Journal of Research on Religion and Health
Year:2024 | Volume:10 | Issue:11|Papers Count:11

Background and Objective: The spiritual dimension of human life is one of the effective constructs in psychological health and wellbeing, which has received attention in recent years. Therefore, the present study aimed to predict spiritual wellbeing and spiritual capital based on personality traits, awareness, and tendency to consume halal food in the students of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The statistical population of the study included all the students of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2023-2024, of whom 300 were selected using the purposive sampling method. To collect the data, questionnaires on awareness and tendency to consume halal food, a short form of the spiritual well-being and capital questionnaire, and the Five-Factor Personality Questionnaire were used. The collected data were analyzed using stepwise regression analysis on the SPSS version 26 software. All ethical considerations were observed in this study, and the authors of the article declared no conflict of interest. Results: The results of the stepwise regression analysis showed that after entering the predictor variables, finally, subjective norm, awareness, openness to experience, and neuroticism could explain 22.0% of the variance in spiritual capital in four steps. Also, the prediction of spiritual wellbeing indicates that physical wellbeing, attitude towards halal food, neuroticism, and openness to experience were the strongest remaining predictors in the model, predicting 34.0% of the variance in spiritual well-being. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, it can be stated that awareness and attitude towards consuming halal food, along with personality traits, are recognized as essential factors that can be considered in relation to the spiritual life (spiritual capital and wellbeing) of students.

Background and Objective: Spirituality plays a role in various dimensions of human psychological life. One of these dimensions is emotional cognitive regulation, which studies have shown to be predicted by spirituality. COVID-19 healthcare professionals use both emotional self-regulation and spirituality as coping strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between individual dimensions of spirituality and emotional cognitive regulation among employees in the COVID-19 prevention and control sector. Methods: This study is a descriptive correlational. The sample population consisted of active employees in the COVID-19 prevention and control sector of health centers. 119 health center employees who had been exposed to COVID-19 for at least six months participated in this study and responded to the Garnefski and Kraaij’s Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the Parsian and Dunning’s Spirituality Questionnaire. All ethical considerations were observed in this research, and the authors did not report any conflicts of interest. Results: The results showed a significant positive relationship between spiritual meaning and positive refocusing (r=0.24), positive reappraisal (r=0.41), positive refocusing (r=0.41), and perspective taking (r=0.27). Spiritual activity had a significant positive relationship with positive refocusing (r=0.35), positive reappraisal (r=0.39), positive refocusing (r=0.31), and perspective taking (r=0.32), and a negative and significant relationship with catastrophizing (r=-0.22). Additionally, self-awareness had a significant positive relationship with positive refocusing (r=0.38), positive reappraisal (r=0.43), positive refocusing (r=0.34), and perspective taking (r=0.26), and a negative and significant relationship with catastrophizing (r=-0.29), other-blame (r=-0.23), and rumination (r=-0.25). Furthermore, there was a significant positive relationship between the importance of spirituality and positive refocusing (r=0.23), positive reappraisal (r=0.28), positive refocusing (r=0.30), and perspective taking (r=0.23). Conclusion: There was a significant relationship between various dimensions of spirituality and emotional cognitive regulation among employees in the COVID-19 prevention and control sector, with the highest correlation belonging to the dimensions of spiritual self-awareness and positive refocusing on cognitive-emotional regulation.

