Dimensions of Religiousness and Spirituality as Predictors of Well-Being in Advanced Chronic Heart Failure Patients

We examined relationships between seven dimensions of religion/spirituality (RS) (forgiveness, daily spiritual experiences, belief in afterlife, religious identity, religious support, public practices, and positive RS coping) and three dimensions of well-being (physical, mental, and existential) in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion and health 2014-04, Vol.53 (2), p.579-590
Main Authors: Park, Crystal L., Lim, Haikel, Newlon, Max, Suresh, D. P., Bliss, Deborah E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological - physiology
Afterlife
Aged
Aging
Attitude to Health
Chronic Disease
Clinical Psychology
Congestive heart failure
Death
Depressive disorders
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Forgiveness
Heart failure
Heart Failure - psychology
Humans
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental health
Ohio
Original Paper
Psychometrics
Public Health
Quality of life
Religion
Religion & psychology
Religion and Psychology
Religious Studies
Severity of Illness Index
Spiritual belief systems
Spirituality
Surveys and Questionnaires
Wellbeing
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Summary:We examined relationships between seven dimensions of religion/spirituality (RS) (forgiveness, daily spiritual experiences, belief in afterlife, religious identity, religious support, public practices, and positive RS coping) and three dimensions of well-being (physical, mental, and existential) in a sample of 111 patients with advanced chronic heart failure. Participants completed questionnaires at baseline and 3 months later. Results showed that fairly high levels of RS were reported on all seven dimensions. Furthermore, RS dimensions were differentially related to well-being. No aspect of RS was related to physical well-being, and only a few aspects were related to mental well-being. Forgiveness was related to less subsequent depression, while belief in afterlife was related to poorer mental health. All aspects of RS were related to at least one aspect of existential well-being. In particularly, daily spiritual experiences were linked with higher existential well-being and predicted less subsequent spiritual strain. These results are consistent with the view that in advanced disease, RS may not affect physical well-being but may have potent influences on other aspects of well-being, particularly existential aspects.
ISSN:0022-4197
1573-6571
DOI:10.1007/s10943-013-9714-1