Research on Religion, Spirituality, and Mental Health: A Review

“Interestingly, religion was not considered in the studies reviewed although religious coping has been a research topic in the investigation of psychological adjustment to stress [18, 19].”

“The benefits of service are also said to extend to healing, such that healing oneself and others can be intimately linked.”

“Likewise, some religious and spiritual traditions encourage simplicity, mindfulness, and solitude with the goal of increasing wellbeing [12].”

“This began a deep divide that would separate religion from mental health care for the next century (Koenig 2009).”

“The conclusion that religion serves as a ‘pervasive and potentially effective method of coping for persons with mental illness’, warrants its integration into psychiatric and psychological practice (112).”

“Although religion is reported to be protective against suicide, (Koenig, 2009; Perlman, Neufeld et al., 2011; Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2003), the empirical evidence is inconsistent, with some studies reporting it to be protective (Dervic et al., 2004), others finding it a risk factor…”

“…are not universal, on balance, studies indicate salutary benefits arising from religious and spiritual involvement across a number of health outcomes (Hummer, Ellison, Rogers, Moulton, & Romero, 2004; Koenig, 2009; Koenig, King, & Carson, 2012; Marks, 2005; Seeman, Dubin, & Seeman, 2003).”

“For the dramatically lower suicide rates among those attending religious services, while social support, less alcohol, and less depression may account for some of the effect, these factors may not be as explanatory as might be thought and the moral belief that suicide is wrong, reinforced by religious communities, is…”

“Reviews of this literature have concluded that R/S has a favorable association with mental health, although there is some heterogeneity in study findings.(1,2) A growing part of this literature has examined the correlation between R/S and mental health among cancer patients and survivors.”

“The relationship between religiousness and health has been extensively examined in recent decades (Koenig 2009; Sulmasy 2009).”

“, 2004), positive religious coping has generally been associated with healthier adjustment to stress and lower depression levels (Ano and Vasconcelles, 2005; Koenig, 2009; Smith et al., 2003).”

“There is a substantial body of evidence suggesting that R/S is associated with better physical and mental health (Hill & Pargament, 2008), though the relationship is typically quite small (Koenig, 2009).”

“, 2006), identity development (Sellers, Copeland-Linder, Martin, & Lewis, 2006; Yip, Gee, & Takeuchi, 2008), and religious/spiritual practices (Koenig, 2009; Whitley, 2012)—RT scholars have not yet turned to advancing participatory community health programs.”

“This is in regard to the enormous changes religion tends to undergo throughout history–specifically in how it affects worldviews and culture [5, 7, 37].”

“For example, religious individuals tend to be more hopeful (e.g., Koenig 2009), agreeable, and conscientious (e.g., Saroglou 2002), and to express the values of honesty (e.g., Katz et al. 1994) and forgiveness (e.g., Exline et al. 2004).”

“In line with other researchers (Koenig, 2009; Moreira-Almeida et al., 2006) we beliefs, teachings or traditions of an organised religion, arising from a group of people with common beliefs and B personal relationship with or belief in the transcendent, which may or may not coincide with the…”

“…factor against depression (Blay, Batista, Andreoli, & Gastal, 2008; Blazer, 2010; Hayward, Owen, Koenig, Steffens, & Payne, 2012; King et al., 2007; Koenig, 2007, 2009; Law Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article-abstract/56/3/421/2605601 by guest on 26 July 2018 & Sbarra,…”

“Many patients are spiritual, and religious needs related to their disease can affect their mental health, and failure to meet these needs may impact their quality of life [7].”

“This might partly explain why religion can improve psychological adjustment in cases of illness or adversity (Bowen et al. 2006; Chapman and Steger 2010; Koenig 2009; Koenig et al. 2004, 1998; Koszycki et al. 2010; Lizardi et al. 2008; Park 2007; Shreve-Neiger and Edelstein 2004).”

“ca The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol 58, No 4, April 2013 W 225 CanJPsychiatry 2013;58(4):225–232”

“In line with the perspectives (or claims) of several other scholars (Deng 1998:143-241; Koenig 2009:284; Kunhiyop 2008:226; Nkom 2000:75; Omosegbon 2010:55; Schuurman 2011:273-274), in this article we uphold the thesis that religion constitutes the main fabric of African societies, and is…”

“Considering the strong, bidi- rectional links between depression and physical health (Kiecolt-Glaser et al. 2002; Moussavi et al. 2007), the anti-depressive effects of R/S may be a major mechanism to explain observed health benefits (but see Koenig 2009 and VanderWeele 2016).”

“I n general, research has shown RS positively affects mental health outcomes, as noted by Koenig.(1) Although largely”

“While spirituality and religious beliefs and practices could be powerful sources of comfort, hope, and meaning, they also may be related to self-guilt, neurosis, and psychotic disorders (Koenig, 2009).”

“In respect of school denomination, individual religion or religiosity is (generally) considered to lower the risk of, those without a religious preferences or minority religions developing mental health problems, but whether or how school and individual religion interact is unknown [21-23].”

“Religious coping gives indirect control to God/the sacred and reduces the need for personal control (Koenig, 2009).”

“There is also evidence that spiritual beliefs and practices can positively affect outcome in clinical populations, including patients with psychiatric disorders (Koenig, 2009).”

“Religion and spirituality also have direct effects upon mental and physical health through influencing coping strategies, health behaviors, and healthcare-seeking attitudes (Koenig 2008, 2009; Larson et al. 2002).”

“E-mail: christopher.ellison@utsa.edu 214 psychosocial outcomes, such as lower levels of depression and anxiety, and elevated levels of life satisfaction and happiness (George, Ellison, & Larson, 2002; Koenig, 2009, 2011; Smith, McCullough, & Poll, 2003).”

“In the majority of these cases the effect has been positive [8].”

