Religiosity and psychological resilience in psychiatric patients: an overview
Religiosity and psychological resilience in psychiatric patients: an overview

Summary/Abstract: Objective: The impact of religious/spiritual activities on clinical outcomes in patients with serious mental illnesses remains controversial, which was addressed in this international cross-sectional study. Method: The literature was searched using the electronic database of Pubmed. To identify the highest quality papers, we selected publications in psychiatric journals ranked in the top 25% by the ISI citation index 2010, i.e. the top 32 journals out of 126 listed, all with an impact factor of 3.6 or higher. The published original studies were then discussed and rated for the quality of their design, measures, and statistical methods. Results: 1% if the studies find a positive relationship between R/S and better mental health, 18.6% find mixed (positive and negative) results, and 4.7% reported a negative association. All studies on dementia, suicide and stress-related disorders found a positive association, as well as 79% and 67% of the papers on depression and substance abuse, respectively. Conclusion: There is growing evidence today that R/S is correlated with better mental health in the areas of depression, substance abuse, and suicide; insufficient evidence in neurosis and dementia; poor evidence in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and no evidence in many other mental disorders.

• Details
• Contents