Background and Objective: One of the important areas of health and mental health of people in society is their emotional well-being experience, which is formed under the influence of several factors. The present study was conducted with the aim of examining the mediating role of psychological hardiness in the relationship between religious coping and emotional well-being of nursing students. Methods: The current descriptive-correlational study involved the use of structural equation modeling and was conducted using the path analysis method. The research population included all the students of Qain School of Nursing and Midwifery in the academic year 2019-2020 (no=800), out of whom 180 were selected by available sampling method and completed online the Religious Coping Questionnaire by Pargament et al., Psychological Toughness Questionnaire by Kiamarei et al. and Keyes and Magyarmo’s Emotional Well-being Questionnaire. The relationships between the variables were analyzed by Pearson correlation test on SPSS software version 18 and the research model on Amos software. All ethical considerations were observed in this study, and the authors of the article declared no conflict of interest. Results: The results showed that positive religious coping (β=0.528, P<0.01) had a positive effect and negative religious coping (β=0.391, P<0.01) had a negative effect on psychological toughness. Positive religious coping affected emotional well-being both directly (β=0.329, P<0.01) and indirectly (β=0.153, P<0.01) through the mediation of psychological hardiness. Negative religious coping affected emotional well-being both directly (β=0.237, P<0.01) and indirectly (β=0.113, P<0.01) through the mediation of psychological toughness. Psychological hardiness had a direct positive effect on emotional well-being (β=0.289, P<0.01). Conclusion: The findings show the importance of planning in order to improve psychological toughness and religious coping in promoting the emotional well-being of nursing students.

Background and Objective: COVID-19 quickly spread all over the world and became a major public health problem in many countries of the world, including Iran. Considering that spirituality can act like a shield against stressors and help people to cope with the disease more effectively, the purpose of this research was to analyze the spiritual life experiences of people with a history of covid-19. Methods: This study was qualitative and was conducted using a hermeneutic phenomenology approach. In this study, 14 people with a history of COVID-19 were selected to participate in the study using targeted sampling method. Face-to-face and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The data analysis was done using the seven-step method of Diekelmann et al. All ethical considerations were observed in this research, and the authors did not report any conflicts of interest. Results: According to the results, the spiritual life experiences of people with a history of COVID-19 can be explained with 3 themes of parapsychic experiences, invocation, and spiritual dreams. Also, in this study, a constructive pattern called "Experiencing the Holy" was developed. Conclusion: The findings of this study provide a deep insight into the spiritual life experiences of patients with a history of COVID-19. The constructive pattern of "Experiencing the Holy" and its 3 themes highlight the deep influence of spirituality on experiences and recovery from illness and emphasize the importance of addressing the spiritual needs of patients in health care settings and the role of spirituality in dealing with illness and promoting spirituality.

Background and Objective: Islamic life skills appear in all aspects of people's life. These skills lead to personal and spiritual transformation. According to the mentioned structure of Islamic life skills, it is essential to create a precise instrument to measure it. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the validity and reliability of the Islamic Life Skills Questionnaire. Methods: The present study is descriptive. The statistical population of the study was 150 students in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, who were selected based on their availability and answered Parsian and Donning's Spirituality Questionnaire, Zare's and Aminpour's Religious Beliefs Questionnaire, and Islamic Life Skills Questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the Islamic Life Skills Questionnaire were determined using Pearson’s correlation statistical analysis, Cronbach's alpha analysis and factor analysis. In this research, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors of the article did not report any conflict of interest. Results: Based on the results obtained, a positive and significant relationship was found between the variables of spirituality, religious belief, and Islamic life skills. Cronbach's alpha for the Islamic Life Skills Questionnaire was 0.92. The four factors obtained from this questionnaire include: paying attention to God's commands in life, paying attention to the rights of others, paying attention to personal capabilities and paying attention to oneself. Conclusion: The findings showed that the Islamic Life Skills Questionnaire is valid and reliable; Future researchers can use this questionnaire to expand Islamic science.

Background and Objective: The complex nature of the emotional-behavioral problems of homeless teenagers requires the investigation and application of new educational support programs. This research was conducted by examining the role of attachment orientations and spiritual effects in predicting post-traumatic growth in orphaned girls. Methods: The present study was descriptive cross-sectional and correlational. The statistical population included all the unaccompanied teenage girls covered by the Welfare Organization of Tehran in 2022, out of whom 300 were selected by available sampling method. They completed the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory by Tabachenik and Feidel, the Attachment Style Questionnaire by Hazen and Shaver, and the Resilience Questionnaire by Connor and Davidson. Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression were used for data analysis. In this research, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors of the article did not report any conflict of interest. Results: The results of the research showed that spiritual influences (r=0.65 and P<0.012), secure attachment (r=0.71 and P<0.011), avoidant attachment (r=0.73 and P<0.023), and ambivalent attachment (r=0.70 and P<0.018) have a significant correlation with post-traumatic growth in adolescent girls. Regression analysis showed that about 53% of the variance in post-traumatic growth is explained through the variables of attachment orientations and spiritual effects (R2=0.53). According to beta values, secure attachment (β=0.247 and P<0.011), spiritual influences (β=0.226 and P<0.014), ambivalent attachment (β=0.173 and P<0.026), and avoidant attachment (β=0.159 and P<0.032) were, respectively, the strongest to weakest factors in explaining post-traumatic growth. Conclusion: According to the obtained results, modifying attachment orientations and strengthening spirituality can play a significant role in post-traumatic growth in teenage girls.

