Journal of Research on Religion and Health
Year:2019 | Volume:5 | Issue:3|Papers Count:12

In the history of Islam, knowledge about health has received a lot of attention. In Islam, health is an advantage and a prelude to perfection. On the other hand, the impact of religion on health, especially spiritual and mental health, has been emphasized several times and the importance of health, sanitation, and their impact on the life in this world and afterlife has been frequently mentioned. It should be noted that the purpose of materialistic and spiritual health is not the health itself. Rather, there is a much sublime objective; that is, all dimensions of health should be used to move toward divine satisfaction. Perhaps no religion is similar to Islam in terms of encouraging its followers to gain knowledge, think, and do research. In history, numerous examples of the association between Islam and science can be found. For example, in Alagh Surah, Go says, “ We [gradually] taught humans what they did not know. ” Or in Mojadelah Surah he says, “ God will give high rankings to those of you who have turned to Islam and those who are scientists. ” These two examples illustrate the importance of science in Islam. The same attention to science can be detected in hadiths and the words of religious leaders. The prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) says, “ On the day of gathering, martyrs’ blood is evaluated in light of scientists’ pen and handwriting and scientists’ pen is superior than martyrs’ blood” (1). In Nahjolbalagheh, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) says, “ Goodness is not in having a lot of property or children. Rather, goodness is equal to having a lot of knowledge” (2). Imam Bagher (peace be upon him) says, “ A useful scientist in the society is more valuable than the worship of 70, 000 devotees” (1). Various verses in Quran (e. g. verse 82 of Nesa Surah and verse 24 of Muhammad Surah), which are about thinking and pondering further support the idea that Islam pays a lot of attention to science. Muslims had a lot of scientific achievements prior to the eighth century. In his book, Will Durant refers to a time when Muslims exported their experiential knowledge on medicine, chemistry, astronomy, botany, and drug to Europe (3). Due to the close association between science and religion, considerable attention should be paid to thinking, pondering, and researching (as recommended by Islam). The holy Quran has highlighted the sublime position of thinkers and scientists in different forms (4-6) and has encouraged humans to think about creation of the world and themselves (7, 8). It has urged humans to follow religion by the use of their logic (9, 10). Studies conducted on the relationship between religion and health can further prove the attention paid to health in religious topics. Moreover, the can shed light on some ambiguities on the position of experiential science according to religion.

Background and Objective: Religious attitude and self-esteem are the concepts that have tremendous effects on all aspects of human life and have been studied in various studies. The aim of this study was to examine the religious attitude and self-esteem of medical students in Ahwaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences and determine the relationship between these two variables. Method: In this descriptive-analytical study, 197 first-and last-year medical students were selected and evaluated. Data collection instruments were 25-item religious attitude questionnaire (Golris-Barahani), and 10-item Rosenberg Self-Esteem questionnaire. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation coefficient, independent sample t-test, and Mann-Whitney test. All ethical issues were observed in this study and the researchers declared no conflicts of interest. Results: The mean age of the freshmen and senior’ s were18. 93± . 94 and 24. 59± 1. 28, respectively. The mean of religious attitudes and self-esteem score of students, on a scale of 100 and 40, were 60. 42± 10. 01 and 26. 51± 5. 92, respectively. The mean and standard deviation of the religious attitude scores of the first and last year students were 63. 39± 10. 01 and 57. 55± 10. 3, respectively, which was statistically significant (p<0. 001). The mean and standard deviation of self-esteem scores in the first and last years of medical education were 26. 58± 6. 14 and 26. 43± 5. 71, respectively. This difference was not statistically significant (p=0. 85). Pearson correlation coefficient showed a positive relationship between religious attitudes and self-esteem (r=0. 156, p=0. 032) and a negative relationship between intrinsic religious attitudes and age of students (r=0. 293, p=0. 001). Conclusion: The results showed that the religious attitude of medical students is high at the time of entering university, but this attitude has weakened upon graduation. Identifying the factors lowering students’ religious attitudes to implement strategic plans can provide a basis for strengthening students' religious beliefs.

