Spirituality, religiosity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Depression and anxiety were disorders evidenced during the - Coronavirus disease19 pandemic. In this study, these conditions were evaluated as a function of Spirituality/Religiosity, as well as private prayer practices and attendance at religious spaces. Spirituality and religiosity have been widely investigated as health promoters.

Methods:

A sample of 1,293 participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory Primary Care, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Religious Spiritual Coping Brief Scale, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The group was separated into Spirituality/Religiosity levels, prayer practices, and attendance at religious centers.

Results:

An ANOVA concluded that those who pray alone daily develop lower anxiety traits (F (8,133) = 7.885, p < 0.001) compared with individuals who pray once or twice a year. Participants who self-declared to be very spiritual exhibited fewer depressive symptoms (M = 2.57, SD = 2.88) compared to non-spiritual participants (M = 4.29, SD = 4.07, p < 0.001).

Conclusion:

In summary, Spirituality/Religiosity can positively impact mental health.

Keywords
Mental health; Neurosciences; Psychology; Religion

Explanatory variables		Total
Explanatory variables		n (1,293)	%
Region
	Southeast	768	59.4
	North East	194	15.0
	South	182	14.1
	Midwest	78	6.0
	North	71	5.5
Gender
	Female	931	71.9
	Male	362	28.1
Age Group
	Up to 29 years	361	27.9
	From 30 to 39 years old	393	30.4
	From 40 to 49 years old	319	24.7
	From 50 to 59 years old	169	13.1
	60 years or older	51	3.9
Education
	Postgraduate studies	785	60.7
	Higher Education	379	29.3
	High school	120	9.3
	Elementary School	9	0.7
Marital Status
	Single	635	49.1
	Married	496	38.3
	Widower	20	1.5
	Others	142	11.1
Religion
	Catholic	488	37.7
	Protestant	231	17.9
	Spiritist	208	16.0
	Atheist	80	6.2
	African matrix religions	75	5.8
	Agnostic	32	2.5
	I don’t know	99	7.7
	I don’t have	24	1.9
	Others	56	4.3

Scale/Type of practice		Group	M	SD	p
BDI-PC
	Private prayer	Never	3.72	3.75	0.001
		Always	2.63	3.17
	Prayer in community spaces	Never	3.77	3.68	0.001
		Always	1.99	2.50
STAI-T
	Private prayer	Sometimes	13.88	3.98	0.001
		Always	13.16	3.67
	Prayer in community spaces	Never	14.23	4.07	0.001
		Always	12.60	3.70
	Private prayer	Sometimes	15.63	3.48	0.001
		Always	13.65	3.76
STAI-S
	Prayer in community spaces	Never	14.03	4.02	0.001
		Always	12.71	3.20
PSC+
	Private prayer	Never	1.12	4.40	0.001
		Always	4.28	6.56
	Prayer in community spaces	Never	1.40	8.36	0.001
		Always	4.47	5.95

Scale	Level of religiosity		Significance		Effect size
Scale	Nothing religious M (SD)	Very religious M (SD)	t	p	d	Classification
BDI-PC	3.47 (3.73)	2.38 (2.67)	3.908	< 0.001	0.34	Small
STAI-T	13.96 (4.04)	13.05 (3.71)	2.726	0.007	0.23	Small
STAI-S	13.75 (3.94)	13.47 (3.64)	0.853	0.394	0.07	Irrelevant
PSC+	1.42 (1.12)	4.53 (0.95)	-21.388	< 0.001	1.86	Great
NSC-	1.20 (0.70)	1.25 (0.48)	-0.805.	0.422	0.08	Irrelevant

Scale	Level of spirituality		Significance		Effect size
Scale	No spiritual M (SD)	Very spiritual M (SD)	t	p	d	Classification
BDI-PC	4.29 (4.07)	2.57 (2.88)	6.952	< 0.001	0.49	Small
STAI-T	14.57 (3.87)	13.11 (3.73)	5.295	< 0.001	0.38	Small
STAI-E	14.62 (3.96)	13.66 (3.85)	3.397	< 0.001	0.25	Small
PSC+	1.85 (1.35)	4.18 (1.18)	-20.310	< 0.001	1.44	Great
PSC-	1.30 (0.80)	1.18 (0.58)	2.117	0.035	0.18	Irrelevant

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas Núcleo de Editoração SBI - Campus II, Av. John Boyd Dunlop, s/n. Prédio de Odontologia, 13060-900 Campinas - São Paulo Brasil, Tel./Fax: +55 19 3343-7223 - Campinas - SP - Brazil
E-mail: psychologicalstudies@puc-campinas.edu.br

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[1] Correspondence to: J. LANDEIRA-FERNANDEZ. E-mail: landeira@puc-rio.br.