Journal of Research on Religion and Health
Year:2024 | Volume:10 | Issue:1|Papers Count:12

Background and Objective: Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders and a general problem of human life, and is prevalent in almost all countries and cultures. According to the emphasis put in the new research on the use of cultural-religious factors, in the Iranian-Islamic culture, in addition to the scientific principles of Reality Therapy, we can also draw on Islamic teachings to treat depression. For this reason, this research aims to determine the effectiveness of group reality therapy along with Islamic teachings on reducing depression symptoms, deterministic beliefs, and increasing psychological well-being in depressed women. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest posttest control group design and a 40-day follow-up period. Depressed women referring to Tehran's Nedaye Aramesh-e-Ravan Clinic in the summer of 2021 as the statistical population, out of whom 32 were selected using the purposeful sampling method. Then, they were randomly placed in two experimental and control with 16 participants in each group. To collect data, Becket al.’s Depression Questionnaire and (BDI-II), the scale of "psychological well-being" by Ryff and Keyes, and the scale of "free will and determinism" (FAD) by Paulhas and Margeson were used, and the subjects of the experimental group attended 8 90-minute group reality therapy sessions with Islamic teachings. The data obtained from the research were analyzed by multivariate covariance analysis. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interests. Results: The findings showed that Group Reality Therapy, along with Islamic teachings, has a significant effect on reducing symptoms of depression and determinism and increasing psychological well-being (P<0.05). The amount of this effect according to the relative eta square (effect size) in the follow-up period is as follows: 42% of the changes in free will, 60% of the changes in depression, 26% of the changes in self-acceptance, 30% of the changes in positive relations, 29% of the changes in autonomy and 28% of the changes in environmental mastery in the post-exam phase comes from the difference between the test and control groups. Conclusion: The present study showed that Group Reality Therapy along with Islamic teachings can be effective in improving depression symptoms, reducing determinism and increasing psychological well-being in depressed people.

Background and Objective: Although several treatments have been designed for obsessive-compulsive disorder, they are not effective enough in all patients. Hence, obsession therapists are looking for multidimensional treatments. The aim of the current research is to design a behavioral spiritual-emotional protocol for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Methods: Given the purpose of the research, the effective treatment packages developed in previous researches should be analyzed in behavioral, emotional and spiritual axes, and effective goals and techniques should be selected and integrated in the emotional-spiritual behavioral treatment package according to the Islamic context. The statistical population of this research included articles and theses related to behavioral, emotional and spiritual treatments of obsessive compulsive disorder in Farsi and English. These researches were collected and analyzed into components, techniques and mechanisms. Then, the effective components, techniques and mechanisms with good theoretical support and research evidence were integrated into the behavioral- emotional-spiritual protocol. The final package was approved and confirmed by experts in the field. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interests. Results: The behavioral-emotional-spiritual protocol for the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder includes 15 sessions: establishing a therapeutic relationship and explaining the treatment, secondary positive spiritual evaluation of negative thoughts, acceptance of doubts, self-soothing, reducing the fusion of thought and action, exposure and response prevention therapy, acceptance of doubts and behavior management, spiritual mindfulness, removing obstacles, increasing the quality of life and modifying the lifestyle. Conclusion: Behavioral-emotional-spiritual Protocol for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment has collected and integrated the effective components and techniques of behavioral, emotional and spiritual treatments. In this therapeutic package, emphasis was placed on the value of religion and religiosity, as well as the differences between a religious individual and an individual with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Some new techniques were developed, such as distinguishing between voluntary negative thoughts and involuntary negative thoughts, with the latter being considered as obsessive thoughts and not sinful. Additionally, secondary positive evaluation techniques were formulated, whereby enduring intrusive negative thoughts was conceptualized as a step towards seeking closeness to God.

