Spirituality, religion, and health: An emerging research field.

The investigation of spiritual/religious factors in health is clearly warranted and clinically relevant. This special section explores the persistent predictive relationship between religious variables and health, and its implications for future research and practice. The section reviews epidemiological evidence linking religiousness to morbidity and mortality, possible biological pathways linking spirituality/religiousness to health, and advances in the assessment of spiritual/religious variables in research and practice. This introduction provides an overview of this field of research and addresses 3 related methodological issues: definitions of terms, approaches to statistical control, and criteria used to judge the level of supporting evidence for specific hypotheses. The study of spirituality and health is a true frontier for psychology and one with high public interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religion, Spirituality, and Health: A Topic Not So New.

Comments on (1) the article by W. R. Miller and C. E. Thoresen (see record 2003-02034-003), which states that the area of spirituality, religion and health is seen as an emerging field; and (2) the article by P. C. Hill and K. I. Pargament (see record 2003-02034-006), which states that conceptualization and measurement of religion as spirituality neglect to consider any of the definitional work that has been completed and reported at the summit conferences of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling. Richmond asserts that the authors limited their search for resource material. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Galton on Spirituality, Religion, and Health.

Comments on the four articles in the special section on spirituality, religion, and health in the January 2003 issue of American Psychologist (2003, Vol 58, 24-74). These articles acknowledged the long tradition of research in this area but cited no work prior to William James (1902) and Durkheim (1897/1951). This is a pity, as Francis Galton, the father of differential psychology, published pioneering works 30 years earlier in his book Hereditary Genius (1869) and in a paper titled "Statistical Inquiries Into the Efficacy of Prayer" (1872). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Review of the Role of Religion and Spirituality in Chronic Pain Populations.

Objective: To review the current literature on the relation between religiosity-spirituality and health outcomes in chronic pain populations, to discuss the clinical implications of this research, and to provide suggestions for future studies. Conclusions: Additional religion-spirituality research and clinical intervention with chronic pain populations is warranted for several reasons. First, many persons with chronic pain use religious and spiritual beliefs and activities to cope with pain. Second, a relation between religion-spirituality and various health outcomes has been documented. Third, there is a lack of research on potential mediators of the relation between religion-spirituality and health in chronic pain populations. Fourth, well-designed spiritual or religious behavioral interventions for patients with chronic pain are sparse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religion and health.

Comments on the article by M. E. McCullough, et al. (see record 2000-03769-001) which concluded that religious involvement was significantly associated with lower mortality, indicating that people high in religious involvement were more likely to be alive at follow-up than people lower in religious involvement. The authors argue that the relationship between religious involvement and mortality is weak or nonexistent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spirituality, Health, and the Discipline of Psychology.

Replies to comments by D. J. McCormick (see record 2004-10043-013), L. J. Richmond (see record 2004-10043-014), C. A. Rayburn (see record 2004-10043-015), and F. J. Kier and D. S. Davenport (see record 2004-10043-016) on the special section on spirituality, religion, and health in the January 2003 issue of American Psychologist (2003, Vol 58, 24-74). Each of the comments is addressed in turn. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious and spiritual issues in psychotherapy practice: Training the trainer.

Psychology's interest in religion and spirituality has greatly increased over the past few decades, and it has inspired the development of substantial scholarship in these areas. However, there continues to be a paucity of efforts to integrate this emerging scholarship into training programs. The author explores the historical and ideological context of psychotherapists' reluctance to address religious and spiritual issues in their academic programs and clinical practices. The article also offers seasoned psychotherapists concrete suggestions regarding how to enhance their religious and spiritual competencies with the aim of facilitating both the training of emerging psychotherapists and the treatment of religious and spiritual clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Rorschach: Facts, fictions, and future.

A large body of empirical evidence supports the reliability, validity, and utility of the Rorschach. This same evidence reveals that the recent criticisms of the Rorschach are largely without merit. This article systematically addresses several significant Rorschach components: interrater and temporal consistency reliability, normative data and diversity, methodological issues, specific applications in the evaluation of thought disorder and suicide, meta-analyses, incremental validity, clinician judgment, patterns of use, and clinical utility. Strengths and weaknesses of the test are addressed, and research recommendations are made. This information should give the reader both an appreciation for the substantial, but often overlooked, research basis for the Rorschach and an appreciation of the challenges that lie ahead. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health Service Use Predictors Among Trauma Survivors: A Critical Review.

This article had 2 aims: (a) to comprehensively review and synthesize the literature on predictors of health service utilization in survivors of traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients and (b) to discuss methodological issues in examining service utilization in this population. PsycINFO was searched for relevant articles published through April 2004. Included studies had to primarily sample trauma survivors or PTSD patients and statistically explore health service use determinants. Although some findings conflicted across studies, increased mental health service use was generally related to being female, having a previous trauma history, and having a PTSD diagnosis. Increased medical service use was found among those with a PTSD diagnosis. Methodological recommendations are made for future health service use studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health and development: Section introduction.

The articles in this section point to directions for action regarding children's health and their emotional and developmental well-being. More than this, the authors describe the kinds of problems children face and why they arise. Equally important, all acknowledge the progress already made. The 11 articles in this section are grouped into two major categories: the first pertains to risks to children's mental health and behavior, and the second deals with risk factors and risk-taking behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unaddressed Problems in the Study of Spirituality and Health.

