Top

Published in:

01-10-2015 | Original Paper

The Relationship Between Religious Attitudes, Fear of Death and Dying with General Health Condition: A Survey in College Students

Authors: Milad Nazarzadeh, Mandana Sarokhani, Kourosh Sayehmiri

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 5/2015

Abstract

This study aims to assess the relationship between religious attitudes of Ilam universities students (west of Iran), their perspectives about the fear of self and other’s death and dying, with their general health. This paper is an analytic survey in which 351 college students, who were selected by multistage sampling, participated. To measure interested variables, Persian format of standardized self-administered questionnaires was employed. Religious attitudes with odds ratio (OR) of 0.94 (95 % CI 0.91–0.97) and fear of self dying with 0.88 (95 % CI 0.81–0.96) were identified as a protective factors against the inappropriate general health condition. However, the fear of other’s death (OR 1.16; 95 % CI 1.05–1.28) was identified as a risk factor. This study showed that people who had more religious attitudes and fear of self dying had better general health as well as the fear of other’s death had a significant direct relationship with inappropriate general health condition.

Available only for authorised users

AhmadiGatab, T. (2011). Studying the relationship between life quality and religious attitude with students general health. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 1976–1979.CrossRef

Banks, M. H. (1983). Validation of the General Health Questionnaire in a young community sample. Psychological Medicine, 13, 349–353.PubMedCrossRef

Blumenthal, J. A., Babyak, M. A., Ironson, G., Thoresen, C., Powell, L., Czajkowski, S., et al. (2007). Spirituality, religion, and clinical outcomes in patients recovering from an acute myocardial infarction. Psychosomatic Medicine, 69, 501–508.PubMedCrossRef

Bridges, K. W., & Goldberg, D. P. (1986). The validation of the GHQ-28 and the use of the MMSE in neurological in-patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 548–553.PubMedCrossRef

Callen, B. L., Mefford, L., Groer, M., & Thomas, S. P. (2011). Relationships among stress, infectious illness, and religiousness/spirituality in community-dwelling older adults. Research Gerontological Nursing, 4, 195–206.CrossRef

Carlozzi, B. L., Winterowd, C., Harrist, R. S., Thomason, N., Bratkovich, K., & Worth, S. (2010). Spirituality, anger, and stress in early adolescents. Journal of Religion and Health, 49, 445–459.PubMedCrossRef

Coleman, P. G. (2005). Spirituality and ageing: The health implications of religious belief and practice. Age and Ageing, 34, 318–319.PubMedCrossRef

Delgado, C. (2007). Sense of coherence, spirituality, stress and quality of life in chronic illness. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 39, 229–234.PubMedCrossRef

Ebrahimi, A., Molavi, H., Moosavi, G., Bornamanesh, A., & Yaghobi, M. (2007). Psychometric properties and factor structure of General Health Questionnaire 28 (GHQ-28) in Iranian psychiatric patients. Journal of Research in Behavioural Sciences, 5, 5–11.

Elizabeth Rippentrop, A., Altmaier, E. M., Chen, J. J., Found, E. M., & Keffala, V. J. (2005). The relationship between religion/spirituality and physical health, mental health, and pain in a chronic pain population. Pain, 116, 311–321.PubMedCrossRef

Francis, L. J., Robbins, M., Lewis, C. A., Quigley, C. F., & Wheeler, C. (2004). Religiosity and general health among undergraduate students: A response to. Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 485–494.CrossRef

Hosseinkhanzadeh, A. A., & Niyazi, E. (2011). Investigate relationships between Religious orientation with public health and marital satisfaction among married students of University of Tehran. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 505–509.CrossRef

Hourani, L. L., Williams, J., Forman-Hoffman, V., Lane, M. E., Weimer, B., & Bray, R. M. (2012). Influence of spirituality on depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidality in active duty military personnel. Depression Research and Treatment, 2012, 425463.PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

King, M., Marston, L., McManus, S., Brugha, T., Meltzer, H., & Bebbington, P. (2013). Religion, spirituality and mental health: Results from a national study of English households. British Journal of Psychiatry, 202, 68–73.PubMedCrossRef

Kovacs, B. (2009). The relationship between burnout and religious belief among nuns serving as nurses. Psychiatria Hungarica, 24, 74–87.PubMed

Loo, R., & Shea, L. (1996). Structure of the Collett-Lester fear of death and dying scale. Death Studies, 20, 577–586.PubMedCrossRef

Mann, J. R., Mannan, J., Quinones, L. A., Palmer, A. A., & Torres, M. (2010). Religion, spirituality, social support, and perceived stress in pregnant and postpartum Hispanic women. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 39, 645–657.PubMedCrossRef

Neymotin, F., & Downing-Matibag, T. M. (2013). Religiosity and adolescents’ involvement with both drugs and sex. Journal of Religion and Health, 52, 550–569.PubMedCrossRef

Power, T. L., & Smith, S. M. (2008). Predictors of fear of death and self-mortality: An Atlantic Canadian perspective. Death Studies, 32, 253–272.PubMedCrossRef

Pressman, P., Lyons, J. S., Larson, D. B., & Strain, J. J. (1990). Religious belief, depression, and ambulation status in elderly women with broken hips. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 758–760.PubMedCrossRef

Roshi, E., Kamberi, A., Goda, A., & Burazeri, G. (2005). Myocardial infarction and religion: Hospital-based case–control study in Tirana, Albania. Croatian Medical Journal, 46, 977–983.PubMed

Sadeghi, M., Bagherzadeh Ladari, R., & Haghshenas, M. (2010). A study of religious attitude and mental health in students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, 20, 71–75.

Tartaro, J., Luecken, L. J., & Gunn, H. E. (2005). Exploring heart and soul: Effects of religiosity/spirituality and gender on blood pressure and cortisol stress responses. Journal of Health Psychology, 10, 753–766.PubMedCrossRef

Tuck, I., Alleyne, R., & Thinganjana, W. (2006). Spirituality and stress management in healthy adults. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 24, 245–253. (discussion 54–55).PubMedCrossRef

Yousofi, H. (2011). Human health and religious practices in Quran. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 2487–2490.CrossRef

Title: The Relationship Between Religious Attitudes, Fear of Death and Dying with General Health Condition: A Survey in College Students
Authors: Milad Nazarzadeh
Mandana Sarokhani
Kourosh Sayehmiri
Publication date: 01-10-2015
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 5/2015
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9903-6

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

Springer Medicine

The Relationship Between Religious Attitudes, Fear of Death and Dying with General Health Condition: A Survey in College Students

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 5/2015

The Effect of Holy Qur’an Recitation on Anxiety in Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Negative Religious Coping Predicts Disordered Eating Pathology Among Orthodox Jewish Adolescent Girls

Deviating from Religious Norms and the Mental Health of Conservative Protestants

Defining and Measuring Spirituality in South African Specialist Psychiatry

Pilot Study of Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking Among US Muslim College Students

Evil, Child Abuse and the Caring Professions