“Although definitions vary, spirituality is typically aligned with subjective, personal beliefs, whereas religiosity is identified with traditional, institutionally related practices and behaviors (Hill and Pargament 2003; Koenig 2009).”

“2010) and severe mental disorders (Koenig, 2009).”

“Religion and spirituality may serve as protective factors against burnout in medical students [13].”

“What is surprising, however, is that although the number of studies in this area has grown over the past two decades (Hill and Pargament, 2003) virtually all research has been conducted within the general population or within specific religious communities (Koenig, 2009).”

“In contrast, it has been suggested that religious beliefs may exert a negative influence on mental health especially in the emotionally vulnerable by increasing fears or guilt, reinforcing neurotic tendencies [2].”

“…religion is replete with positive correlations between (self-rated) religiosity and mental health (Abdel-Khalek, 2006; George et al., 2002; Koenig & Larson, 2001; Plante & Sherman, 2001; Seybold & Hill, 2001; Smith et al., 2003; T horesen,1999; Zimmer et al., 2016; see Koenig, 2009 for a review).”

“…spirituality, two main challenges arise: (a) to avoid making spirituality into something completely divorced from the social world, and (b) to avoid the poignant criticism that Koenig (2009) provides about spirituality becoming tautological with mental health, and lacking a grounding in the divine.”

“Perhaps due to these elements, religion is associated with less mental illness and drug/alcohol abuse (Koenig, 2009; Koenig et al., 2001).”

“Although certain religious beliefs and practices can contribute to psychopathology (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2004; Koenig, 2009; Pargament, Koenig, Tarakeshwar, & Hahn, 2004; Shreve-Neiger & Edelstein, 2004; Sternthal et al., 2010), the documented salutary effect of religion and spirituality on mental health–coupled by fin…”

“spirituality as both a strength anda liability for individualswith a psychotic condition (Koenig, 2009).”

“We do not intend to belittle any religion or the religious practices of those who pray, nor do we deny the medical and psychosocial benefits that have been identified to result from religious affiliations and practices.[1]”

“Many studies confound the two, notwithstanding the changing definition of spirituality in recent decades from one that was located within a religious framework to one that is secular [9].”

“…post-medicine spiritual self-development may contribute additional benefit, as suggested by prior PAP research (Griffiths et al., 2018; Lafrance et al., 2021) and nonpsychedelic findings of negative correlations between spirituality and depressive symptoms (Koenig, 2009; Bonelli et al., 2012).”

“…the evidence for the salutary nature of religiosity among the general population and especially in minorities, analysis suggests that contemporary ‘‘mainstream’’ psychiatry still struggles in its efforts to integrate religion- or faith-based interventions (Galanter, 2005; Koenig, 2009).”

“religious services, a religious congregation is a supportive community that can increase socialization, shift negative social norms, and reduce isolation (25,26).”

“[5, 6] In terms of major depression, some studies report decreased risk among religious respondents while others report increased risk of depression or no relationship.[3, 7] Thus, the relationship between suicide and religious attendance requires further examination and clarification.”

“In addition, findings have suggested a positive relationship between spirituality and a wide array of psychological resiliencies (Dowling et al. 2004; Koenig 2009; Tuck and Anderson 2014).”

“The total is greater than 25 as one of the studies utilized bothMRI and EEG. Religions investigated in the articles (with number of articles) included Christianity/Catholicism (14), Buddhism (2), Islam (1), various (7), and unspecified (1) (Tables 1–3).”

“These other modalities may also come in the form of various religious practices, the majority of which may have positive effects [5], but there have been no published studies of these practices in a peer reviewed journal documenting their effect on depression and anxiety.”

“These studies have mostly identified an inverse association between religiosity and depression [6,15-19].”

“abuse, given their relationship with religiosity [69,70] and their”

“As a result of this work, it is possible to reach fairly well supported conclusions about a generally salutary influence, on average, of religiousness, broadly defined, on mental health and overall psychological wellbeing, also broadly defined (see, e.g., Koenig, 2009; Levin, 2010).”

“…evidence (Bethelmy and Corraliza, 2019; Lin et al., 2021; Worth and Smith, 2021; Yaden and Newberg) regarding the power of self-transcendence, which comes from altruism (Feigin et al., 2014), religious faith (Koenig, 2009), meaning (Wong, 1998), and the feeling of awe (Yaden et al., 2017).”

“…behaviors of respondents, thousands of empirical studies have addressed the associations between spirituality, faith community involvement, and myriad indicators of health and well-being (Chida, Steptoe, & Powell, 2009; Koenig, 2009; Koenig, King, & Carson, 2012; Smith, McCullough, & Poll, 2003).”

“• To avoid measurement bias, questionnaires employed for measuring religiousness and spirituality need to maintain acceptable levels of validity and reliability [26, 40].”

“Empirical studies indicate that for the majority of people, it is difficult to separate religion from spirituality (Koenig 2009; Moberg 2010; Sessanna et al. 2007).”

“Previous research has linked religiosity/spirituality to tobacco and alcohol use, stress, and depression (Koenig, 2009; Park et al., 2009; WhelanGales et al., 2009).”

“…1999; Pargament 1997) and physical health (Koenig et al. 1988, 1991, 1998, 2001; Luskin 2000; Powell et al. 2003), support the prevention of illness and provide psychological benefits and social resources across divergent religious communities (Koenig et al. 1991; Koenig 2008, 2009; McNichol 1996).”

“Improvement in medical illness was also found among people interacting with traditional North American Indigenous healers (Mainguy et al.”

“On the individual and family level, many scholars find that participation in organized religious activities improves mental health, strengthens overall physical health, and increases the participant’s ability to cope with stress and other pressures (Huguelet & Koenig, 2009; Koenig, 1999).”