Journal of Research on Religion and Health
Year:2020 | Volume:5 | Issue:4|Papers Count:12

Spirituality is broadly defined as something which everyone can experience, that helps us to find meaning and purpose in the things we value, brings hope and healing in times of suffering and loss and encourages us to seek a better relationship with ourselves (1). Spirituality often becomes more important in times of emotional stress, physical and mental illness, loss, bereavement and the approach of death. Religion, though contains individual spirituality and is universal in nature but has its own distinct community-based worship, beliefs, sacred texts and traditions and methods (1)...

Background and Objective: Cancer is the fourth most common chronic disease that has a negative effect on patients’ normal life and mental health. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of life skills training with Quranic approach on negative emotions, the quality of life and orientation toward life in patients afflicted by Breast Cancer in Tehran. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest and control group design. The statistical population included all women with breast cancer selected from those referring to Kasra hospital in Tehran. Based on the specified criteria for inclusion in the study and DASS, WHOQ-26 and LOT-R, life quality and orientation to life, patients with the highest scores were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (n1=n2=15). The experimental group received eight 60-minute sessions of therapeutic intervention one session a week, while the control group received no intervention. The collected data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and no conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Results: The results of the study showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in reducing the negative emotions such as anxiety, depression and stress (P<0. 05). The results further showed that there was a significant difference in quality of life scores and life orientation between the two groups (P<0. 05). Conclusion: Life skills training based on the Holy Quran combined with standard medical care had a beneficial effect on the psychological indicators and health of cancer patients and decreased their negative emotions.

Background and Objective: Because of the growing number of divorces and the destructive effects it may have on the citizens, this study predicted female paramedics’ tendency towards divorce focusing on the role of personal Traits, religious Attitude and sexual satisfaction in Kerman. Methods: This is a descriptive correlational study. The statistical population of the study consisted of all married female paramedics in Kerman in 2014-2015, out of which 200 were selected by available sampling method. The instruments used for collecting data included the questionnaire of tendency towards divorce, NEO personality inventory, scale for religious attitude (RAS) and sexual satisfaction scale for woman (SSSW). Descriptive (frequency, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise and stepwise regression) were used to analyze the data. In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and no conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Results: The results of the correlation test showed that religious attitude and sexual satisfaction had a negative and significant relationship with the tendency to divorce. In addition, among the neo-personality dimensions, neuroticism had a positive and significant relationship with the tendency to divorce (r<0. 34, P<0. 01), and extraversion (r=-0. 25, P<0. 01) and agreeableness (P<0. 01 and r=-0. 39) and conscientiousness (P<0. 01 and r=-0. 41) showed a negative and significant relationship with tendency to divorce. No relationship was found betweenbetween openness (P<0. 05 and R=0. 10 tendency toward divorce. The most important predictor of divorce was sexual satisfaction (F=362. 78, P<0. 001). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, caretakers and hospital officials can help to improve the conditions of their employees by holding proper sexual relations training workshops to improve marital satisfaction, as well as increase awareness of the importance of this issue.

Background and Objective: Considering the increasing trend of addiction, it is necessary to study its constituent factors and its continuity to be able to make appropriate decisions in treating addiction and reducing its individual, familial and social harm. Therefore, the present study investigated the role of emotional expression styles and religious coping styles in students' tendency towards addiction. Methods: The present study is descriptive correlational. The statistical population includes 2000 students residing in the dormitory of Mohaghegh Ardabili University from 2017 to 2018 out of which 200 were selected through available sampling method. To collect data related to the scales of emotional expression, preparedness for addiction and Paraghamat Religious Conflict were used. Finally, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and regression were used to analyze the data. In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and no conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Results: The results of this study showed that there was a significantly negative correlation between emotional excitement styles (positive and negative) except for the intimacy style and students’ tendency towards addiction. The results also showed that there was a significantly negative correlation between the positive religious style and the tendency toward addiction among students and a positive and significant correlation between the negative religious styles and the tendency to addiction. Also, the results of regression showed that emotional excitement and religious coping are good predictors of students’ preparedness for addiction. Conclusion: The results of the present study are in line with the findings of other studies that show emotional excitement and religious coping styles have an important role in the students' tendency toward drug addiction. Therefore, preventive measures should be taken in this regard.

Background and Objective: Having intimate relationships among married couples is one of the most important factors in creating lasting marriages and lack of intimate relationships is one of the factors causing failure in family life. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of education of intimacy enriched by Islamic teachings on the satisfaction and intimacy of introverted couples. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test control group design. The statistical population included all married women referring to Yazd counseling centers due to problems and marital conflicts. A sample of 30 married women who referred to Yazd counseling centers were selected by appropriate sampling after screening and were randomly assigned to two groups of 15. The data were collected using the scale of the Neo Five Big Five Personality Questionnaire, Enrique's Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire, Olia and colleagues’ Intimate Inventory of Couples, and the data were analyzed using covariance analysis. In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and no conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Results: The results indicated that there is a significant difference between intervention and control groups in mean scores related to satisfaction and all its sub-scales (P>0. 05). Furthermore, the overall intimacy score and the scores related to its subscales improved in the experimental group making the difference between the two groups significant (P>0. 05). Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, the education of intimacy enriched by Islamic teachings can be a useful therapeutic and educational program for reducing the problems related to the relationship between the couples.

