Prediction of the Dimensions of the Spiritual Well-Being of Students at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Iran: The Roles of Demographic Variables

Abstract

Introduction: Spiritual well-being is one of the aspects of wellbeing which organize the physical, psychological, and social aspects. Given the outstanding and unique roles of students in society, providing spiritual well-being as well as identifying and eliminating the negative factors affecting their mental wellbeing are of the essence. Aim: The present study aimed to predict the dimensions of the spiritual well-being of students at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences and to investigate the roles of demographic variables in this respect. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive and correlational study, the statistical population was comprised of 346 doctoral students in the for-profit Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceuticals in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2016. For data collection, an instrument comprising the demographic questions and the 20-item spiritual well-being scale by Paloutzian and Ellison (1982) was utilized. To analyze data, the descriptive (frequency distribution, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and chi-squared test) were employed in the SPSS Statistics Software Version 21.0. Results: The results of the present study demonstrated that the spiritual well-being of students was average (71.86±4.84), and of all demographic variables under study, only the variable of gender significantly correlated with the mean score of spiritual well-being. Also, the results revealed that the students’ score of religious well-being measured higher than that of their existential well-being. However, a significant correlation was found between spiritual well-being and its dimensions. Also, the religious and existential well-being were found to be significantly related (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed the significance of addressing the issue of spirituality among the students of the for-profit Schools at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. Therefore, it is recommended that appropriate plans be laid by the culture and education policy makers to promote the spiritual well-being of university students.

Keywords

• demographic factors
• medical students
• spiritual health