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Religion and spirituality (R/S) tend to be associated with emotional wellbeing, but less is known about how they function in the lives of people with mental illness. This paper presents an analysis...

Australia has a high proportion of migrants, with an increasing migration rate from India. While many factors influence diabetes self-management among Indian migrants, very little is known about the influence of religious beliefs and spirituality. This study explored the religious beliefs of Indian migrants in Australia and the influence of those beliefs on their diabetes self-management. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 23 Indian migrants. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Most participants believed that prayers helped them alleviate stress and improve diabetes management participants also believed that receiving blessings/prayers from religious leaders prevent or cure diseases including diabetes. There were mixed views on beliefs about using insulin obtained from animal sources. Some participants were concerned about the use of animal-based insulin as it was against their religious beliefs and teachings. Some participants believed that religious fasting does not have any impact on their diabetes while others believed that it can be detrimental to their health. Religious beliefs therefore played an important role in how Indian migrants managed their diabetes. Healthcare professionals should consider their patients’ religious beliefs during consultations, enlist support, such as religious scholars, to better address people’s misconceptions, and identify strategies for effective diabetes management that consider religious beliefs.

Four key themes are covered in this issue of JORH, namely: (1) the catastrophic events of 11 September 2001, (2) the syndrome of moral injury, (3) the ongoing calamity of COVID-19, and finally, (4) the validation, translation and use of measurement instruments/scales assessing religion, spirituality and health.

BACKGROUND Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) remain at highest risk for HIV in the United States. Internalized HIV stigma and depression contribute to substance use and condomless anal intercourse (CAI). Religion and spirituality (R/S) are associated with decreased HIV-related risk behaviors for some groups, but their impact among BMSM is uncertain. We investigated the main and moderating roles of R/S on pathways from internalized HIV stigma to CAI while under the influence of drugs. METHODS We used baseline data from 1511 BMSM from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 061 study to examine the associations between internalized HIV stigma, depressive symptoms, alcohol use, and CAI while under the influence of drugs, adjusting for covariates in generalized structural equation models. We then tested whether R/S moderated the association between (1) internalized HIV stigma and depressive symptoms, (2) depressive symptoms and alcohol use, and (3) alcohol use and CAI while under the influence of drugs. RESULTS Spiritual beliefs [F(1,2) = 9.99, P < 0.001], spiritual activities [F(1,2) = 9.99, P < 0.001], and religious attendance [F(1,2) = 9.99, P < 0.001] moderated the pathway between internalized HIV stigma and depressive symptoms. As internalized HIV stigma increased, those with lower spiritual activity scores experienced significantly higher increases in depressive symptoms compared with those with higher spiritual activity scores whose depressive symptom scores remained unchanged [stigma × spiritual activities B = -0.18 (SE = 0.07), P < 0.001]. CONCLUSIONS Religion and spirituality were protective against CAI among BMSM. Future intervention research should explore ways to incorporate religious and/or spiritual activities to reduce internalized HIV stigma as one way to reduce depressive symptoms among BMSM.

Religion, spirituality, and purpose in life have benefits for mental and physical health, yet religious environments can be stigmatizing for trans and gender diverse (TGD) individuals. This study aimed to examine the influences of religion, spirituality and purpose in life for resilience among TGD individuals. This study included photo-elicited interviews (35 longitudinal interviews, 21 individuals) and surveys (n=108). Religious affiliation was significantly associated with increased levels of social support but was not significantly associated with other variables. Strategies found in themes from the qualitative analysis foster resilience strategies, including spirituality to overcome challenges, purpose in life, and social support. Yet strategies in the themes also utilize resilience strategies, including discrimination, strategies in response to discrimination, social support, and identity negotiation. As participants did make sense of religion and spirituality in how they conceived of their resilience, findings may inform therapeutic interventions and pastoral approaches.

