scholarly journals Spirituality in Late Adulthood

2001 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Heintz ◽  
Imants Barušs

MacDonald's Expressions of Spirituality Inventory was used to examine spirituality in late adulthood using a sample of 30 people (22 women, 8 men) whose mean age was 72.6 yr. While average scores are higher on scales measuring spiritual and religious beliefs and practices for the sample than for a standardization group of undergraduate students with a mean age of 21.0 yr., means are lower on scales measuring paranormal beliefs. Low scores on death anxiety are correlated only with Existential Well-being and age And, while some religious behaviors such as frequent religious practice, prayer, and church attendance are correlated with some of the dimensions of spirituality, many of the scores on the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory scales are independent of self-reported religious behaviors.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Feng ◽  
Xingcan Liu ◽  
Tangwei Lin ◽  
Biru Luo ◽  
Qianqian Mou ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In recent years, spiritual well-being has gradually gained the attention of health care providers in China, especially those in oncology departments, who have recognized the importance of improving spiritual well-being in cancer patients. Since most of the current research on spiritual well-being has been carried out in areas with religious beliefs, this study was conducted in the context of no development of formal religion. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between death anxiety and spiritual well-being and the related factors of spiritual well-being among gynecological cancer patients. Methods This cross-section study was conducted among 586 gynecological cancer patients. The European Organization for Research and Treatment for Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-spiritual well-being32 (EORTC QLQ-SWB32) and Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (T-DAS) were used to measure spiritual well-being and death anxiety. The Multiple Linear Regression Model was used to determine the relationship between spiritual well-being and death anxiety. Results For all participants, the highest QLQ-SWB32 centesimal score was 75.13 on the Relationship with Other scale, and the lowest was 60.33 on the Relationship with Someone or Something Greater Scale. The mean Death Anxiety score was 5.31 (SD 3.18). We found that Relationship with Someone or Something Greater was the only scale not associated with death anxiety. Overall, patients with lower death anxiety have a higher level of spiritual well-being. Besides, a high Relationship with Other score was associated with living with a partner (B = 2.471, P < 0.001) and married (B = -6.475, P = 0.001). Patients with higher Global-SWB were retired (B = 0.387, P = 0.019). Conclusions Our study found that the spiritual well-being of patients with gynecological cancer in China was no worse than in other countries with religious beliefs and patients with lower death anxiety have a higher level of spiritual well-being. Clinical staff should pay attention to the spiritual health of cancer patients, and spiritual care should be regarded as an essential element in cancer care.


2013 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosanna W. L. Lau ◽  
Sheung-Tak Cheng

This study aims at investigating whether a gratitude induction procedure can reduce death anxiety and promote emotional well-being. Ninety Chinese undergraduate students were randomly assigned into one of three experimental conditions: gratitude, hassle, and neutral. In each condition, participants were instructed to spend 15–20 minutes to reflect on past events and to write up to five events of the designated category. Subsequently, they responded to measures of death anxiety and affect. Results showed that those in the gratitude condition reported much lower death anxiety than those in the neutral or the hassle group. However, gratitude had no effect on positive or negative affect. The findings suggest that the effect of gratitude may be specific to death anxiety, which does not occur in the context of the enhancement of overall emotional well-being.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neal Krause

Research on religion and death anxiety has produced many contradictory findings. These conflicting findings arise, in part, from inadequacies in the measurement of religion as well as problems with the way the data have been analyzed. The purpose of the current study is to develop and empirically evaluate a conceptual model that contains the following core hypotheses: (a) People who go to church more often will receive more spiritual support from fellow church members (spiritual support is assistance provided by coreligionists for the explicit purpose of increasing the religious beliefs and practices of the recipient). (b) Individuals who receive more spiritual support will be more likely to trust God. (c) Those who trust God more deeply will be more likely to feel forgiven by Him. (d) People who feel forgiven by God will experience less death anxiety. Findings from a recent nationwide survey provide support for each hypothesis.


Author(s):  
Rachel Peragallo ◽  
John M. Thorp

Abstract: Women’s reproductive health care involves matters of conscience, religion and spirituality on a daily basis. Most patients are are religious and most major religions have positions about reproductive health decisions. Research regarding the effects of religion and spirituality on patients and their decisions is mixed. Measures of religious practice (e.g. church attendance) are most closely tied to sexual practices, contraceptive and pregnancy termination decisions. For most women, the relationship between reproductive health and their religion or spirituality is complicated. There is a great need for research testing interventions including spiritual and religious components for women making difficult reproductive health decisions. Health care providers who hope to provide women’s health care that includes religious and spiritual dimensions should listen to their patients, ask questions, educate themselves about different religious beliefs and practices, offer fertility awareness-based methods of family planning, and reflect on how their own spiritual and or religious beliefs impact their practice.


