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Many published studies examining these correlations, but most of these research articles require subscriptions to the journals or pub-med access. Here are a few sample abstracts, which are publically available on medline. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2006 May;194(5):349-55. |
Childhood physical abuse and differential development of paranormal belief systems.
Perkins SL , Allen R .
New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons. New York, New York 10032, USA.
This study compared paranormal belief systems in individuals with and without childhood physical abuse histories. The Revised Paranormal Belief Scale and the Assessing Environments III Questionnaire were completed by 107 University students. Psi, precognition, and spiritualism, which are thought to provide a sense of personal efficacy and control, were among the most strongly held beliefs in abused subjects, and were significantly higher in abused versus nonabused subjects. Superstition and extraordinary life forms, thought to have an inverse or no relation to felt control, were the least strongly held beliefs in abused subjects, and, along with religious beliefs, did not differ between the two abuse groups. Witchcraft was unexpectedly found to be the most strongly held belief among those with abuse histories. Results suggest that by providing a sense of control, certain paranormal beliefs may offer a powerful emotional refuge to individuals who endured the stress of physical abuse in childhood.
| J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2006 May;61(3):S121-8. |
Braam AW , Bramsen I , van Tilburg TG , van der Ploeg HM , Deeg DJ .
Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [email protected]
OBJECTIVES: Gerotranscendence has been conceptualized as a potential development accompanying normal aging. Gerotranscendence is defined as a shift in metaperspective from a materialistic and pragmatic world view to a more cosmic and transcendent one. In the past decade, population-based studies have tested Tornstam's Gerotranscendence Scale. Its Cosmic Transcendence subscale, in particular, emerged as consistent. The aim of the present study was to examine (a) how cosmic transcendence relates to having a framework of meaning in life and (b) whether religiousness and demographic characteristics influence possible relationships. METHODS: Participants were 928 older Dutch adults who responded to a questionnaire that included the Cosmic Transcendence scale, aspects of religiousness, and the Framework of Meaning in Life subscale of the Life Regard Index. RESULTS: A substantial, positive association between cosmic transcendence and framework of meaning in life was observed. This association was much more pronounced among participants who were less involved in religion, who were women, who were age 75 or older, or who were widowed. DISCUSSION: The current study indicates that the personal relevance of cosmic transcendence depends on cultural factors such as secularization. Furthermore, cosmic transcendence seems to unfold as an important domain in the life view of women, the older old, and the widowed.
| Psychiatr Pol. 2005 Sep-Oct;39(5):869-81. |
Tomczak P .
Zaklad Terapii Rodzin Katedry Psychiatrii CM UJ.
AIMS: (1) The correlations between various aspects of religiousness and age, span of treatment, rate of therapy, anxiety-state, anxiety-trait, locus of control, and self-rating of the state of self-feeling, and the state of feeling of illness, and quality of life in the group of patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and in the group of healthy persons, and (2) the comparison of various aspects of religiousness of patients with schizophrenia and healthy persons were studied. METHODS. The Individual Religiousness Scale, Scale of Christian Religiousness, Intrinsic, Extrinsic and Quest Religious Orientation Scales, Scale of Fundamentalism, Rotter's questionnaire of locus of control, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, visual analogy of self-feeling, visual analogy of feeling of illness, questionnaire of quality of life--WHOQOL-BREF--were used in the study. 61 adults of both sexes, 30 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD-10 and DCR-10 in the diagnostic group and 31 healthy persons were studied. Groups were similar in the terms of age, sex, education, abode, social conditions, professional status, civil state and denomination. RESULTS: It was noted, that: (1) intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness correlates with age in both groups and with span of treatment in the diagnostic group, but only intrinsic religiousness correlates with the rate of therapy; the locus of control increases with a decrease of orthodox religiousness in the diagnostic group and with ethical aspects of religion in the group of healthy individuals; state of anxiety is correlated backwards with orthodox religiousness in the diagnostic group; (2) patients diagnosed as having schizophrenia have a significantly higher level of extrinsic religiousness and fundamentalism than healthy individuals: (3) there was many results pointed out in bibliography, that had no verification in these studies. CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge about the religiousness of schizophrenia patients can be important for the diagnostic and therapeutic process in this disorder, therefore further studies on these characteristics are necessary.
| Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2006 Feb-Mar;27(2):161-83. |
Wong YJ , Rew L , Slaikeu KD .
The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78701, USA.