THE IMPACT OF RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY ON SOCIAL WORKERS’ DAILY PRACTICE Although social work can trace the roots of its establishment as a profession to religion/spirituality, the relationship between social work and religion/spirituality has deteriorated due to the former’s professionalisation and secularisation. Nevertheless, religious/spiritual values are important for many social work services and for the practice of the profession. It is, hence, worth demarcating the role of religion/spirituality for frontline social workers. In the current qualitative study, repeated interviews were conducted with 11 Chinese social workers from diverse social work settings. It was noted that Eastern and Western religion/spirituality can instilmeaning and value in the profession’s nature.

Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was the first non-European poet and lyricist who received the most coveted of international awards, the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, “because of his profound sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West.” (www.nobelprize.org ) His most notable work highly praised and duly appreciated by The Swedish Academy was Gitanjali: Song Offerings (1912), a collection of poetry, but Tagore is also famous for having written a variety of genres, including drama, essay, novel, novella, short-story, dance-drama, and song. While Tagore is recognized today mostly for his poetry, his short stories also proved to be extremely popular in what is called the Bengali-language version of the genre, and his essays reveal another facet of his personality, and that is his philosophical thought in which he distinguished himself as a language innovator. Rabindranath Tagore’s Śāntiniketan Essays were translated and published by Medha Bhattacharyya in 2020 in a book celebrating Tagore’s “fundamental meditations on life, nature, religion, philosophy, and the world at large.” (Flyer, Bhattacharyya, 2020)

This article looks at the effects of religion, spirituality, and religious community in an evangelical Christian homeless shelter. We describe the culture of the shelter as well as the life stories...

The current qualitative study explored experiences of religion/spirituality and their impact on women’s identities among Christian working mothers in academia. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data analyzed using the grounded theory method. The resultant themes reflected the roles and functions of religion/spirituality in women’s lives and in their identities, primarily by establishing a core sense of self that unified all of their roles and “selves.” Religion/spirituality also served as meaning-making frameworks that provided purpose both to the self and to each of the women’s roles, while religion/spirituality also pervaded every aspect of the self, coloring women’s experience and driving their decisions. Further, women discussed religion/spirituality providing a sense of purpose by which they could pursue actualization and transcendence through generative means in each of their roles. The results indicate that spiritual identity may be a broader and more fundamental element of identity than previously considered. Implications of the current data and suggestions for future research are discussed.

An expanding body of research connects religiosity/spirituality (later R/S) with human well-being and health. While psychological and medical research lacks a common theoretical or theological framework, these dimensions are measured by instruments with a wide variation in quality. As the religious landscapes in Western societies are becoming increasingly plural and complex, the need for developing our understanding and assessment of the role of R/S in human health and well-being is as important as ever. This study, based on quantitative data (N = 529) from members of a church renewal oriented network in the Lutheran majority Church in Finland, measures the role of R/S in the subjective well-being of the participants through a multi-dimensional framework. While exploring Ellison’s Spiritual Well-being Scale (1983), the study expands its scope to a more multi-dimensional approach to religion, spirituality and well-being. The results reveal that religious beliefs and practices do not contribute to the level of subjective well-being in the lives of the participants as much as the way in which these beliefs and practices are lived out and actualized in social contexts. The study identified several sources of both well-being and ill-being in the participants’ lives. The article contributes to the terms of measuring the various ways in which R/S are connected to human well-being.

In this study, I emphasize that pastoral practice revitalizes the significance of spiritual life as an alternative way to negotiate the science of well-being. This article is written from the perspective of practical theology, which is framed as a way of “living well” in which it is doubtful for both the individual and community to fulfill the good life without spirituality. Such an approach entails a degree of a transformative and transcendent life created by new senses, attentions, knowledge, ontological understanding, and disciplines out of the experience of the triune God. This study responds to the vocation of practical theology according to Ruard Ganzevoort and Johan Roeland, who assert that, “In its focus on praxis, practical theology has evolved out of three historical different styles of theology with differing concepts of and methodological approaches toward praxis: pastoral theology, empirical theology, and public theology.” They suggest that pastoral practice should be something that contributes to the culture of well-being and that the roles of spiritual life in the formation and reformation of the good life should be clarified.

Positive psychologists have used science to understand many virtues but have only just started to study grace, recently defined as ‘ … the gift of acceptance given unconditionally and voluntarily t...