Author(s):  
José Pereira Coutinho

This article presents results of the author’s PhD thesis based on religious beliefs and practices, and attitudes of towards marriage, life, and sexuality. The sample included 500 undergraduate students from public universities of Lisbon. Applying multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis to these beliefs, practices, and attitudes, three clusters or types of religiosity were produced: nuclear Catholics, intermediate Catholics, and non-Catholics. These clusters were characterised in terms of religious socialisation, as well as of non-Catholic beliefs and practices, and aspects of life. When crossed with these last items, the clusters were renamed respectively: socio-centred orthodox, ambitious heterodox, activist and hedonist non-believers.


Author(s):  
Uroš Novaković

The state has an obligation to respect the principle of religious freedom. According to that principle, religious orientation of the parents should not be questioned, but on the other side child should be protected by the state in the sense that religious practice of the parents is not harmful for development and well-being of the child. State policy can take a stand that it is exclusive right of parent to determine the religion of the child and to raise the child in a religious way, or instead of that, child of a certain age can have the right to choose own religion. Religious norms are connected to the law through the guarantying of religious rights and freedoms. Although the parent which exercises parental rights primarily raise the child, since the determination of religion is a matter that significantly affects the life of a child, the author’s view is that a parent who does not exercise parental rights has the right to give consent to the choice or the change of child’s religion, and without his consent, another parent cannot determine child’s religion. Courts should avoid decisions that are based strictly on parents’ religious beliefs. However, due to the parents’ religious beliefs, the well-being of the child can be endangered (prohibition of undertaking medical interventions, blood transfusion). The author considers that existence of potential concrete risk is enough (a statement that medical intervention would not be allowed) so the parental responsibility, due to parent’s religion, would be assigned to another parent.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Cassan Kimani

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine the role of religious beliefs and practices on economic development on the Kenyan economy.Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research design.Results: Based on the past literature the study concluded that religious beliefs significantly influence economic development on the Kenyan economy. Religious Practices and Objections of Some Religious Groups to the economy were significantly related to the economic development on the Kenyan economy. Religion and religious activities can influence society in two ways. First, religious activities, such as church attendance, are social activities and thus comparable to meetings of football clubs, tennis clubs, scouts, political parties, etc. These meetings can be instruments for establishing networks that could be of use for economic activities in the region and could also be helpful for establishing trading relations with partners from other countries who belong to the same religious group. Such networks can stimulate economic growth         Policy Recommendation: Based on the study findings the study recommends that Religion and religious activities can influence society in two ways. First, religious activities, such as church attendance, are social activities and thus comparable to meetings of football clubs, tennis clubs, scouts, political parties, etc. These meetings can be instruments for establishing networks that could be of use for economic activities in the region and could also be helpful for establishing trading relations with partners from other countries who belong to the same religious group. Such networks can stimulate economic growth. The study also recommends that governments and religious stakeholder should work hand in hand to formulate policies that will motivate the Kenyan economy.


2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 123-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Ann Mountain ◽  
Walter J Muir

AbstractObjectives: Some patients with mental illness have said that religion (whether institutional or private) provides them with resources to cope with their illness. The aim of the study was to examine the spiritual well-being and religious practices, beliefs and psychological morbidity of psychiatric patients (n = 41) compared to control groups of patients with chronic medical conditions (n = 40) and community controls attending their GP (n = 39).Method: The study was a cross sectional survey. The study group were identified in psychiatric rehabilitation and day unit settings, the medical controls from a physical rehabilitation hospital and rheumatology outpatient department and the community controls from a GPs surgery. General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (consisting of religious and existential well-being subscales) and an open-ended Religious Survey Questionnaire were personally administered to the groups and information supplemented by casenote data.Results: Although there were no differences between the groups on the measure of overall Spiritual Weil-Being or on the subscale of Religious Well-Being, the psychiatric group scored lower on the Existential Well-Being subscale (p < 0.001) and had higher scores on the GHQ-28 (p < 0.001). The psychiatric group had increased frequency of private religious behaviour (p < 0.05) (praying and reading the Bible) which were thought to be coping strategies. Existential Well-Being of the whole sample was positively correlated to religious beliefs (feeling close to God (F = 6,337, p < 0.001); believing everything is according to God's plan (F = 2,709, p < 0.05) and having a mission in life (F = 3,563, p < 0.05)) and to religious practice (attending church) (F = 3,489, p < 0.05). Regression analysis of the whole sample showed that 49.5% of the variance in Existential Well-Being could be predicted by the severe depression subscale of the GHQ, but an additional 9.6% of the variance in Existential Well-Being could be predicted by religious beliefs.Conclusions: The psychiatric group expressed lower life satisfaction and purpose, and were more likely to be single and unemployed. Religious belief does impact on life satisfaction and could be considered as an adjunct in the management of some psychiatric patients.


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