Background and Objective: Social trust is one of the social phenomena that plays a vital role in human relationships and interactions and provides the cohesion and integration of society by creating strong social bonds. In the meantime, transparency in the various elements of the government can also be considered as an effective mechanism to support citizens' rights. It is worth mentioning that hypocrisy is especially emphasized in Islam as an anti-social trend. Considering the importance of the subject and the gap in the previous studies in this field, this research aims to examine the relationship between perception of transparency in the religiosity of officials according to the teachings of Nahj al-Balagha and the social trust of citizens. Methods: The present study is practical in terms of its purpose, and descriptive and field-based in terms of the method of data collection. In order to investigate the relationship between research variables in the field, 428 MA students, PhD candidates and faculty members of Tehran, Mazandaran, Qom and Semnan universities were selected as a statistical population by available sampling method. Standard questionnaires were used to collect data and to analyze the data, confirmatory factor analysis tests and structural equation modeling on LISREL software and mean test on SPSS software version 16 were used. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interests. Results: The results of the statistical tests indicated that the perception of transparency in the religiosity of the officials had a positive and significant effect on the social trust of the citizens (P=0.59; T=8.53). This means that the more transparency in the religiousness of officials is observed and perceived, the more social trust among citizens there will be. In addition, the analysis of the responses of the statistical community indicates that the level of transparency in the religiosity of officials and the level of social trust of citizens is more than the average value. Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that according to the obtained factor loadings, improving each of the indicators of transparency in the religiosity of the officials leads to the improvement of the level of social trust of the citizens. Therefore, according to the current status of each of the components, it is necessary for the society officials to try to improve the transparency of each of the components of religiosity in order to improve the social trust of the citizens.

Background and Objective: Determining the boundaries of mental disorders has always been one of the most challenging topics in psychology. Different schools of psychology and specialized associations in this field have explained and classified the disorders. Despite the challenges that exist in the way of defining and classifying the disorders, it is necessary to deal with it through citing a revealed and authoritative source, namely the Holy Quran. The purpose of this research is to present a model of mental disorders from the perspective of the Holy Quran. Methods: The method of this study is qualitative. In the present study, the target text, which was analyzed and analyzed to obtain a specific topic, namely the definition of mental disorders and its pattern, is the Holy Quran. In the upcoming research, three main methods of Quran-to-Quran reflection, reflection on different chapters or surahs of the Quran and word analysis were used. The authors of the article reported no conflict of interest. Results: Based on this research, it was determined that mental disorders from the perspective of the Quran are defective processes that are created as a result of the impact of external negative influences on the components of the human being's structure such as perception and belief, attention, faith, assets and capabilities, and behaviors. Each of these five areas has specific properties. Conclusion: The definition of disorder from the perspective of the Quran and its classification has advantages over the existing definitions and classifications including the use of a principled and scientific method for model extraction, basic conceptual explanation with high research priority, the comprehensiveness of the definition and classification compared to the definitions that only emphasize the feeling of a problem on the part of the individual, the structural and pathological nature of the definition against the sign-based nature of some theories, and reliance on the philosophy of revelation which is more sophisticated than other underlying philosophies.

Background and Objective: During the Corona epidemic, the anxiety associated with contracting this disease can affect many aspects of a person's performance, such as job performance. Therefore, promotion and utilization of psychological capital such as psychological well-being and resilience play an important role in dealing with stressful situations. Based on this, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the impact of the Corona anxiety on the ethical climate and psychological well-being of nurses in Ardestan Hospital with the mediation of resilience. Methods: This was an applied study in terms of purpose and it was descriptive and survey-based in terms of method. The statistical population of this study was 200 nurses of Ardestan Shahid Beheshti Hospital and the sample size was determined to be 131 using Cochran's formula and the sampling method was convenience sampling. Data collection tools in this study were demographic characteristics questionnaire, Covid Anxiety questionnaire (Alipour et al.), Ethical Atmosphere questionnaire (Victor & Cullen), Psychological Well-being questionnaire (Reef) and Resiliency questionnaire (Connor & Davidson). In order to test the hypotheses, correlation tests and structural equations using PLS software, and partial least squares were used. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interests. Results: The results showed that the corona disease anxiety had an inverse effect on ethical atmosphere, psychological well-being and resilience. Conclusion: Nurses should be alert and calm, and give themselves enough self-confidence so that they can overcome problems without focusing on the risks related to their profession, and gradually reduce the amount of anxiety and mental pressure.

Background and Objective: Emotional, cognitive and behavioral characteristics play an essential role in the quality of life of nurses. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of spiritual health and coping styles in predicting the quality of life of nurses. Methods: The research method is descriptive-correlational. The research community included all married female nurses working in public and private medical centers in Tehran in the second 6 months of 2022, 409 of whom were selected through available sampling and through social networks. The expression of data collection included the spiritual health questionnaires of Palutzian and Ellison, coping styles of Calsbeek et al. and the quality of life of the World Health Organization. Data analysis was performed using Pearson's correlation test and multiple regressions simultaneously on the SPSS software version 24. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interests. Results: The results showed that the correlation of spiritual health and problem-oriented strategy with nurses' quality of life was positive, but the correlation of avoidance strategy and emotion-oriented strategy with nurses' quality of life was negative (P<0.01). Also, spiritual health components explained 13.9% and coping styles explained 25.1% of the variance in quality of life. Conclusion: The finding of the present study indicate the importance of coping styles as one of the important personal structures and spiritual health as one of the important spiritual structures in improving the quality of life of nurses.