Background: Cancer patients infrequently engage in advance care planning processes. Establishing preferences for future medical treatment without advance care planning may not be patient-centered, as it fails to consider important factors that influence these important decisions. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of patient intrapersonal factors including race, religion, level of depression, and cancer stage on overall preferences for future medical treatment, including the presence of a (DNR), power of attorney, and advance directive. Design: A retrospective chart review design was used. Patients were included who were diagnosed with cancer at The Ohio State University James Comprehensive Cancer Center from 01/2015 to 08/2019. Results: A total of 3,463 patients were included. Median age was 59 years (IQR: 49, 67) and the majority of the patients was female (88.7%). Compared with no religious preference, patients who identified as religious had 61% higher odds (95%CI: 1.08-2.40) of having a DNR and approximately 30% higher odds of having a power of attorney (95%CI: 1.08-1.62) or advance directive (95%CI: 1.02-1.64). Patients with clinically relevant depression had more than twice the odds of having a DNR versus patients with no/lower levels of clinical depression (OR: 2.08; 95%CI: 1.40-3.10). White patients had higher odds of having a power of attorney (OR: 1.57; 95%CI: 1.16-2.13) and an advance directive (OR: 3.10; 95% CI: 1.95-4.93) than African-American/Black patients. Conclusions: Understanding the factors that affect preferences for future medical treatment is necessary for medical professionals to provide proper care and support to patients diagnosed with cancer and their families.

Religion, spirituality, non-religion, and the secular (Lee 2014, 2015) are unstable categories that are nonetheless routinely reified by academics, clinicians and practitioners alike, and positioned as fundamental to experiences of addiction recovery. For instance, addiction is often framed, dramatically, as a spiritual malady, yet, just as often, as simply a poor moral choice. While ideas associated with religion or spirituality play out differently in those contrasting diagnoses, the role of religion and spirituality in their aetiology is evident. We (Wendy Dossett and Liam Metcalf-White) argue that the categories of religion, spirituality, and non-religion, as they to relate to addiction recovery, need further analysis than they receive in the clinical literature. This literature frequently presents them as extra “technologies of the self ” (Foucault 1988); either functionally worthwhile or not (Szalavitz 2017); rather than as embedded in the very culture and discourses in which addiction and recovery are named and experienced. We argue for a focus on the latter as more productive for an understanding of the field.

Investigating the components of environmental peace in an architectural work, especially Islamic mosques, requires a detailed understanding of this concept and its influential factors. In the architecture of the mosques of the past, certain patterns have always followed a continuous trend that made a logical relationship with the time before and after, but this continuity and trend are not seen today. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of environmental peace from two aspects of religion and spirituality. Religion means comprehensive instructions and complete guidelines that, on the one hand, show the goal and teaches the human being how to achieve it, and on the other hand, help the human being on problems that are difficult to understand by universal means of understanding (reason, experience, and intuition). Therefore, the identification of the true ultimate goal in human life as well as the determination of the intermediate goals that indicate the path to the ultimate goal is possible only through the recognition and adherence to the right religion, and this fact shows the close relationship between religion and spirituality. The research method investigates the relationship between variables through a correlation method and then through structural equations. The statistical population was selected based on the Cochran formula including 120 professors and postgraduate students in architecture and Islamic architecture of Tehran Universities. The research tool was a web-based questionnaire and its link was made available to the statistical community online. The structural equation method was used in SPSS and Amos software to test the regression and fitting test model. Pearson correlation test was also used to determine the relationship between research variables. The results show that the model of the influence of "religion" factors in enhancing "environmental peace" through the mediating variable of "spirituality" explains these relationships; in other words, in this indirect causal relation, enhancement of semantic factors mediated by "spirituality" factors enhances environmental peace in architecture.

This cross-sectional pilot study evaluated associations between religion/spirituality, forgiveness, sleep, and health, which were all highly correlated for adult women living in a homeless mission. While causation cannot be determined, these findings help to provide a theoretical framework for studies with stronger designs, prospective measurements, and larger sample sizes.