Background and Objective: Mismanagement of emotional impulses and reduced commitment to the religious duty of prayers as well as the increased relationship between male and female students are considered as the important issues in academic environments in recent years. The present study was an attempt to investigate the relationship of emotional intelligence and commitment to prayers with sexual desire in single students of Miyaneh Universities. Methods: The statistical population included all single B. A. students in Payame Noor University and Islamic Azad University in Miyaneh, out of which a sample of 140 university students was selected using accessible sampling method. Data were collected using Petrides and Farnhaym’ s Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, Panahi’ s Prayer Adherence Questionnaire, and Multidimensional Sexuality Questionnaire (MSQ). The data were analyzed by using Pearson correlation and multivariate regression. In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and no conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Results: Based on the results among the components emotional intelligence, only emotion control had a negative and significant correlation with sexual desire (r=-0. 236, P<0. 01). In addition, commitment to prayers had a significantly negative correlation with sexual desire (r=-0. 165, P<0. 05). Furthermore, total emotional intelligence, emotion perception, emotion control and social skills had a positive and significant correlation with commitment to prayers (P<0. 05). Optimism was not found to have a significant correlation with commitment to prayers. The capacity for predicting sexual desire by the variable of emotion control was 23 percent. Conclusion: It seems that implementing interventions to improve emotion control and commitment to prayers is effective in reducing single students’ sexual desire.

Background and Objective: Family is the core of every society and the center of mental health and care satisfying the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of its members. Various factors can sustain this foundation. Some of these factors include probably the locus of control, irrational beliefs, and religious orientation. On this basis, the purpose of the present study was to compare the locus of control, irrational beliefs and religious orientation divorced women in Ardabil in 2016. Methods: The study was descriptive and causal-comparative. The statistical population included all women asking for divorce, who referred to the Ardabil Justice in 2016. The sample population included 50 women applying for divorce and 50 normal women selected based on available sampling method. The participants completed the Rutter Control Questionnaire, Jones's irrational beliefs and Alport's religious orientation questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance. All ethical considerations have been observed in the present study and the authors of the article reported no conflict of interest. Results: The results of analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference between the women applying for divorce and normal women in the control variables (p<0. 001), religious orientation (p<0. 001), irrational beliefs (p<0. 003), and its components including emotional irresponsibility (P<0. 001), problem avoidance (p<0. 001), expectation of approval from others (p<0. 001), and helplessness against change (p<0. 001). Conclusion: The results were indicative of a significant difference between women seeking divorce and normal women in variables of locus of control, irrational beliefs and religious orientation. Therefore, it is suggested that educational programs and workshops be organized to reduce divorces in women in order to properly manage the locus of control, irrational beliefs, and religious orientation.

Background and Objective: Major Depressive disorders are one of the most common and chronic disorders that require treatment. The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of Logotherapy with Quran recitation and prayer on severity of depressive symptoms in women with major depressive disorder. Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design. The statistical population included all women with depressive disorder in Qom in 2017. The sample population consisted of 30 women with major depressive disorder (15 for each group) and the participants were selected on a voluntary basis. They were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The instrument used for gathering data was Beck depression Inventory. The data were analyzed using ANCOVA. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interest. Results: In terms of severity of depressive symptoms, the mean scores for the experimental and control groups at the pretest stage were 35. 80 and 33. 60, respectively. Meanwhile, the mean scores were 19. 86 for the experimental group and 32. 46 for the control group. The level of depression remained unchanged in the control group but decreased in the experimental group at the post-test phase following the intervention, which was statistically significant (P<0. 001). Conclusion: The findings indicate that Logotherapy along with Quran recitation and prayer is effective in reduction of the symptoms of depression in women with major depression.

Background and Objective: The implementation of religious orders and practices is one of the ways to save and relieve people from troubles, discomforts and stresses. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship of outlook and practical pledge to prayer and spiritual experiences with mental health of girl students of University of Tehran. Methods: The present study is descriptive correlational. The statistical population included all female students of University of Tehran and the sample population consisted of 150 participants selected by random cluster sampling. The instruments used for data collection included practical attitude and practice of prayer questionnaire, daily spiritual experiences and general health of Goldberg GHQ-28. For data analysis, Pearson correlation and simultaneous regression were used. In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and no conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Results: The results showed that prayer's effectiveness in individual and social life with an r value of-0. 251, attention and practice to the needy with an r value of-0. 507, commitment and serious efforts to perform prayers with a value of-0. 373, care and presence of the heart in prayer with the value of-0/251 and the total score of practical commitment to prayer with a value of-0/401 had a negative and inverse relationship with mental health (P<0/05). Also, the sense of presence of God with the value of-0/498, the relationship with God with the value of-/0325, the sense of responsibility towards others with the value of-0/259 and spiritual experiences with the value of-/0474 was negatively and inversely correlated with mental health significant (P<0/05). In other words, there was a significant and negative correlation between the components of spiritual experiences and mental health. Conclusion: Practical commitment to prayers plays an essential role in individuals’ mental health and well-being. Also, religion has a mental health supportive function. Spiritual experiences contribute to prevention of mental illnesses and facilitate the management of illnesses as well as the recovery process.