Background and Objective: The marital commitment of couples is constructive in stabilization of family unit and various factors can influence the level of marital commitment. The current study aimed at revealing some of these factors through predicting martial commitment based on personality characteristics, attachment styles, and religious orientation in married students. Method: The study is descriptive and correlational. The statistical population consisted of all married female students of Lorestan University in 2014/2015 academic year. Through applying Cochran's formula, 200 subjects were selected among them as the sample, using convenient sampling method. In order to gather data, Martial Commitment Inventory (DCI) by Adams Jones, Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) by Collins and Read, Personality Inventory (NEO), and Religious Orientation Scale (ROS) by Allport and Ross were used. The data were analyzed using correlation coefficient and Step by Step Regression Analysis. All ethical issues were observed in this study and the researchers declared no conflict of interests. Results: The findings indicated that personality characteristics (F=28. 37), the attachment styles (F=24. 44), and also religious orientation (F=18. 65) significantly predicted the level of marital commitment at the significance levels of 0. 001, 0. 05, and 0. 001 respectively. Out of these factors, attachment styles were a stronger predictor for marital commitment. Conclusion: The results illustrated that people’ s personality characteristics, the attachment styles formed in the family environment, and also their religious orientation have a direct effect on the personal relationship and martial commitment in the adulthood. The findings can be used to propose some strategies to maintain and develop productive relationship among couples and offer better training to people on how they should try to know each other.

Background and Objective: High-risk behaviors are particularly important when young people are considered to be failures and offenses. That’ s why identifying effective factors in preventing or reducing these behaviors is really important. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the role of spiritual and psychological well-being in predicting high-risk behaviors of young prisoners in Zanjan city. Method: The research method was descriptive-correlation. The population included all the young prisoners in Zanjan aged between 18 and 35 (n=500). The sample size was calculated 220 using Cochran method. The participants were selected using random sampling. The data collection tool were standard questionnaires of high-risk behaviors by Mohammad Khani, psychological well-being by Riff, and spiritual wellbeing by Paloutzian and Ellison. Pearson correlation test and multiple regression were used for data analysis. All ethical issues were observed in this study and the researchers reported no conflicts of interest. Results: There is a significant relationship between spiritual well-being and religious well-being with high-risk behaviors (p<0. 05). As for the components of personal growth, positive relationship with others and its acceptance component with some high-risk behaviors were confirmed in this study. The results of regression table showed that total spiritual wellbeing has the potential to predict the high-risk behaviors of aggressive behavior, relationship with the opposite sex, cigarette and hookah smoking, alcoholic drinks, and drugs and narcotics. Also, Positive relationship with others had the potential to predict the high-risk behaviors of thoughts and suicide attempts (p<0. 001). Conclusion: The general spiritual well-being and religious well-being can be effective in reducing the high-risk behaviors of the young prisoners.

Background and Objective: Nausea and vomiting are two common and disturbing adverse effect of chemotherapy. There are studies which have used methods or psychological aid such as music therapy to prevent or treat these events. We have evaluated the effect of hearing Quranic verses on decreasing the incidence and grade of these effects. Method: This was a single group study which evaluated 31 patients who received outpatient chemotherapy in Imam Hossein hospital. The patients received usual premedication for nausea and vomiting during two cycles of chemotherapy and they also listened to Quranic verses in one of these cycles. We filled a questionnaire using international grading system for nausea and vomiting and each case was compared with himself in the two cycles. All ethical issues were observed in this study and the researchers reported no conflicts of interest. Results: The results showed the about 35% of the patients experienced vomiting during chemotherapy, which decreased to 22% after listening to Quran (p=0. 125), which was not statistically significant. Also, there was a 64% decline in the incidence of vomiting (OR=0. 36, p=0. 03). Listening to Quran significantly decreased the probability of higher grade of nausea in 89% of cases (OR=0. 12, p<0. 001). About 35. 5% of the patients did not have nausea, which increased to 67. 7 % after intervention. Also, half of the cases experienced lower grade of nausea in the next cycle after listening to Quran. The grade of nausea did not increase to higher grade after intervention. Conclusion: Listening to Quran could significantly decrease the incidence of nausea and vomiting. Whether these effects are due to the spiritual effect of Quran or distraction of thought during chemotherapy is not known and should be evaluated in a larger and two-grouped study. Previous studies have shown that listening to Quranic verses has positive effect, including the time when anesthesia is induced. Thus, this technique can be used for controlling the adverse effects of cancer treatment too.