There is accumulating evidence that religiosity/spirituality (R/S) are important correlates of mental health in adult populations. However, the associations between R/S and mental heath in adolescent populations have not been systematically studied. The purpose of this article is to report on a systematic review of recent research on the relationships between adolescent R/S and mental health. Twenty articles between 1998 and 2004 were reviewed. Most studies (90%) showed that higher levels of R/S were associated with better mental health in adolescents. Institutional and existential dimensions of R/S had the most robust relationships with mental health. The relationships between R/S and mental health were generally stronger or more unique for males and older adolescents than for females and younger adolescents. Recommendations for future research and implications for mental health nursing are discussed.
| Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2004 Nov-Dec;26(6):484-6. |
McClain-Jacobson C , Rosenfeld B , Kosinski A , Pessin H , Cimino JE , Breitbart W .
Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458, USA. [email protected]
Despite the plethora of research linking spirituality, religiosity and psychological well-being among people living with medical illnesses, the role of afterlife beliefs on psychological functioning has been virtually ignored. The present investigation assessed afterlife beliefs, spiritual well-being and psychological functioning at the end of life among 276 terminally ill cancer patients. Results indicated that belief in an afterlife was associated with lower levels of end-of-life despair (desire for death, hopelessness and suicidal ideation) but was not associated with levels of depression or anxiety. Further analyses indicated that when spirituality levels were controlled for, the effect of afterlife beliefs disappeared. The authors concluded that spirituality has a much more powerful effect on psychological functioning than beliefs held about an afterlife. Treatment implications are discussed
| Psychol Rep. 1997 Dec;81(3 Pt 1):827-31. |
Maltby J .
School of Health and Community Studies, Sheffield Hallam University, England.
This study examined the relationship between measures of personal religiosity (religious attitude, frequency of personal prayer), a measure of public religiosity (church attendance), and the Abbreviated form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire among 216 adults in the Republic of Ireland. A significant negative correlation was found between scores on psychoticism and on the three measures of religiosity among men (religious attitude, -.36; frequency of personal prayer, -.40; and frequency of church attendance, -.30) and among women (religious attitude, -.40; frequency of personal prayer, -.47; and frequency of church attendance, -.31). No significant relationship was found between any of the religiosity measures and the other measures contained within the Eysenck scores. A further analysis of the data suggests that the relationship for measures of public religiosity with low psychoticism is only a facet of the relationship between public and personal religiosity. These findings add to a growing body of research which locates religiosity within the psychoticism dimension of Eysenck's model of personality and adds to prior suggestions that this approach is applicable only to personal aspects of religiosity.
| Psychiatry. 1987 Feb;50(1):55-71. |
Spero MH .
Revitalized interest in the clinical complexities of psychotherapy with religious patients (for example, Bradford 1984; Lovinger 1984; Spero 1985a; Stern 1985) has drawn attention to the need for perspectives on religious personality development that account for healthy and adaptational aspects as well as psychopathological aspects of particular forms and levels of religious beliefs, enabling more creative, enriching psychotherapy. This search represents movement beyond the significance of infantile wish-fulfillment aspects of religiosity toward the broader domain of ego functioning and quality of object relations. Rizzuto (1976, 1979) and McDargh (1983) emphasize qualitative similarities between interpersonal object representations and God representations. Elkind (1971), using a Piagetian model, views religious beliefs and rituals as forms of constructive adaptation to normal cognitive needs for conservation, representation, symbols of relation, and comprehension. Meissner (1984) highlights the role of God concepts as transitional phenomena. In earlier papers, I have demonstrated the relationship between patients' use of religious themes and legends, quality of psychosexual and object relational achievements, and the consolidation of religious identity (Spero 1982a,b, 1986a,b). Throughout the preceding there is unequivocal recognition that religious development recapitulates many important aspects of healthy psychological development, and that in the case of pathological or dysfunctional religiosity something has gone wrong in an otherwise normal process. There is need to understand and if necessary distinguish between the development of religious belief in individuals whose ideological commitment is relatively constant from earliest childhood and its development in those who adopt or modify religious belief in later life, in conjunction with the many technical implications for psychotherapy. Clinical experience has taught that the process of religious change in later life represents a significant psychosocial crisis, requiring certain important psychological tasks in order to achieve successful resolution. In some instances, generally when there are preexisting difficulties or psychiatric disorders, the process of ideological change, either at the onset or during subsequent stages, takes on psychopathological momentum and quality. Clinicians who intervene at this juncture are confronted with patients whose primary complaints include malfunction in their religious lives or misuse of religious metaphor or behavior enmeshed with mild to serious personality disorder.(