Background and Objective: Appropriate behavior of athletes in sports competitions is an important issue in any society. Considering that religious identity has an effect on people's behavior, the present study aimed to investigate the role of religious identity in predicting the components of the sports behavior of teenage basketball players. Methods: The present study was a descriptive correlational study. The research population included teenagers 13 to 18 years old from Guilan province who participated in basketball tournament in the summer of 2022. Two hundred people were randomly selected. Data were collected with Sports Behavior Questionnaire by Volerand and Religious Identity Questionnaire by Khoshawi and were analyzed by methods of correlation coefficient and concurrent multiple regression model on SPSS-26 software. In this research, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors of the article did not report any conflict of interest. Results: The results showed that religious beliefs and emotions had a positive and significant relationship with the components of respect for social relations, opponents, laws, officials and commitment to sports. Also, the two components of religious belief and behavior showed a positive and significant relationship with the absence of a negative approach in sports performance. Other findings showed that religious identity could predict 81% of the variance in respect for social relations, 79% of the variance in respect for laws and officials and commitment to sports, 77% of the variance in respect for opponents and 80% of the variance in lack of negative approach in sports performance in basketball playing boys. Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, the hypotheses based on the existence of a significant relationship between religious identity and the components of sports behavior of basketball boys are confirmed. Considering the positive role of religious belief and religious behaviors and emotions in the mental health of young athletes, giving importance to them through parents, coaches and sports officials can help improve the moral and spiritual health in sports fields and events.

Background and Objective: Death, as a revitalizing experience, can play a significant role in the path to human spiritual health and the idea of anthropology, but the fear of death, which is sometimes taken to extremes, can make the achievements of this religious experience less effective or ineffective. Therefore, in the present study, an attempt was made to introduce death as a religious experience and a solution to avoid fear and panic towards it, and examine its developmental effects on spiritual health intended by Islam. Methods: The current research is of library and descriptive-analytical type. First, the definitions whose content seemed necessary as the background of the research were proposed and the main research was conducted in several stages in the way of finding the right answer to the main research question. That is, first, death was introduced as one of the stages of life and it was represented in the form of a religious experience, and in the next stage, the reasons for the fear of death in relation to spiritual health were identified. Finally, the developmental effects and benefits of thinking about this religious experience were investigated. The authors of the article reported no conflict of interest. Results: Based on the results of the present study, death was recognized as a religious experience. The causes of fear of death are ignorance of the truth of death, sin, wrongdoings, and attachment to the world and its manifestations. The decline of neglect and the reduction of lusts, the consolation of worldly pains, the full productivity of life, the longing for the hereafter, and the attainment of otherworldly values and authorities, reluctance toward the world, the cleansing of sins are among the effects and benefits of thinking about death; the role of each of these factors in spiritual health can be considered in the future studies. Conclusion: The religious experience of death with its Islamic background in the direction of anthropology and theology is not to be feared, but causes the growth and development of man and guides the modern man toward their origin, and from the point of view of Islam, this is the greatest achievement of death in providing the spiritual health of man. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the causes of fear and avoid them. On the other hand, paying attention to the benefits of research about death guarantees spiritual health.

