The Effect of Attitude and Prayer-Related Behaviors on Depression: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background and aims: Prayer means reading and asking for help and satisfying the need. The prevalence of mental diseases has had an increasing trend in Iran. The aim of this study was to know the role of attitudes and praying-related behaviors in the treatment of patients with depression in Iran. Methods: By searching in the databases such as SID, Magiran, Medlib, Iranmedex, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed, 16 relevant articles were extracted. Data were analyzed by using meta-analysis (random effects model). Moreover, heterogenecity of the studies was checked using Q and I2 statistics. Results: To examine the relationship between the rate of depression and praying, it analyzed in both case and control groups as pretest and posttest. It was reported that the rate of depression before the test in the case group was 49.4 (95% CI: 34.04-64.04) and in the control group was 27.51 (95% CI: 15.51, 39.51). For the case group, it was reported that the rate of depression decreased to 12.43 (95% CI: 2.4-22.4) and for the control group it was 19.83 (95% CI: 11.8-27.83). Conclusion: The attitude and the praying-related behavior had positive effects on the depression of individuals and it could cause the depression level diminishing. Therefore, this therapeutic approach can be considered as a common method in the treatment of mental disorders and the psychologists and the therapists can use this method for the treatment of their patients in therapeutic centers.

Keywords

• Depression
• Mental health
• Meta-analysis
• Prayer
• Systematic review