Studies examining religion/spirituality (R/S) and depressive symptoms report divergent findings, often depending on the types of variables considered. This study assessed whether subjective and experiential R/S variables were associated with increased depressive symptom burden from adolescence to young adulthood. Variations by gender were also assessed. Using group-based trajectory modeling with a cohort-sequential design, four distinct symptom trajectories were identified for women and five for men. 27.4% of women and 10.2% of men were classified on peak trajectory groups. Religious attendance was protective for men and women. Prayer was protective for women but linked to risk for men. Born-again and life-changing spiritual experiences, along with belief in supernatural leading and angelic protection, were broadly associated with increased classification on elevated symptom trajectories. In one exception, belief in supernatural leading was associated among some men with decreased risk of depressive symptoms during adolescence. Researchers must take a variety of R/S variables into account when assessing depressive symptoms, not simply religious attendance, prayer frequency, or affiliation as is commonly practiced. Religion and spirituality are multidimensional and in some cases may operate differently for men than women vis-à-vis mental well-being.

In this response to the target article, we anticipate some challenges that joy researchers will face in attempting to cultivate a research program on a revived and more robust understanding of joy....

Background Many empirical studies have shown inverse associations between measures of religiousness and spirituality (R/S) and depression. Although the majority of these studies is cross-sectional, a considerable number of prospective studies have also appeared. Methods The current systematic review offers an overview of the major pattern of associations between the measures of R/S and depression / depressive symptoms in 152 prospective studies (until 2017). Results With on average two R/S measures per study (excluding measures of religious struggle, treated separately), 49% reported at least one significant association between R/S and better course of depression, 41% showed a non-significant association, and 10% indicated an association with more depression or mixed results. The estimated strength of these associations was modest (d = -0.18). Of the studies that included religious struggle, 59% reported a significant association with more depression (d = +0.30). Especially among persons identified with psychiatric symptoms, R/S was significantly more often protective (d = -0.37). In younger samples and in samples of patients with medical illness, R/S was less often protective. Studies with more extensive adjustment for confounding variables showed significantly more often associations with less depression. Geographical differences in the findings were not present. Limitations Given the huge heterogeneity of studies (samples size, duration of follow-up), the current synthesis of evidence is only exploratory. Conclusion In about half of studies, R/S predicted a significant but modest decrease in depression over time. Further inquiry into bi-directional associations between religious struggle and (clinical) depression over time seems warranted.

Attending to patient religion and spirituality (R/S) generates controversy. Some worry that because physicians lack formal religious training they may overstep their expertise, while others argue t...

In 2020, as infections of COVID-19 began to rise, Australia, alongside many other nations, closed its international borders and implemented lockdown measures across the country. The city of Melbourne was hardest hit during the pandemic and experienced the strictest and longest lockdown worldwide. Religious and spiritual groups were especially affected, given the prohibition of gatherings of people for religious services and yoga classes with a spiritual orientation, for example. Fault lines in socio-economic differences were also pronounced, with low-wage and casual workers often from cultural and religious minorities being particularly vulnerable to the virus in their often precarious workplaces. In addition, some religious and spiritual individuals and groups did not comply and actively resisted restrictions at times. By contrast, the pandemic also resulted in a positive re-engagement with religion and spirituality, as lockdown measures served to accelerate a digital push with activities shifting to online platforms. Religious and spiritual efforts were initiated online and offline to promote wellbeing and to serve those most in need. This article presents an analysis of media representations of religious, spiritual and non-religious responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne, Australia, from January to August 2020, including two periods of lockdown. It applies a mixed-method quantitative and qualitative thematic approach, using targeted keywords identified in previous international and Australian media research. In so doing, it provides insights into Melbourne’s worldview complexity, and also of the changing place of religion, spirituality and non-religion in the Australian public sphere in COVID times.