Comments on the four articles in the special section on spirituality, religion, and health in the January 2003 issue of American Psychologist (2003, Vol 58, 24-74). These articles did not address, or did not address adequately, three issues that are fundamental to the question of studying religion and mental health. First, the question of the control groups for the research studies that were cited was hardly mentioned. Second, this line of research is focused heavily on the Judeo-Christian majority. Perhaps the biggest problem with this line of research is that the writers did not seem to provide safeguards that would preclude the general public and the press from taking their conclusions out of context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal religious practice, risky behavior, and implementation intentions among adolescents.

The benefits of religiousness for promoting well-being and avoiding risky behaviors has long been noted, especially for adolescents, but a precise understanding of the mechanism underlying this effect on risky behaviors has not yet been developed. We hypothesized that religious practices help religious adolescents form implementation intentions (IIs) when pursuing decisions and goals to avoid risky behaviors. We predicted that participants with higher rates of private religious practice would generate greater numbers and higher quality IIs to avoid risky behaviors relative to other participants. In this preliminary exploration, 50 college students completed assessments of private religious practices, risk–benefit evaluations about risky scenarios, and the number and quality of IIs they could generate to avoid risk in those scenarios. Results supported our predictions: After controlling for age and gender, participants who engaged more frequently in private religious practice were able to generate both more and higher quality IIs about avoiding risky scenarios. This provides initial support for the hypothesis that religiousness may protect against risky behaviors by enhancing the abilities of religious adolescents to form IIs to avoid risky behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Indonesian adolescents' spiritual and religious experiences and their longitudinal relations with socioemotional functioning.

The spirituality and religiosity of Indonesian Muslim adolescents were examined longitudinally as were the relations of spirituality and religiosity with (mal)adjustment. At Time 1 (T1), 959 seventh-grade Muslim adolescents were screened for selection of a sample; at Time 2 (T2), 183 eighth-grade adolescents participated; and at Time 3 (T3), 300 ninth-grade adolescents (164 new participants) participated. At T1, adolescents' peer likeability was assessed; at T2, adolescents' global and cognitive esteem were measured; and at T2 and T3, adolescents' (mal)adjustment, spirituality, and religiosity were assessed. Adolescents and parents rated aspects of (mal)adjustment, spirituality, and religiosity. Teachers also rated adolescents' (mal)adjustment. In general, we found that T2 spirituality and religiosity were positively related to T3 adjustment and negatively related to T3 maladjustment, although in panel models, support for prediction of outcomes from spirituality and religiosity was found only for loneliness and socially appropriate behavior. In addition, there was some evidence in the models that certain aspects of (mal)adjustment (self-esteem and social competence, and to a marginal degree, parent-rated internalizing problems and teacher-rated prosociality) predicted spirituality and religiosity longitudinally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociality, Spirituality, and Meaning Making: Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study.

Scientific theories in the natural sciences posit invisible forces operating with measurable effects on physical bodies, but the scientific study of invisible forces acting on human bodies has made limited progress. The topics of sociality, spirituality, and meaning making are cases in point. The authors discuss some of the possible reasons for this as well as contemporary developments in the social sciences and neurosciences that may make such study possible and productive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

(In)visible men: Emerging research on low-income, unmarried, and minority fathers.

The author aims to help make low-income, unmarried, and minority fathers more visible by reviewing the emerging literature base on this population and addressing important conceptual, methodological, and policy issues. Recent evidence is reviewed concerning patterns of fatherhood, factors that support or prohibit fathers' active involvement with their children, and the impact of paternal involvement on children's development. To move the field forward, advances are needed in methodology (increased use of father reports, multiple methods, and longitudinal studies), measurement (greater diversity and depth, multiple reporters), and theoretical and conceptual definitions (family systems perspectives, new and inclusive definitions of fatherhood). In particular, a multidisciplinary and contextualized perspective is an imperative aid to significantly increase understanding of the lives and impact of low-income, unmarried, and minority fathers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious Participation, Interleukin-6, and Mortality in Older Adults.

This study prospectively examined the relationship between religious attendance, interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, and mortality rates in a community-based sample of 557 older adults. Attending religious services more than once weekly was a significant predictor of lower subsequent 12-year mortality and elevated IL-6 levels (> 3.19 pg/mL), with a mortality ratio of .32 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.15,0.72; p     

A survey of clinical psychologists on treating lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients.

Should the average psychologist receive specific training on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) concerns? On the basis of a random sample of practicing psychologists, LGB clients are present in most caseloads. Respondents rated the most important therapeutic issues with LGB clients and identified training that would improve their work with LGB clients (including the topics of coming out, estrangement from family, support system development, and internalized homophobia). In addition, participants reported on the types of training that they are getting (most frequently reading articles, supervision, and continuing education). The implications for training programs and private practitioners are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religion in the home in the 1980s and 1990s: A meta-analytic review and conceptual analysis of links between religion, marriage, and parenting.

The authors reviewed 94 studies published in journals since 1980 on religion and marital or parental functioning. Meta-analytic techniques were used to quantify religion-family associations examined in at least 3 studies. Greater religiousness appeared to decrease the risk of divorce and facilitate marital functioning, but the effects were small. Greater Christian conservatism was modestly associated with greater endorsement and use of corporal punishment with preadolescents. Isolated findings suggested that greater parental religiousness relates to more positive parenting and better child adjustment. The scope, meaningfulness, and potential strength of findings were restricted because of reliance on global or single-item measures of religious and family domains. To facilitate more conceptually and methodologically sophisticated research, the authors delineated mechanisms by which the substantive and psychosocial elements of religion could benefit or harm family adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Independent practice in child and adolescent psychotherapy in small communities: Personal, professional, and ethical issues.

This article addresses issues faced by independent practicing child and adolescent psychotherapists in small-town settings. A community approach to delivering services is stressed. Personal, professional and ethical dilemmas are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)