Background and Objective: Spiritual happiness is one of the types of positive emotions that play an important role in helping people adapt to the situation in stressful situations. Also, the meaning of life and psychological capitals are also variables that form the basis of effective, directed and continuous coping of individuals with difficult conditions. Therefore, based on this, the current research was conducted with the aim of predicting spiritual happiness based on meaning in life and psychological capital, with the mediation of students' sense of coherence during the Covid-19 epidemic. Methods: The present study is a descriptive survey-based study involving the use of structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all male and female undergraduate students (day and night) of Isfahan University in the academic year 2020-2021. There were 360​​students from this community who volunteered to participate in the research. In this study, the data were collected using a questionnaire of demographic characteristics, Chirian & Afrooz’s spiritual happiness questionnaire, Steger et al.’s meaning in life questionnaire, Luthans psychological capital questionnaire and Antonovsky’s sense of coherence questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed on Smart PLS2 and using structural equation modeling. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interest. Results: The results showed that meaning in life and psychological capital with the mediation of sense of coherence has a positive and significant relationship with spiritual happiness (P<0.00). Conclusion: Having spiritual vitality plays an important role in helping people to face the life challenges. Meaning in life and psychological capitals create a source of internal resistance that can be effective in creating spiritual vitality in students in interaction with the sense of coherence.

Background and Objective: Grief is a widespread phenomenon and a normal reaction to loss. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the painful experiences of loss and disability caused unbearable grief, regret, and even anger to the bereaved making it more difficult to cope with the loss in their lives. Religion and spirituality seem to be important factors in the reactions of the bereaved people to grief. People who experience high levels of religiosity and spirituality may better manage their stress and have more meaning in life. The aim of this study was to predict the reaction to grief based on the practice of religious beliefs and meaning seeking in the people bereaved due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods: The present study was a descriptive correlational study. The statistical population of this study included those over 18 years old who were living in Sanandaj, Iran in 2021. They had lost a first-degree relative due to the Covid-19 pandemic at the time of the study. Using Tabachenik and Norcross sampling formulas, 106 participants were selected as the sample size by the available sampling method. Standard scales of sense of meaning in life, the practice of religious beliefs, and the mourning experience questionnaire were used to measure the research variables. Data were analyzed by Pearson’s correlation and regression analysis. In this study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interest. Results: The results of the regression analysis and multiple correlation coefficient indicated that the variables of religiosity and meaning seeking were significantly associated with grief reactions with a MR value of 55.0 and significance levels of P<0.05 and P<0.001, respectively. Considering the coefficient of determination of 0.31, the predictor variables explained the variance in grief reactions. Conclusion: Religion and spirituality help people to better cope with external and internal adversity. Practicing religious beliefs and Seeking Meaning is an important factor in the process of grief and can help the bereaved person cope with their grief and stress.

Background and Objective: Investigating the effective factors in the emotional adjustment of neglected and poorly supervised teenagers is necessary because of their problems; therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of spiritual health and cognitive flexibility in the emotional adjustment of poorly supervised and neglected adolescents. Methods: The current research is descriptive-correlational. The research community consisted of all the poorly supervised and neglected adolescents aged 13 to 18 supported by the welfare centers of Bojnord city (Helia Girls' Center and Ehsan Land Center) in the academic year 2022-2023. They were 120 and were selected using the census sampling method. They filled in Palutzin and Ellison's Spiritual Health, Dennis and Vanderwaal's Cognitive Flexibility, and Sinha and Singh's Emotional Adjustment questionnaires. Pearson correlation test and multiple regression analysis method on SPSS version 25 software were used for data analysis. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interests. Results: The results showed that the relationship of spiritual health (r=0.587) and cognitive flexibility (r=0.599) with emotional adjustment was positive and significant (P<0.01). Also, the regression results showed that spiritual health explained 33.6% and cognitive flexibility explained 37.3% of the variance in emotional adjustment. Conclusion: Strengthening the spiritual health and cognitive flexibility of poorly supervised and neglected adolescents can be effective in strengthening their emotional adaptation; The fundamental effect of spiritual health can play a very important role as one of the main sources of identity creation and identification in society, especially in a religious society like Iran.