Background and Objective: Although suicide is observed among all age groups, it can lead to the loss of more potential years of teenagers, which is of great importance. Thus, the present study aimed at investigating the prediction of suicidal thoughts based on happiness, self-esteem and spiritual health among female teenagers in Ardabil. Method: The research method was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population included all female high school students in Ardabil during 2016-2017. Of the population, 350 subjects were selected by multi-stage random cluster sampling. In order to collect data, several instruments including Oxford’ s Happiness, Coppersmith’ s Self Esteem, Paloutzian and Ellison’ s Spiritual Health, and Beck’ s Suicidal Thoughts were used. Data analysis was conducted by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression tests. All ethical issues were observed in this study and the authors declared to conflict of interests. Results: The results showed a significant relationship between happiness (r=-0. 64), self-esteem (r=-0. 62) and spiritual health (r=-0. 66), and the suicidal thoughts of female teenagers (p<0. 05). In addition, the results of multiple regression showed that happiness, self-esteem and spiritual health predict 0. 59 of the variance related to the suicidal thoughts of female teenagers (p<0. 05). Conclusion: Teenagers’ suicidal thoughts is predictable by the happiness, self-esteem and spiritual health. Therefore, it is suggested that psychologists and counselors consider the role of happiness, self-esteem and spiritual health to decrease the level of teenagers’ suicidal thoughts. Also, interested researchers should conduct further studies on the teenagers’ suicidal thoughts.

Background and Objective: Through efficient use of intelligence capacity, thinking, and effective training, moral intelligence can play a significant role in all walks of human life. The current study aimed to explore the relationship between moral intelligence and demographic features of Payame Noor University students of Khoy and Mahabad. Methods: The study adopted a descriptive-correlational design and was conducted following a cross sectional procedure in 2017 among Payame Noor University students of Khoy and Mahabad. The statistical population comprised all students studying at these two universities. Out of them, 101 students were selected from different fields of study through stratified random sampling. The data were collected using a two-section survey; the first section gathered information about the participants’ demographic characteristics such as gender, age, marital status, and the educational center. The second section comprised Lennick and Kiel’ s moral competency inventory (MCI). The reliability of this inventory was found to be 0. 86 using Cronbach’ s alpha. All ethical issues were observed in this study and the researchers did not declare any conflict of interests. Results: The mean score and standard deviation of the students’ moral intelligence were 71. 1 and 10. 5 respectively, which indicates their acceptable level of moral intelligence. Furthermore, older students enjoyed higher levels of moral intelligence in comparison with their younger counterparts. Significant associations were also observed between moral intelligence subscales and some demographic features of the students. Conclusion: Identifying and using some methods to enhance students’ moral intelligence can result in their positive attitude and eventually lead to richer general culture and improvement in their performance. Thus, attempts to identify and nurture moral intelligence subscales have a critical impact on students’ educational, professional, and family-related future.

Background and Objective: The use of mobile phones has recently become an indispensable part of life. Although mobile phones have several advantages, their excessive use can make individuals prone to dependence. The aim of this study was to investigate the moderating role of Islamic lifestyle in the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation and mobile dependency in adolescent girls. Method: The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study of correlation type. The statistical population of the study consisted of all secondary school girl students in Kermanshah. Four hundred individuals were selected through multistage cluster random sampling. To collect data, subjects responded to Islamic lifestyle standards (LLST), cognitive/emotional regulation questionnaire (CERQ) and mobile phone harm survey (COS). In order to analyze the data, structural equation modeling was used. All ethical issues were observed in this study and the researchers declared no conflict of interests. Results: The results showed that cognitive/emotional adjustment and Islamic lifestyle are considered good predictors of mobile dependency. Also, based on the findings of structural equation modeling, there are significant and positive causal relationships between cognitive/emotional adjustment, Islamic lifestyle and mobile dependency. Moreover, the mediating role of Islamic lifestyle in the relationship between cognitive/emotional adjustment and mobile dependency was confirmed. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the use of Islamic lifestyle as a coping strategy in people with negative cognitive/emotional adjustment will prevent cell phone addiction.

Background and Objective: Considering the effect of prayer on each person, especially at a young age and studentship period, this study aimed to explore the level of tendency to prayer and the factors affecting it among students of Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences. Method: In this descriptive and analytical study, 260 students of Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences were selected by stratified sampling. Data were collected using questionnaire with two sections; the first section was intended to collect the participants’ demographic information and the second one aimed at exploring students’ tendency to prayer and its affecting factors. The collected data were analyzed by carrying out descriptive (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential (independent-samples t-test, ANOVA) statistical procedures. The significance level was set at P<0. 05. All ethical issues were observed in this study and the researchers declared no conflict of interests. Results: The mean and standard deviation of the tendency toward prayer were 73. 96± 19. 38. The most influential factors in the tendency of students to prayer were the enjoyment of prayer and the achievement of calmness, the prevention of sin and unpleasant deeds and the least influential factors in the tendency of students to prayer were the intimate relationship with the imam congregation, the useful lecture and the scientific mastery of imam congregation during the time of the prayers. The results of the t-test showed students’ marital status and gender significantly influenced their tendency to prayer (P<0. 05). Further, the results of one-way ANOVA showed that students’ academic year, GPA, and parents’ academic degree (P<0. 05) significantly influenced the participants tendency toward prayer. In other words, the level of prayer tendency was considerably higher in married, female students. Also, students with higher GPAs and students in the fourth year of their studies were more willing to say prayer. Conclusion: The level of tendency to prayer among students of Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences was good. However, an effective educational program should be designed to strengthen this ritual.

