Overall, at least 299 studies have examined this relationship, and of those, 147 (49%) reported inverse association with R/S (three at a trend level), whereas 33 (11%) reported greater anxiety in those who were more R/S. Parkerson GR, Jr, Gutman RA. Conrad CD. Ellison CG. These writings left a legacy that would influence the practice of psychiatryespecially psychotherapyfor the rest of the century and lead to a true schism between religion and mental health care. The effects have been particularly strong for frequency of attendance at religious services in these three reviews. Pargament KI, Ishler K, Dubow E, et al. Friedlander Y, Kark JD, Stein Y. Relaxation and biofeedback techniques in the management of hypertension. Mental health, social functioning, and disability in postwar Afghanistan. Anxiety and fear often drive people toward religion as a way to cope with the anxiety. Overall, the raters agreed on whether quality was low or high in 56 of the 75 studies or 75%. Thus, this research says nothing about the existence of supernatural or transcendent forces (which is a matter of faith), but rather asks whether belief in such forces (and the behaviors that result from such beliefs) has an effect on health. The patient is then free to initiate a request for prayer at a later time or future visit, should they desire prayer with the health professional. Wilcox WB, Wolfinger NH. Again, as with hope, no studies reported inverse relationships. Simply recording the patient's religious denomination and whether they want to see a chaplain, the procedure in most hospitals today, is NOT taking a spiritual history. Burden of cardiovascular risk factors, subclinical atherosclerosis, and incident cardiovascular events across dimensions of religiosity: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. If those who are more R/S engage in less risky sexual behavior, this means they should have fewer venereal diseases, that is, less syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes, chancroid, chlamydia, viral hepatitis, and human papillomavirus and human immunodeficiency virus, many of which have serious physical health consequences. Pagano ME, Zemore SE, Onder CC, Stout RL. Gorsuch RL, Hao JY. Schaal MD, Sephton SE, Thoreson C, Koopman C, Spiegel D. Religious expression and immune competence in women with advanced cancer. Of the 37 methodologically most rigorous studies, 21 (57%) reported significant positive relationships between R/S and SRH [503, 508527], whereas three (8%) found the opposite [528530]. Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies Trial of stress reduction for hypertension in older African Americans: II. The effects of chronic glucocorticoid exposure on dendritic length, synapse numbers and glial volume in animal models: implications for hippocampal volume reductions in depression. Brown TN, Schulenberg J, Bachman JG, OMalley PM, Johnston LD. Horne BD, May HT, Anderson JL, et al. Of the 25 studies with the highest methodological rigor, 17 (68%) reported greater self-esteem [9198] and two (8%) found worse self-esteem [99, 100]. Pargament KI, Koenig HG, Perez LM. Perhaps, in certain population subgroups, intrapsychic religious conflict between psychosexual drives and religious standards creates unconscious stress that elevates BP. Praying with a patient constitutes a breach of professional boundaries in psychiatric practice. Religion and emotional compensation: results from a prospective study of widowhood. Jarvis and Northcott (1987) have pointed out that religious involvement can produce adverse Racial/ethnic differences in correlates of prescription drug misuse among young adults. There is some evidence that personality or temperament (which has genetic roots) influences whether or not a person becomes R/S. Almost all of these studies involve self-reported disability and many were cross-sectional, making it impossible to determine order of causationthat is, (1) does R/S prevent the development of disability, (2) does disability prevent R/S activity, (3) does R/S promote disability, or (4) does disability cause people to turn to religion to cope with disability. An official website of the United States government. A survival analysis of dimensions of religion among homeless substance abusers: going into the remotest regions. Lewis-Fernndez R, Horvitz-Lennon M, Blanco C, Guarnaccia PJ, Cao Z, Alegra M. Significance of endorsement of psychotic symptoms by US latinos. Risk and protective factors for meningococcal disease in adolescents: matched cohort study. Religion often involves cultural beliefs, worldviews, texts, prophecies, revelations, and morals that have spiritual meaning to members of the particular . Benda BB. Here are the definitions we provided in the Handbook. Lucchetti G, Espinha DCM, de Oliveira LR, Leite JR, Lucchetti ALG, Koenig HG. Thus, it stands to reason that R/S might influence physical health through psychological pathways.