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Cited by 232Religion, Spirituality, and PsychologyCancer survivorship and careWorkplace Spirituality and Leadership

A meta‐analytic approach to examining the correlation between religion/spirituality and mental health in cancer

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Salsman, John M., Pustejovsky, James E., Jim, Heather S. L., Munoz, Alexis R., Merluzzi, Thomas V., George, Login, Park, Crystal L., Danhauer, Suzanne C. +3 more·2015·Cancer
DOI 10.1002/cncr.29350PMC PMC4618157
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Abstract

Religion and spirituality (R/S) are patient‐centered factors and often are resources for managing the emotional sequelae of the cancer experience. Studies investigating the correlation between R/S (eg, beliefs, experiences, coping) and mental health (eg, depression, anxiety, well being) in cancer have used very heterogeneous measures and have produced correspondingly inconsistent results. A meaningful synthesis of these findings has been lacking; thus, the objective of this review was to conduct a meta‐analysis of the research on R/S and mental health. Four electronic databases were systematically reviewed, and 2073 abstracts met initial selection criteria. Reviewer pairs applied standardized coding schemes to extract indices of the correlation between R/S and mental health. In total, 617 effect sizes from 148 eligible studies were synthesized using meta‐analytic generalized estimating equations, and subgroup analyses were performed to examine moderators of effects. The estimated mean correlation (Fisher z) was 0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.16‐0.23), which varied as a function of R/S dimensions: affective R/S (z = 0.38; 95% CI, 0.33‐0.43), behavioral R/S (z = 0.03; 95% CI, −0.02‐0.08), cognitive R/S (z = 0.10; 95% CI, 0.06‐0.14), and ‘other’ R/S (z = 0.08; 95% CI, 0.03‐0.13). Aggregate, study‐level demographic and clinical factors were not predictive of the relation between R/S and mental health. There was little indication of publication or reporting biases. The correlation between R/S and mental health generally was positive. The strength of that correlation was modest and varied as a function of the R/S dimensions and mental health domains assessed. The identification of optimal R/S measures and more sophisticated methodological approaches are needed to advance research. Cancer 2015;121:3769–3778. © 2015 American Cancer Society.

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  • The strongest relationships were found between affective dimensions of RS and mental health outcomes, whereas behavioral RS constructs showed few significant associations with health, except for a modest positive relationship with social health outcomes.

    “The strongest relationships were found between affective dimensions of RS (e.g., sense of meaning, purpose, or connection to a source larger than oneself) and mental health outcomes, whereas behavioral RS constructs (e.g., service attendance, prayer and meditation) showed few significant associations with health, except for a modest positive relationship with social health outcomes.”

    From Advancing our understanding of religion and spirituality in the context of behavioral medicine (2017) · cites this paper as Salsman et al., 2015

  • Recent meta-analyses of 1341 effects drawn from over 44,000 patients with cancer demonstrated an overall positive relationship between RS and self-reported measures of health outcomes, but the strength varied as a function of RS dimension and physical, mental, and social outcomes assessed.

    “Recent meta-analyses of 1341 effects drawn from over 44,000 patients with cancer demonstrated an overall positive relationship between RS and self-reported measures of health outcomes (Park et al., 2015) but the strength of that relationship varied as a function of both the RS dimension and the physical (Jim et al., 2015), mental (Salsman et al., 2015), and social (Sherman et al., 2015) outcomes”

    From Advancing our understanding of religion and spirituality in the context of behavioral medicine (2017) · cites this paper as Salsman et al., 2015

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Authors
Salsman, J. M., Pustejovsky, J. E., Jim, H. S. L., Munoz, A. R., Merluzzi, T. V., George, L., Park, C. L., Danhauer, S. C., Sherman, A. C., Snyder, M. A., & Fitchett, G.
Affiliations
  • Northwestern University (US)
  • The University of Texas at Austin (US)
  • Moffitt Cancer Center (US)
  • University of Illinois Chicago (US)
  • University of Notre Dame (US)
  • University of Connecticut (US)
  • Wake Forest University (US)
  • University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (US)
  • Rush University Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Salsman, John M.
ORCID
Venue
Cancer
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-08-10
Volume
121
Issue
21
Pages
3769-3778
ISSN
  • 0008-543X (ISSN-L)
  • 1097-0142
DOI
10.1002/cncr.29350
PMC
PMC4618157
OpenAlex
W2127587946
Cited by
232
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 7
FWCI
3.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Cancer (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Cancer Institute (K07CA158008)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Workplace Spirituality and Leadership
Keywords
religion and spirituality, mental health, cancer patients, depression, anxiety, well-being, coping
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Cognition, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Quality of Life, Religion and Medicine, Stress, Psychological, Prevalence, Spirituality

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