Background Religion and spirituality (R/S) are important resources for coping with stress and are hypothesized to influence health outcomes via modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, though this has not been evaluated extensively. In this study, we examined associations between several measures of religiosity or spirituality (R/S) and three HPA axis biomarkers: cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and cortisol:DHEA ratio. Methods Sample included 216 female postmenopausal Nurses’ Health Study II participants who provided up to five timed saliva samples: immediately upon awakening, 45 min, 4 h, and 10 h after waking, and prior to going to sleep during a single day in 2013. Multivariable-adjusted linear mixed models with piecewise cubic spline functions and adjustment for potential covariates were used to estimate the cross-sectional associations of eight R/S measures with diurnal rhythms of cortisol, DHEA, and the cortisol/DHEA ratio. Results There was little evidence of association between the eight R/S measures analyzed and diurnal rhythms of cortisol, DHEA, and the cortisol/DHEA ratio. Women who reported that R/S was very involved in understanding or dealing with stressful situations had slower night rise in cortisol than those who did not. Greater levels of religious struggles were associated with higher cortisol levels throughout the day. Higher non-theistic daily spiritual experiences scores were associated with slower DHEA night rise, and a higher cortisol/DHEA ratio upon waking and at night. However, these associations were significantly attenuated when we excluded women reporting bedtimes at least 30 min later than usual. Conclusion Observed associations were driven by those with late sleep schedules, and given the number of comparisons made, could be due to chance. Future research using larger, more diverse samples of individuals is needed to better understand the relationship between R/S and HPA axis biomarkers.

While religiosity is usually associated with lower death anxiety, holding doubts about one’s faith are associated with higher death anxiety. Using longitudinal data from the Religion, Aging, and Health Study (2001–2004), this study examines within-individual changes in religious doubt and death anxiety. Results from lagged dependent variable models suggest that compared to older adults who did not experience any doubt about their faith, those holding consistently high doubt or increasing or decreasing doubt reported greater death anxiety. Lingering religious doubt was associated with higher death anxiety among weekly religious attenders. Taken together, our findings suggest that being more assured in one’s faith and spiritual understanding may lead to a more peaceful experience when confronting thoughts about one’s own mortality, especially for older adults holding a stronger religious identity. We situate our findings within the literature on the “dark side” of religion and well-being in later life.

This article introduces the special section on Religion, Spirituality, and Advertising. A person’s belief in a religion or their spiritual identity can have a direct influence on the way they live and their attitudes and values. This can also impact an individual’s perception toward an advertiser’s message and images or advertising in general. While studies on the topic of religion and spirituality in the marketing literature are on the rise, there is still a substantive research gap on this topic, particularly on the theoretical and empirical developments pertaining to the influence of religion on various aspects of advertising topics. For this special section, the Call for Papers resulted in 37 submissions, which finally resulted in five articles that present a different focus on the topic and aim to encourage new discourse into the area of religion, spirituality, and advertising.

Christian psychiatric care dates from Christ’s historical ministry on earth, including healings of both physical and mental illnesses. His healing actions were personalized, creative, intimately relational, and ultimately spiritual, producing life-changing restoration of health.

Religious institutions (“the church,” mosques, synagogues, temples, etc.) have been a source of refuge and support for LGBTQ+ individuals, especially those who are Black and Brown. LGBTQ+ individuals may come from families that have strong religious/spiritual views and may be active in their respective faith communities, enjoy the fellowship of community worship, and enjoy the services. They feel a connection to their higher power and feel a familial bond with those in that community. LGBTQ+ individuals may also experience trauma from their faith communities. From not being able to live authentically, being subjected to heteronormative views of dating and relationships, being shunned by family and members of their faith communities, not being allowed to assume leadership roles in their places of worship, to being told they are sinful, demonic, filthy, unclean, LGBTQ+ individuals often believe they have been abandoned by the same folks that profess love for all. This book chapter discusses the roles that faith communities play in the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals and ways that mental health professionals can provide support for those who feel a strong connection to their faith communities and even though they have experienced trauma from those communities, they still want to be involved in those communities. The chapter will also explore those who have Pagan identities or who are atheist/agnostic. The chapter concludes with a case scenario.