Background and Objective: Spirituality in job is a new topic but with a limited theoretical-scientific development in organizational literature. The importance of this issue and its impact on work efficiency call for a proper instrument for evaluation purposes. Longevity and incomprehensiveness of some of the questionnaires motivated the authors to provide an Intercultural Translation and psychometric analysis of the standard comprehensive instrument of Spirituality at Work. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, English version of Spirituality at Work scale, adopted from Val Kinjersk’ s study, was used as the main instrument. An attempt was made to complete English-to-Persian translation as well as to provide cultural conformities using the Wild pattern and recursive translation method and retranslation phases, respectively. Afterwards, face validity was performed based on 10 experts’ views and 18 accessible samples and then reliability and validity of the questionnaire were examined and internal correlation was determined in a cross-sectional study on 393 health workers. Construct validity was assessed with a sample size of 268 people through factor analysis. In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and no conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Results: To determine construct validity, principal components analysis was performed using Varimax rotation method, in which 70. 31% of total variance was explained by two factors. Its face validity was also desirable. In assessing the questionnaire’ s reliability using internal consistency method, Cronbach’ s alpha coefficient was found to be 96%, which ranged from 78% to 91% for the subscales. There was a high correlation among subscales of this questionnaire (0/82-0/97). Conclusion: The questionnaire had good consistency and the high correlation between the subscales is indicative of a god cultural consistency in translation of the questionnaire. The questionnaire of Spirituality at Work, which aimed at assessing the experience of spirituality in job based on individuals’ experience of spirituality and workplace morale has proper construct validity and face validity.

Background and Objective: There is a positive and significant relationship between Organizational Spirituality and all dimensions of organizational health (e. g., interpersonal relationships of employees, job commitment, etc. ). Our main Purpose in the present study is to investigate the relationship between Organizational Spirituality and organizational health. Methods: The related data in the present study were collected by searching the databases of Science direct, Magiran, PubMed, Google Scholar, SID, ProQuest, Google and Iran Medex in the time range of 2000-2018 using the keywords of Organizational Spirituality, organizational health, Islamic ethics, human resource management, and mental health in Islam. In total, 35 internal and international articles were selected and systematically reviewed to investigate the relationship between Organizational Spirituality and organizational health. In the present study, the authors reported no conflicts of interest. Results: A review of the various studies indicated that the common aspect of Organizational Spirituality and organizational health includes meaningful work, a sense of solidarity and alignment with the values of organization, integrity, commitment and responsibility. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, an increase in the different dimensions of Organizational Spirituality is followed by an increase in the organizational health of the staff. Therefore, by integrating and integrating the work and spiritual life of individuals, it is possible to promote the practice for optimal use of the organization's staff.

Background and Objective: Water is a reviving and nutritious fluid and a unique natural wealth. God invites the men of wisdom in the Qur'an to meditate on their revelations, one of which is water. The present study was an attempt to demonstrate the importance of creation of water from the perspective of the Holy Quran and to identify the biological and medical properties and features of natural waters. Methods: This is a review study conducted in two stages. In the first phase, special software of the Qur’ an was used and verses were selected based on general keywords water and drink. Then, out of the selected verses, the ones with keywords of Tahour, Haye, Resgh, Forat (fresh water), Melh Ojaj (salty and bitter water), Alfolk (Ship), Ghosle (taking a shower), and Lahhme (meat), and the importance of water creation was examined from the Qur'an's perspective. In the second stage, scientific texts were used to investigate the biological and therapeutic properties of natural waters. In the present study, the authors reported no conflicts of interest. Results: The findings showed that God has mentioned the word ‘ water’ in the Qur'an more than 65 times, and each time He provides wise descriptions for water. The Holy Quran describes water in eight different contexts including revival, purity, its healing power, creating attachment between the people, nutrition, freshness, commerce, and its controlling role in the Earth's environmental cycles categorizing it into three types: pure (Tahour) water, fresh water and salt water. According to scientific sources, natural waters have different physical, chemical, biological and therapeutic properties. These properties are due to the hydrogen bonds, the molecular structure of water and the type and amount of mineral compounds. Therefore, these agents provide different functions for natural water types. Conclusion: The existence of water in the universe is essential and without it the universe is impossible. The importance of water is due to its molecular structure and its hydrogen bonds and inorganic constituents provide it with a very important role and mission in the universe such that it has influenced the political, economic, cultural, social, and environmental activities of the world, making it one of the great signs of creation.