RESUMEN
Data on empirical associations between religious variables and health outcomes are needed to clarify the complex interplay between religion and mental health. The aim of this study was to determine whether associations with health variables are primarily attributable to explicitly religious aspects of spiritual well-being (SWB) or to "existential" aspects that primarily reflect a sense of satisfaction or purpose in life. Three hundred forty-five pairs of twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry completed a diagnostic interview and questionnaires containing the 2-factor SWB Scale and general health items. Observed associations between SWB and health outcomes were uniquely explained by the SWB subscale of existential well-being, with much less of a unique explanatory contribution from religious well-being or "spiritual involvement." We concluded that studies of SWB and health should continue to distinguish between explicitly religious variables and others that more closely approximate the psychological construct of personal well-being.
Asunto(s)
Estado de Salud , Espiritualidad , Manual Diagnóstico y Estadístico de los Trastornos Mentales , Existencialismo/psicología , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Trastornos Mentales/diagnóstico , Trastornos Mentales/epidemiología , Trastornos Mentales/psicología , Salud Mental , Persona de Mediana Edad , North Carolina/epidemiología , Satisfacción Personal , Inventario de Personalidad , Análisis de Componente Principal , Escalas de Valoración Psiquiátrica , Psicometría , Calidad de Vida , Sistema de Registros , Religión y Medicina , Proyectos de Investigación/normas , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Gemelos Dicigóticos/psicología , Gemelos Monocigóticos/psicologíaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to investigate associations between empirically defined dimensions of spirituality, personality variables, and psychiatric disorders in Vietnam era veterans. METHOD: One hundred pairs of male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry were administered the self-report Spiritual Well-Being Scale and a pilot Index of Spiritual Involvement. Correlation analyses were supplemented with regression analyses that examined the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on aspects of spirituality. RESULTS: Existential well-being was significantly associated with seven of 11 dimensions of personality and was significantly negatively associated with alcohol abuse or dependence and with two of three clusters of personality disorder symptoms. Associations between mental health variables and religious well-being or spiritual involvement were much more limited. CONCLUSIONS: Useful distinctions can be made between major dimensions of spirituality in studies of spirituality, religious coping, and mental health.