Spirituality, religion, and health: over the last 15 years of field research (1999-2013).
Abstract
Objective Although several studies have examined the contribution of specific countries, journals, and authors in different scientific disciplines, little is known about the contribution of different world countries, journals, and authors to scientific research in the field of "Spirituality, religion, and health" (S/R). The present study aims to analyze the last 15 years of research in the field of spirituality and religiousness (S/R) through a bibliometric analysis. Methods Using the Pubmed database, we retrieved all articles related to S/R field for the period 1999-2013. We then estimated the total number of publications, number of articles published per year, articles published per country, journals with most publications in S/R field, most productive authors, and most used keywords. Results We found a growth of publications in the last years, most from the United States and the United Kingdom and published in the English language. Noteworthy, some developing countries such as India, Brazil, Israel, and Iran are at higher positions in this list. The S/R articles were published in journals embracing all fields of research, including high impact journals. Conclusion In the present study, we took a closer look at the field of "Spirituality, religion, and health," showing that this field of research has been constantly growing and consolidating in the scientific community.
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Spirituality is not a monolithic construct; different spiritual practices may exert distinct psychological and neurobiological effects.
“However, its role is complex and multifaceted; spirituality is not a monolithic construct, and different spiritual practices may exert distinct psychological and neurobiological effects (de Brito Sena et al., 2021; Lucchetti and Lucchetti, 2014).”
From From use to abuse: psychological, neurobiological, and spiritual pathways in relational harm and recovery (2026) · cites this paper as Lucchetti and Lucchetti, 2014
Spirituality has increasingly been recognized as a potential pathway for healing and recovery.
“Within this context, spirituality has increasingly been recognized as a potential pathway for healing and recovery.”
From From use to abuse: psychological, neurobiological, and spiritual pathways in relational harm and recovery (2026) · cites this paper as Lucchetti and Lucchetti, 2014
Cites
Comparison of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar: strengths and weaknesses
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Handbook of Religion and Health
Koenig, H., McCullough, M., & Larson, D. (2001) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195118667.001.0001 · Cited by 2,581 · see citing works
Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications
Koenig, H. G. (2012) · ISRN Psychiatry · doi:10.5402/2012/278730 · Cited by 2,423 · cited 4× · see citing works
“As previously noted by several authors [1, 10, 11, 19], the number of S/R articles has been rapidly increasing in the last decades, particularly in the last decade.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialSpirituality, religion, and health: An emerging research field.
Miller, W. R., & Thoresen, C. E. (2003) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.58.1.24 · Cited by 1,437 · see citing works
Religiosity/Spirituality and Mortality
Chida, Y., Steptoe, A., & Powell, L. H. (2009) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000190791 · Cited by 409 · see citing works
Instruments Measuring Spirituality in Clinical Research: A Systematic Review
Monod, S., Brennan, M., Rochat, E., Martin, E., Rochat, S., & Büla, C. J. (2011) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-011-1769-7 · Cited by 338 · see citing works
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Defining spirituality in healthcare: a systematic review and conceptual framework.
de Brito Sena, M. A., Damiano, R. F., Lucchetti, G., & Peres, M. F. P. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.756080 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
Self-citationThe association between spirituality and religiousness and mental health
Vitorino, L. M., Lucchetti, G., Leão, F. C., Vallada, H., & Peres, M. F. P. (2018) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-018-35380-w · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Self-citationLucchetti, G., Ramakrishnan, P., Karimah, A., Oliveira, G. R., Dias, A., Rane, A., Shukla, A., Lakshmi, S., Ansari, B. K., Ramaswamy, R. S., et al. (2016) · International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s12529-015-9491-1 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Self-citationBrazilian scientific articles on “Spirituality, Religion and Health”
Damiano, R. F., Costa, L. A., Viana, M. T. S. A., Moreira-Almeida, A., Lucchetti, A. L. G., & Lucchetti, G. (2016) · Archives of Clinical Psychiatry (São Paulo) · doi:10.1590/0101-60830000000073 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Self-citationDelmonte, R., Lucchetti, G., Moreira-Almeida, A., & Farias, M. (2016) · Journal of Trauma & Dissociation · doi:10.1080/15299732.2015.1103351 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Self-citationDaher, J. C., Damiano, R. F., Lucchetti, A. L. G., Moreira-Almeida, A., & Lucchetti, G. (2017) · Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/nmd.0000000000000625 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Self-citationMethodological guidelines to investigate altered states of consciousness and anomalous experiences
Moreira-Almeida, A., & Lotufo-Neto, F. (2017) · International Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/09540261.2017.1285555 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Menegatti-Chequini, M. C., Maraldi, E. D. O., Peres, M. F. P., Leão, F. C., & Vallada, H. (2019) · Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1590/1516-4446-2017-2447 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Bhardwaj, S., Ali, A., & Paul, F. A. (2026) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2026.1805594 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“However, its role is complex and multifaceted; spirituality is not a monolithic construct, and dierent spiritual practices may exert distinct psychological and neurobiological eects (de Brito Sena et al., 2021; Lucchetti and Lucchetti, 2014).”
- Authors
- Lucchetti, G., & Lucchetti, A. L. G.
- Affiliations
- Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (BR)
- Corresponding author
- Lucchetti, Giancarlo
- Venue
- The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-10
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 199-215
- ISSN
- 0033-278X (ISSN-L)
- 0091-2174
- 1541-3527
- OpenAlex
- W2139059190
- Cited by
- 155
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 6
- FWCI
- 12.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › scientometrics and bibliometrics research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychology Research and Bibliometrics
- Keywords
- spirituality, religion, health, research trends, bibliometric analysis, publication growth, research output by country, journal publishing, most productive authors, developing countries
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Mental Disorders, Cross-Sectional Studies, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Female, United Kingdom, Health, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Periodicals as Topic, Publishing, Religion and Medicine, Religion and Psychology, United States, Spirituality, Biomedical Research
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