Religion and Satisfaction with Life in Polish Seniors: Mediation by Forgiveness and Hope.

This study examined the mediating role of forgiveness and hope in the relationship between religiousness and satisfaction with life in late adults in Poland. Participants were 237 people (165 females and 72 males) aged between 60 and 92. The mean age of the sample was 68.37 years (SD = 6.92), and the most represented religious affiliation was Roman Catholic (98.3%). Satisfaction with life is related to the centrality of religiousness. In the surveyed seniors, hope and tendency to forgive mediated the relationship between the centrality of religiousness and satisfaction with life.

Unpacking the Internalized Homonegativity-Health Relationship: How the Measurement of Internalized Homonegativity and Health Matter and the Contribution of Religiousness.

Internalized homonegativity (IH) is widely recognized to negatively influence the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer/questioning (LGBQ +) individuals. It is not clear, however, the role that religiousness may play in the relationship between IH and health or how differing conceptualizations of IH or health may influence this relationship. We conducted a multi-level meta-analysis of 151 effect sizes from 68 studies to examine the relationship between IH and health as well as what may moderate this relationship. Results suggested that IH was consistently and negatively related to health (r = - .28). Analyses suggest that IH was most strongly related to mental health and well-being, evidencing a relatively weaker (though still negative) relationship with physical or sexual health. Analyses of different ways to measure IH suggest that scales that conceptualize IH to include distress (e.g., the Internalized Homonegativity Inventory) report stronger relationships with health than scales that conceptualize IH orthogonally from distress (e.g., the Internalized Homonegativity scale of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Identity Salience Scale [LGBIS]). We failed to find significant moderation effects for religiousness, though it was hard to evaluate this relationship due to the poor quality of most measures of religiousness. We encourage researchers to use measures of IH that conceptualize IH orthogonally from distress (e.g., the LGBIS) and to use more nuanced measures of religiousness (e.g., religious belief, religious activity). We also encourage researchers to focus on how IH impacts less-often studied measures of health (e.g., physical health, suicidality).

The Moderating Effect of Religiousness on the Relation Between Sexual Guilt and Shame and Well-Being Among Jewish Religious Single Men.

Jewish religious singles may feel guilty and ashamed due to sexual behaviors that violate religious law, such as pre-matrimony sexual relations, viewing pornography, and masturbation. This study examined the relation between sexual guilt and shame (SGS) and psychological well-being, and whether this relation was moderated by level of religiousness. It was hypothesized that SGS would be negatively related to psychological well-being and that this relation would be stronger at higher levels of religiousness compared to lower levels of religiousness. Participants were single young-adult men (N = 165, Mage = 23.3) belonging to the national-orthodox Jewish community in Israel who completed online questionnaires. SGS was positively associated with anxiety and depression and negatively associated with life satisfaction. Additionally, the relations between SGS and measures of psychological well-being were moderated by the level of religiousness. However, contrary to the hypothesized moderation effect, SGS was positively related to negative psychological consequences and negatively related to life satisfaction at a low level of religiousness, whereas at a high level of religiousness no significant relationship between SGS and the psychological outcome measures was found. These findings may indicate that there may be adaptive elements in religion that can help an individual cope with SGS, and thus to negate its detrimental effects on psychological well-being.

Better Understand to Better Predict Subjective Well-Being Among Older Greeks in COVID-19 Era: Depression, Anxiety, Attitudes Towards eHealth, Religiousness, Spiritual Experience, and Cognition.

Despite similarities with previous pandemics, the potential physical and psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on older adults is still little investigated in Greece. This study examines the intercorrelations between subjective well-being/life satisfaction, depression, state anxiety, global cognitive function, attitudes towards eHealth, religiousness and spiritual experience in older adults during COVID-19. Results revealed that statistically significant negative correlations exist between subjective life satisfaction and depressive symptomatology as well as with religiousness, a finding that can be explained by the COVID-19 externally imposed religious practice restrictions. Subjective life satisfaction was positively correlated with overall cognition as measured by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). MMSE was also negatively correlated with state anxiety, depression, and attitudes towards eHealth use. The best predictors of subjective well-being is global cognition (as measured by MMSE) and depressive symptomatology (measured by GDS). The conclusions of this study underscore the need to examine in more detail psychological variables during COVID-19 and quality of life in older adults.

Declines in Religiousness Dimensions across Adolescence as Predictors of Religious Deidentification in Young Adulthood.