Background and Objective: Pregnancy is one of the sensitive and special stages that is always accompanied by religious rituals for the comfort and health of the mother and baby. In fact, many pregnant women assign importance to religious and religious issues during their pregnancy. In this research, fertility rituals and beliefs are described and detailed with religious foundations and anthropological schools. Methods: The qualitative research paradigm and ethnography method were used in this study. The target population included all married women of Ilam city, who had experienced at least one pregnancy. 25 participants were selected using method snowball sampling method; the number of participants was determined through the principle of saturation. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interests. Results: The obtained results show that religious beliefs and rituals, while reducing the stress and depression of childbirth, cause mental peace, vitality and cheerfulness in pregnant women. Performing religious rites such as sacrifice, placing Quran and supplications on the head of the baby and the woman in order to ward off the jinn, giving the baby a taste of Imam Hussain's (pbuh) soil, cutting the placenta and throwing it on the roof of the mosque are all indicative of an intimate connection between traditional beliefs and rituals and religious beliefs. Conclusion: The entry of women into the society and their acceptance in these traditional societies is only associated with fertility and the acceptance of the baby is also accompanied by the performance of rituals and with certain religious and folk beliefs to enter the society. Some of the religious rituals and recommendations in relation to pregnancy, infertility or abortion are in accordance with the views of Islamic thinkers, which shows that medical materials are passed down to the general public by words of mouth.

Background and Objective: People react to stressful conditions differently, which range from happiness in the face of challenging events that can be settled, to emotions such as anxiety, anger, disappointment, and depression. When the stressful condition continues, a person might experience emotional swings depending on how successful they are in coping with the situation. The present study aims to investigate the application of problem-focused coping strategies at the time of grief and hardship based on a psychological approach in psychology considering Imam Sajjad's perspective. Methods: This was a qualitative study involving content analysis. To carry out the study, two prayers (7 and 54) were purposefully selected from Sahifa al-Sajjadiah and analyzed through document analysis tools and library data were analyzed using MAXQA-2018 software. Results: Different coping strategies were extracted from Sahifa al-Sajjadiah, which could help people to be relieved at the time of grief and difficulty. These strategies can be summarized in three domains, including cognitive (knowing God, self-knowledge, attitudes toward difficulty, trust, hope, acceptance, positive outlook, faith in God, and belief in divine traditions), behavioral (remembering God, confession, requesting God, seeking refuge and protection, appeal to God and piety), and emotional-spiritual (saying prayers, remembering God, appeal to God, love and compassion, forgiveness). Conclusion: Excessive grief in people could hinder them from building a relationship with God and affect their positive acts and consequently hinder their personal growth, which leads to their negligence. Having the required skills and appropriate coping strategies, a person can deal with problems and achieve peace of mind.

Background and Objective: In recent decades and after the realization of the Islamic revolution in Iran, various discussions about the world revolution of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) have started in scientific circles and among intellectuals, and many researches have been carried out in this field, and even research centers and publications have been established. It has been published in this field and it has been discussed on issues such as investigating the reasons for the absence of Imam (PBUH), creating the context for the appearance, signs of the appearance, why despair of the appearance and the role of people in hastening the appearance. In this research, the word "emergence" and the traditions related to it have been investigated, and then the effect of "emergence" in providing personal and social health has been discussed. Methods: This is a library-based study conducted using a descriptive-analytical method. Using dictionaries, examining Quranic verses and hadiths, as well as searching on databases such as Magiran and Noormagz, the present study attempts to find out the different meanings of the word ‘Zohour’ (appearance), its derivatives and practical uses, and examine its meanings in the words of God (i.e., the Quran). The authors reported no conflict of interest. Results: The word ‘zohour’ (appearance) and its derivatives are used in several meanings such as revealing and overcoming, and this word has been used in the Qur'an to refer to the victory of Islam and its victory over other religions. The Prophet (PBUH) used this word for the first time on the subject of Mahdism. In addition, verses and narrations point to the fact that one of the purposes of the appearance is religious revival and revival of forgotten traditions. In the interpretation of others, renewal and revitalization is for individuals and society to reach good health and to move away from corruption and destruction, which will provide the ground for personal and social health. Conclusion: The purpose of the appearance of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) is to eradicate oppression and corruption and to realize justice at the global level. In this way, the ground will be prepared for the development and perfection of all human beings and personal and social health will be realized.