This chapter introduces Asian religious traditions and draws out some implications for mental health that are important to counselors, mental health professionals, and social workers serving Asian North American families. Special attention is paid to religio-cultural views of gender, sexuality, and family. Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, Zoroastrian, Muslim, Baha’i, Confucian, Taoist, Shamanic, Shinto, and Christian traditions are considered.

When we are trying to come to terms with death and dying, or the loss of a loved one, cultural practices can fulfill important functions. Literature, music, and the arts can help us cope with loss by expressing our emotions in a way which seems to be universal. This paper investigates the role of co-written centenarians’ autobiographies in this context. It focuses specifically on autobiographies by African American centenarians and white co-authors. The article investigates the dialogue between the centenarian and the co-author as a ritual for coming to terms with the co-author’s fear of mortality. It argues that for a white readership that defines itself as secular, the black centenarian – deeply religious himself – can serve as a surrogate and a role model. Just as he assures his middle-aged, white co-author that death is not to be feared, his autobiography may offer a secular readership a model for dying.

Background The aim of the study was to examine the functioning of the team, working in conditions of exposure and finding reasons for which a specific group takes actions in conditions of life threatening others or own. The population being studied is a hospice team (N = 229). Methods Logistic regression analysis and multidimensional correspondence analysis were used in the research. Results The level of personal religiosity was regulated in a different way in the respective surveyed professional groups. In the group of hospice volunteers we managed to build 2 models, in the hospice employees – 4 models, in the group of volunteers - 5 models. Conclusion There are different types of motivation and a sense of identity. The highest level of guilt is declared by a group of hospice volunteers. In the group of volunteers of the hospice: the thanatological anxiety and mood stimulate the growth of personal religiousness.

Purpose: Moral injury (MI) is prevalent among healthcare professionals, and has been shown in those experiencing traumatic events to be associated with suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, and other adverse mental health outcomes. The present study examines the relationship between religion/ spiritual (R/S) and MI among physicians and nurses in mainland China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 3,006 physicians and nurses in areas of China where the COVID-19 pandemic was causing high rates of hospitalization and death. The Moral Injury Symptoms Scale-Health Professional (MISS-HP) was administered along with measures of clinician mental health and R/S. Hierarchical linear regression modeling was used to examine the mediating and moderating effect of MI on the relationship between R/S and mental health.Results: Importance of religion was positively correlated with MI symptoms (β=2.41, PConclusion: Although cross-sectional findings, these results suggest that concern over transgressing moral values during the pandemic may have been a driving factor for negative mental health symptoms among Chinese health professionals for whom religion was important. Future longitudinal studies are needed to determine the causal nature of these relationships.

The American Society on Aging was founded in 1954 as the Western Gerontological Society. The American Society on Aging (ASA) is an association of diverse individuals bound by a common goal: to supp...

For those interested in change in the religious landscape in Europe over the last 70 years, this book is a fascinating and informative read. It utilises data from various sources to present a new d...

INTRODUCTION: In the last decades, the attention for religion/spirituality (R/S) in mental health care (MHC) has considerably increased. However, patients' preferences concerning R/S in treatment have not often been investigated. The aim of this study was to find out how patients in clinical multidisciplinary MHC want R/S to be addressed in their care.METHODS:Thirty-five semi-structured interviews were carried out between September 2015 and July 2016 among patients in a secular and a Christian MHC in the Netherlands. Qualitative inductive content analysis was performed, using Atlas Ti.RESULTS:Patients appreciated (1) individual R/S conversations between patients and care team members (mainly nurses), (2) a familiar R/S environment, (3) a special R/S program and (4) contact with their R/S network. Patients varied in their presentation of R/S care needs from (a) explicit, mostly in the Christian MHC, to (b) implicit, predominantly in the secular MHC, or showed (c) hidden R/S care needs. A non-acute stage of the illness and R/S affinity of the mental health professionals, were classified as possible conditions for addressing R/S. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Nurses are recommended to be aware of the diversity of patients' R/S care needs. Actively addressing R/S may help in recognizing implicit or even hidden R/S care needs. Further considerations on whether and how to respond to patients' R/S care needs would be justified.