The present study examined whether declines in religiousness across adolescence precede religious deidentification in young adulthood. Data came from the National Study of Youth and Religion. Participants were religiously affiliated for the first three waves of the longitudinal study (N = 1144). Latent growth curve models found significant declines across adolescence in church attendance, prayer, scripture study, religious importance, and spirituality, whereas doubt was stable across time. Then, logistic regression models specified the latent intercepts and slopes as predictors of later (Wave 4) deidentification. Significant negative links were found for the intercepts and slopes on church attendance, prayer, scripture study, religious importance, and spirituality. For doubt, a significant, positive link was found for the intercept.

Unpacking the role of adolescent religious affiliation in youth outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to unpack the role of adolescent religious affiliation in positive and negative youth outcomes. METHODS: We used data from Wave 1 (2002-2003) of the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR). Participants were a nationally representative sample of 3290 adolescents from across the United States. Measures were adolescent-report or parent-report items of religiousness (individual religiousness, family religiousness, peer religiousness, and religious community supportiveness) and youth outcomes (future orientation, grades, community involvement, alcohol use, sexual activity, and depression). RESULTS: First, ANOVAs revealed that four dimensions of religiousness (individual religiousness, family religiousness, peer religiousness, and religious community supportiveness) and five youth outcomes (future orientation, grades, community involvement, alcohol use, and sexual activity, but not depression), varied significantly across religious affiliation. Second, regressions examining direct effects found that the multicategorical nominal variable of religious affiliation predicted all outcomes except alcohol use and depression after accounting for the four dimensions of religiousness. Third, each of the four dimensions of religiousness mediated relations between religious affiliation and at least one of the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In short, religious affiliation seems to play a unique role in youth outcomes, above and beyond other dimensions of religiousness. This role of religious affiliation perhaps functions in part via individual and contextual dimensions of religiousness.

The impact of religiousness and beliefs about mental illness on help-seeking behaviors of Muslim Americans.

BACKGROUND: In addition to the typical challenges of daily life, Muslim Americans have experienced high levels of stress and clinical disorders relating to discrimination from the 9/11 attacks and ongoing political stigma. Despite mounting mental health concerns, Muslim Americans have encountered multifaceted barriers to accessing mental health services and remain underserved. AIMS: This study sought to explore the relationship between religiousness and beliefs about mental illness among Muslim Americans to predict their clinical help-seeking attitudes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study gathered a nationwide sample of Muslim Americans through online data collection to assess how the relationship between religiousness and help-seeking was mediated by acculturation and biomedical beliefs about mental illness. RESULTS: Analyses found that Islamic religiousness and biomedical beliefs predicted more openness to mental health treatment. Additional analyses found that integration with mainstream culture was correlated with higher confidence in services. DISCUSSION: The findings of this study provide clinicians a nuanced understanding of how biological beliefs about mental illness may align with Islamic spiritual values and foster culturally responsive communication and healthcare. Barriers to treatment may be addressed for males and other underserved demographics through integrated treatment that recognizes their understandings of health, illness, and treatment. CONCLUSION: Overall, results of the study provide support for recognizing religion along with demographic background as a cultural consideration to enhance treatment efficacy.

The Indirect Relationship Between Spiritual Experiences and Subjective Wellbeing Through Hope? A Sample of Chilean Students.

Spirituality and religiousness are important factors for adolescents wellbeing. Little is known about the mechanisms underlying the positive relationship between spirituality as well as religiousness and subjective wellbeing. This study aimed to verify, whether, in a sample of Chilean students, religiousness is indirectly related to hope through spiritual experiences, and whether spiritual experiences are indirectly related to subjective wellbeing via hope. The sample consisted of 177 Chilean students and the following measures were applied: the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale, the Herth Hope Index, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and one item measuring the frequencies of prayer and Mass attendance. According to obtained results religiousness was indirectly, positively related to hope through spiritual experiences. In turn spiritual experiences were indirectly, positively related to subjective wellbeing through hope. Conducted research confirmed the beneficial role of religious practices, spiritual experiences, and hope for Chilean students' subjective wellbeing and the presence of mechanisms underlying the relationships between religiousness as well as spirituality and subjective wellbeing.

Brief multidimensional measure of spirituality/religiousness, self-esteem, quality of life, and epilepsy.