Background and Objective: One of the basic factors that could jeopardize mental health is mammonism and the intense interest in the world. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of teachings of Nahjolbalagheh about mammonism damage on mental wellbeing of gastrointestinal patients. Method: The study adopted a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design with a control group. The statistical population included all the female patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders (stomach ulcers, gastritis, gastric reflux and intestinal nervous disease) who referred to Amiralmomnin charity of Boshruyeh city (100 people) in 2016-2017. Out of this population, 40 people were selected through convenient sampling. The participants responded to Warwick Edinburgh’ s (2007) mental welfare questionnaire and then were randomly placed in a treatment or control group (20 people each). The members of the treatment group underwent 8 sessions of training about mammonism damages based on Nahjolbalagheh (adapted from statements of Imam Ali (A. S. ) and Nahjolbalagheh). These trainings were provided by the use of the package developed by Shahabi and Shahabizadeh. The control group however did not receive any training. In the end, both groups answered the research question again. The data obtained were analyzed using analysis of covariance. All ethical issues were observed in this study and the researchers declared no conflict of interests. Results: The findings indicated the mammonism damage training concepts based Nahjolbalagheh affect the patients’ mental welfare, optimism, positive relationships with others, energy level (p<0. 003). Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, mammonism damage training based Nahjolbalagheh can be useful on gastrointestinal patients’ wellbeing. Therefore, this type of treatment is recommended to mental health professionals.

Background and Objective: Although in the 20th century religion was regarded as an obstacle in front of modernizing human societies and was a symbol of old-fashioned ideas, it leads to serenity and spiritual enjoyment for a religious person who believes that God is supporting them in all walks of life. Therefore, the question is whether religion is able to improve people’ s mental health given the existing differences in individuals’ views in this regard. The current study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis on the association between mental health and religiosity. Method: The method of this study is meta-analysis. This study is among documentary researches that are based on systematic review. Systematic review pursues settlement and combination of researches and evidences that focus in special question. Statistical population of this study included papers published in peer reviewed journals that were connected to the topic and were published during 1380-1395. At first we did a primary study and gathered data. Validity of elected papers was appropriate (0. 99). Validity of the Iranian papers was a bit higher than that of English papers. The researchers declared no conflict of interests. Results: Mental health, happiness and satisfaction of life were the most repeatedly mentioned subjects in Iranian papers and heterogeneity of variables were relatively low. In English studies, the majority of studies had focused on the effect of religiosity on health, quality of life and depression. Diversity of variables in English papers was higher than that of Iranian papers. Overall, according to the results of the reviewed papers, 34% of the findings reported a weak effect of religiosity on mental health, 34. 4% indicated a strong impact and 31. 4% showed a medium influence. Conclusion: The effect size of religiosity has been studied more frequently in Iranian papers. The similarity in the low and high effect sizes in Iranian papers indicate that further studies are required in this regard.

Background and Objective: The issue of flattery and its individual and social consequences are regarded as a moral vice in many human societies and the higher degree of this trait in the society, the more regression and decline. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the harms of flattery in the social relations and its pathology from Imam Ali’ s viewpoint. Method: This study was conducted through reviewing texts, and the authors have tried to study different dimensions and damages of the flattery in social interactions, using books and articles in the associated fields of religious sciences and psychology with an emphasis on the Nahjol-Balagheh. The researchers declared no conflicts of interest. Results: The results showed, in the view of Imam Ali, flattery stems from stupidity and humiliation, those in power who like flattering, and the culture of fostering flattering. This is all rooted in atheism and ignorance, the ultimate goal being ego and its outcome being humiliation. Conclusion: Based on the results, it can be concluded that flattering in humans is a relational matter and it results from the action and interaction of the strong and the weak, a social harm which dates back to long time ago, threatening social health.