An Investigation of the Relationship between Spiritual-Religious Well-Being and Mental Health in Students

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Religious and spiritual components play an important role in well-being and health of people, and their evaluation seems to be necessary. The present study was carried out to determine the correlation between different domains of religious-spiritual well-being and mental health in the students of Qom University of Medical Sciences as well as the predictive power of different domains of religion and spirituality for students’ health level. Methods: The present study was carried out as a descriptive-correlational study on 158 students of Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2014. Samples were selected using random sampling method. The research data were collected by Multidimensional Inventory for religious-spiritual well-being and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and regression analysis. Results: The means of religious-spiritual well-being and mental health variables in the students were 24.63±2.07 and 12.62±6.39. There was a significant correlation between religious-spiritual well-being and mental health (p<0.05). Among the variables entered in the regression model, hope for the future, religiosity, and age had significant effect on mental health. Conclusion: The findings indicated that hope for the future and religiosity were, respectively, the most important religious-spiritual components, helping to improve mental health in students.

Keywords

• spirituality
• religiosity
• religious-spiritual well-being
• mental health
• students.