INTRODUCTION: The relationships between religiousness/spirituality (RS), self-esteem, and quality of life (QoL) in adult people with epilepsy (PWEs) have not been studied in detail. METHODS: This cross-sectional study assessed RS using the brief multidimensional measure of religiousness/spirituality (BMMRS) scores of 86 PWEs. These scores were compared to 58 individuals in the control group (CG). Among the PWEs, the BMMRS data were related with the QOLIE-31 and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES) scores and clinical variables. RESULTS: Among the PWEs, 48 individuals had temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (TLE-HS) and other epilepsies in 38 cases. Higher "daily spiritual experiences," "overall self-ranking as a religious/spiritual person," and lower perception of "religious/spiritual coping" were observed in the TLE-HS group when compared to the CG. Among the PWEs, there was lower "religious/spiritual coping" and higher "overall self-ranking as a religious/spiritual person" in the TLE-HS group. There was a significant difference in the BMMRS dimensions according to the type and frequency of seizures and the number of antiseizure drugs taken. There was a low correlation between the BMMRS, the QOLIE-31, and the RSES. In the network analysis with the Fruchterman-Reingold algorithm, there was no correlation between self-esteem and RS. In the TLE-HS group, there was a correlation between the "forgiveness" dimension of the BMMRS and some dimensions of the QOLIE-31. CONCLUSION: There was a greater RS in the TLE-HS group when compared to the CG. Regarding the two epilepsy groups, there was a higher "overall self-ranking as a religious/spiritual person" and lower "religious/spiritual coping" in the TLE-HS. The clinical variables and demographic data are related to different BMMRS dimensions according to the type of epilepsy. In the TLE-HS group, a higher RS is related to a better QoL. RS is not related to self-esteem.

Does religion predict coronavirus conspiracy beliefs? Centrality of religiosity, religious fundamentalism, and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs.

There has been an increasing interest in the relationship between religion and psychosocial functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, emerging recent findings suggest that religiousness may have a Janus-face impact on how people cope with the pandemic, leading to both positive and negative social outcomes. In this project, we examine whether two types of religiousness (i.e., centrality of religiosity and religious fundamentalism) are associated with COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and socially undesirable behavior during the pandemic. We suggest that only the most dogmatic and fundamentalistic type of religiousness could lead to conspiracy beliefs, while centrality of religiosity could be unrelated or even negatively related to this type of thinking. In a series of two studies (N = 361 and N = 394) conducted among Polish Roman Catholics, we demonstrate that religious fundamentalism, unlike centrality of religiosity, is positively related to coronavirus conspiracy beliefs, which, in turn, promote socially maladaptive behavior such as freeriding or non-adherence to safety guidelines.

Longitudinal Associations between Social Relationships and Alcohol Use from Adolescence into Young Adulthood: The Role of Religiousness.

As adolescence is a time characterized by rapid changes in social relationships as well as an increase in risk-taking behaviors, this prospective longitudinal study examined whether social involvement and social alienation are associated with changes in alcohol use from adolescence into young adulthood moderated by organizational and personal religiousness. Participants were 167 adolescents (53% male) assessed five times between ages 14 and 18 years old. Latent change score modeling analyses indicated that social alienation was positively associated with greater increases in alcohol use among those with low organizational religiousness and those with low personal religiousness in early adolescence and during the transition into young adulthood. The findings demonstrate the detrimental effects of social relationship risk factors that promote alcohol use during adolescence into young adulthood. The results further highlight the protective roles of organizational and personal religiousness acting as additional sources of social engagement experiences to modulate the effects of social alienation predicting alcohol use progression and provide evidence for the positive impact religiousness has on healthy adolescent development.

Is Religiousness Associated with Better Lifestyle and Health Among Danes? Findings from SHARE.

Evidence of a possible association between religion and health in secular societies is sparse. We therefore conducted a nationwide study using data from 1596 Danes aged 50 + who participated in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) wave 1 (2004-2005) and were followed up between 2006 and 2015, to investigate the association between religiousness and health including a lifestyle index. Results from the longitudinal models adjusted for age and gender showed that being religiously educated by parents, taking part in a religious organization, and praying were factors associated with fewer risk factors of unhealthy lifestyle. Furthermore, being religiously educated was associated with lower odds of self-rated poor health and depressive symptoms. Results were overall consistent across the cross-sectional and longitudinal models and persisted after further adjustment for education and marital status. These findings provide support for a positive relationship between religiousness and health among Danes, particularly for those being religiously educated by their parents.