Background and Objective: Spiritualism can increase the effectiveness, ease in the teaching-learning process and psychological security in students. The current study can be considered as a preliminary study on the teaching-learning process in the educational environment with a religious view on scientific issues and based on challenging the minds of students to better understand anatomical principles by modeling prayer movements. Methods: This is a review study conducted using a qualitative and library-based method. Based on the purpose of the research, the necessary information was collected from interpretive sources and then based on keywords such as: medical education, spirituality, prayer, human body anatomy, searching on databases such as authoritative sites known for conducting library research such as MEDLINE, Scopus, PubMed, web of science and Google scholar and based on personal experience and researches as a faculty member of the Department of Anatomical Sciences. Then, the obtained information was categorized and analyzed. The authors reported no conflict of interests. Results: Our findings showed that there is a scientific connection between anatomical principles and prayer postures, which can be highly useful in increasing the motivation and encouragement of the professors and the students in the teaching-learning process. In other words, with this kind of scientific approach to religious issues or vice versa, a student who is fascinated in finding the gap between scientific boundaries by evidence and reason, will find concrete examples in a better way and in addition, he/she will understand the wisdom of religious principles more deeply, which ultimately doubles the effectiveness of the matter. Conclusion: With this evidence-based research, Muslim prayer postures can be considered as a new model for teaching of anatomical principles to medical students.

Background and Objective Spiritual health means having a sense of acceptance, morality and a sense of positive mutual connection with a sovereign and superior holy power, others and oneself, which is achieved through a dynamic and harmonious process. Achieving a healthy and successful society is possible through ensuring the spiritual health of the family, which is the most fundamental structure of society. On this basis, this study was done to identify the underlying variables of spiritual health in Muslim couples. Methods This review study is a descriptive. To collect data, the keywords of spiritual health, spirituality, spouses and couples, and Islam were searched on Google Scholar, Normags, SID, and Magiran databases from 1980 to 2020. After reviewing 53 documentaries, the underlying variables of spiritual health in Islamic texts were extracted through conventional content analysis method. The authors of the article reported no conflict of interest. Results Forty-seven extracted codes were classified into 6 subcategories (effective in spiritual, behavioral, emotional, cognitive, sexual relationships and family structure). In the present article, the underlying variables of spiritual health in the spiritual and behavioral relationships of couples were presented. The underlying variables of spiritual health in the spiritual relationships of couples include efforts in obedience to God, participation in acts of worship, having a purposeful life, and assistance in growth and prosperity. The underlying variables of spiritual health in the behavioral relationships of couples include flexibility and easy-goingness, pleasantness and good company, responsible behavior, secrecy and covering up faults, neatness, anger control, good conversation, spending time together, generosity and devotion to relatives. Conclusion The spiritual health of couples create purpose and meaning in life, flexibility, feeling of responsibility, violence management, sociability and openness, which leads to the this-worldly and afterlife growth of couples.

Background and Objective: Islam is the religion of nature and has recognized and paid attention to maintaining health. One of the ways to maintain health is physical activity. The present study aims to investigate the Islamic point of view on the role of physical activity in maintaining health and well-being by using the Holy Quran and the traditions of the leaders. Methods: The present study is a descriptive analytical study to extract and analyze texts with the keywords of Islam, Quranic verses, hadiths, physical activity, health, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the Pure Imams (PBUH) from Islamic sources including the Holy Quran, Tafsir al-Mizan, Bihar Al-Anwar, Jame Hadith and Jame Al-Tafseer software as well as databases such as Iran Doc, Iran Mag, PubMed, SID, Research Gate and Science were used. The authors of the article reported no conflict of interest. Results: Based on the findings obtained from the verses of the Quran and the traditions of the innocent leaders (PBUH), special attention has been paid to physical activity to maintain health and well-being, to perform spiritual and religious affairs that ultimately lead to the preservation of human values. Examining the historical course of the purpose of physical activity shows that one of the challenges of the current world is not paying attention to the social mission of physical activity in maintaining the general health of the society, and more attention has been paid to individual health. Conclusion: According to what is stated in the verses and narrations, the religion of Islam pays special attention to maintaining health and doing physical activity with the aim of preserving human values. It seems that one of the challenges that the current world is facing is simple physical activity without regard for human values. In the Islamic religion, the purpose of doing physical activity is more important than just doing physical activity. Also, the social dimension and social influence of physical activity and sports are well explained in Islam.