The Mediating Effect of Religiousness in the Relationship Between Psychological Resilience and Fear of COVID-19 in Turkey.

The purpose of this study was to examine if religiousness has a mediation influence on the link between psychological resilience and fear of COVID-19. Data were collected from 372 participants by using the convenience sampling method. There is a positive significant relationship between psychological resilience and religiousness, a negative significant relationship between religiousness and fear of COVID-19, a negative significant relationship between psychological resilience and a fear of COVID-19. This study was tested with structural equation modeling and bootstrapping was applied. Significant relationships were found between psychological resilience, fear of COVID-19 and religiousness. In addition, it was found that religiousness had a mediating effect on the relationship between psychological resilience and fear of COVID-19. These results suggest that the inverse relationship between psychological resilience and fear of COVID-19 is at least partly explained by level of religiousness.

Influence of Religiosity and Spirituality on the Adoption of Behaviors of Epidemiological Relevance in Emerging and Re-Emerging Diseases: The Case of Dengue Fever.

Emerging and re-emerging diseases are responsible for recurrently affecting the health of human populations. Although people are aware of these diseases, they do not seem to adopt prophylactic methods to prevent them. Here, we propose to investigate the influence of religiosity/spirituality (R/S) on the frequency of the adoption of prophylactic behaviors and the perception of risk of vulnerability to the disease. We used dengue, which is a seasonal arboviral disease in Brazil, as a model. To measure the dimensions of religiosity/spirituality, we used the Portuguese version of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiosity/Spirituality questionnaire. All data were obtained through a structured questionnaire that was answered online by 204 volunteers living throughout Brazil. Our results indicate that R/S is predictive of the frequency of prophylactic behaviors (p = 0.0222, R2 = 0.025) and the perception of risk of vulnerability (p < 0.05, R2 = 0.07). We argue that the effect of R/S on health occurs through the promotion of salutogenic mechanisms promoted by socialization in religious environments. This can help understand social dynamics in epidemiological crises and mitigate the influence of these diseases.

ADL and IADL Following Open-Heart Surgery: The Role of a Character Strength Factor and Preoperative Medical Comorbidities.

Open-heart surgery (OHS) is common in late life and is expected to improve functioning despite aging of OHS patients. Few studies have explored the influence of both psychosocial strength factors, metal health, and pre- and peri-OHS medical factors, including cardiac indices, on post-OHS functioning. This study explores the role of character strengths (e.g., hope and spirituality) in post-OHS activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL), along with cardiac indices used by all cardio-thoracic surgeons, after controlling for self-reported pre-OHS depression, quality of life indicators, and non-cardiac medical comorbidities. Three waves of interview data and cardiac/surgical indices in the Society of Thoracic Surgeon (STS) national database were collected for a cohort of 481 patients (age = 62 +, female 42%). Multiple linear regression was used to identify pre-OHS predictors of post-OHS functional status. ADL and IADL statuses after OHS were better among those who pursued pre-OHS positive spiritual/religious coping than those who did not. Outcomes were poorer for those reporting poor pre-OHS, higher numbers of medical comorbidities, and use of more post-OHS prayer for coping. Perfusion time, a proxy for surgical complexity, was associated with poor IADL only. Pre-OHS positive spiritual coping, a common coping means used among cardiac patients in medical crises, could have played a positive role in better post-OHS functional status during the post-OHS recovery month. Cardiac health providers should pay more attention to patient-centered character strengths and coping and non-cardiac conditions. More nuanced interdisciplinary research is necessary to identify mechanisms underlying these associations.

Religiousness, meaning, and quality of life: Test of a mediational model among adults seeking a spiritually integrated inpatient program.

OBJECTIVE: Religious beliefs and practices may augment a sense of meaning in life that could support quality of life (QOL) in physical, social, and emotional domains amid mental health crises. However, these associations have not been thoroughly tested among persons with serious mental illness (SMI). METHODS: Focusing on 248 adults who had recently enrolled in a spiritually integrated acute psychiatric hospitalization program, we incorporated structural equation modeling to examine whether (1) religiousness would be associated with better overall QOL; and (2) inpatients' sense of meaning in life would at least partially account for the religiousness-QOL link. RESULTS: Religiousness was linked indirectly with QOL at the time of admission: religiousness was associated with greater meaning in life, and a higher degree of meaning in life was associated with QOL. CONCLUSIONS: Findings underscore the crucial role of religiousness for meaning and wellness among many individuals with SMI who seek stabilization and healing.

Presence of meaning, search for meaning, religiousness, satisfaction with life and depressive symptoms among a diverse Israeli sample.

The present study explored the structure and correlates of meaning in life (MIL) among an Israeli sample. The sample consisted of 559 adults. The average age of participants was 48.24 and 61.3% of them were females. Participants provided demographic information and completed measures of MIL, satisfaction with life, and depressive symptoms. The MIL Questionnaire showed a very good fit for the proposed 2-factor model (i.e. presence of meaning, search for meaning) to the data collected from the current sample. Presence of meaning correlated positively with both search for meaning and satisfaction with life, and negatively with depressive symptoms. Search for meaning was positively and weakly tied to satisfaction with life, but was unrelated to depressive symptoms. Religiousness appeared as a significant moderator between the two meaning factors, and between them and life satisfaction. Specifically, as religiousness became stronger: (a) the link between presence of meaning and search for meaning became weaker; (b) the link between presence of meaning and life satisfaction became stronger and (c) the link between search for meaning and life satisfaction became weaker. The findings suggest that there are differential implications of presence search for meaning on the health and well-being, and the important role religiousness plays in this regard.

The Altruism Trait: The Role of Religiousness.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of religiousness in predicting the altruism in students at Islamic Azad University of Neyshabur. The statistical population of this study included all students who studying at Islamic Azad University of Neyshabur in 2016-2017 academic years. Among them, 150 subjects were selected based on stratified sampling method upon humanities, science, engineering, physical education and medical fields. To collect the data, participants were administered Glock and Stark's religiousness scale (Religion and society in tension, Chicago, Rand McNally, Skokie, 1965) and Rushton, Chrisjohn and Fekken's altruism scale. The results indicated that the religiousness could predict the altruism. Regarding the findings of this study, religiosity is good predictor for altruistic behaviors in young adults. The results show that considering moral and spiritual issues can have a positive effect on altruism as a trait.

Associations Between Religious/Spiritual Coping and Depression Among Adults with Cystic Fibrosis: A 12-Month Longitudinal Study.

Individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) face a challenging disease, and depression is a significant concern. Many patients draw on religious/spiritual resources to assist them in managing the demands of chronic illness; however, these coping efforts rarely have been evaluated among adults with CF. This longitudinal study examined relationships between distinct types of positive and negative religious/spiritual coping at baseline (assessed with the RCOPE) and depression screening outcomes 12 month later (assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). In logistic regression analyses controlling for disease severity (FEV1% predicted), lower likelihood of depression caseness at 12 months was predicted by higher general religiousness at baseline, greater use of benevolent religious reappraisal coping, greater use of spiritual connection coping, and lower spiritual discontent. Results suggest that distinct aspects religious/spiritual coping have differential associations with subsequent depression outcomes. Findings extend prior research to an important, understudied medical population, and address a clinically meaningful outcome.

The influence of religious beliefs and practices on health care decision-making among HIV positive adolescents.

It is unknown if religiousness/spirituality influences end-of-life treatment preferences among adolescents. Investigators assessed whether religiousness/spirituality moderates the relationship between an advance care planning intervention and end-of-life treatment preferences among 85 primarily African-American adolescents living with HIV/AIDS in outpatient-hospital-based HIV-specialty clinics in the United States. Adolescents aged 14-21 years living with HIV/AIDS and their families were randomized to three-weekly-60-minute sessions either: advance care planning (survey, goals of care conversation, advance directive); or control (developmental history, safety tips, nutrition/exercise). At 3-months post-intervention the intervention effect (decreasing the likelihood of choosing to continue treatments in all situations) was significantly moderated by religiousness/spirituality. Highly religious/spiritual adolescents were four times more likely to choose to continue treatments in all situations. Thus, intensive treatments at end-of-life may represent health equity, rather than health disparity. The belief believed that HIV is a punishment from God at baseline (15%, 14/94) was not associated with end-of-life treatment preferences. Twelve percent (11/94) reported they had stopped taking HIV medications for more than 3 days because of the belief in a miracle. Religiousness moderates adolescent's medical decision-making. Adolescents who believe in miracles should receive chaplaincy referrals to help maintain medication adherence.