Religiosity and prevalence of suicide, psychiatric disorders and psychotic symptoms in the French general population

Incidence of mental disorders and its predictors among air force personnel exposed to counter-insurgency operations in a West African country: a 6-month follow-up study

BACKGROUND

Despite robust reports in the literature concerning the effect of exposure to combat on mental health, there is a paucity of studies in the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) using a longitudinal design. This study was designed to determine the incidence of mental disorders among a cohort of NAF personnel exposed to combat and highlight its association with psychosocio-religious variables.

METHODS

It was a follow-up study using a total population sampling in which all the 290 deployed personnel participated. Data was collected at two intervals: Baseline and 6 months after with sociodemographic questionnaire, Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory, the Brief Religious Coping, the Oslo Social Support Scale and the Big Five Inventory, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI-Plus). A two-staged process involving screening with the GHQ and a further diagnostic interview using MINI-Plus for participants with a GHQ score of 2 and above.

RESULTS

The incidence of any mental disorder was 243.1 per 1000 person-years. The top three priority conditions were: Substance use disorder (94.1 per 1000 person-years), major depressive disorder (43.8 per 1000 person-years) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (41.6 per 1000 person-years). Being deployed in early adulthood was a risk factor for developing a mental illness (adjusted OR (AOR), (95% CI): 2.89, (1.28, 6.50), p=0.01) while longer duration in the military service was a protective factor (AOR, (95% CI): 0.95, (0.91, 0.99), p=0.03). Social support, personality traits, religious coping and other coping strategies did not significantly predict mental disorders in this population (p>0.05).

CONCLUSION

The incidence of any mental disorder among NAF personnel exposed to combat was huge. The three top priority conditions were substance use disorder, major depressive disorder and PTSD. These findings are useful in identifying priority conditions for interventions in the NAF population.

Beyond Belief and Practice: An Exploratory Literature Review and Discussion of the Differential Impact of Spirituality and Religiosity on Mental Health Disorders

The relationship between spirituality and religiosity and their impact on mental health is intricate and underexplored. This exploratory review aims to elucidate the distinct effects of these constructs, highlighting their contributions to psychological well-being and clinical practices. By dissecting the impacts of spirituality and religiosity on mental health, the study focuses on their individual and combined roles in shaping therapeutic approaches and theoretical understandings in the field. A literature review was conducted using PubMed, focusing on articles discussing spirituality, religiosity, and their intersection with mental health and psychopathology. Out of 312 identified articles, 69 peer-reviewed articles were included after screening for relevance. The results indicate that spirituality and religiosity significantly influence mental health yet are often conflated, leading to research inconsistencies and clinical challenges. Spirituality, as a broad and individualistic pathway, enhances personal well-being and resilience, often transcending organized religious practices. In contrast, religiosity, with its structured community support, sometimes imposes constraints that exacerbate stress under specific doctrinal pressures. Neurobiological evidence suggests that both constructs interact with cognitive processes and brain function, influencing emotional regulation and stress response. The study concludes that distinguishing between spirituality and religiosity is essential for precise academic discourse and effective clinical practice. This differentiation allows for more personalized therapeutic approaches, accommodating an individual's spiritual and religious contexts. The authors propose a refined framework for future research and therapeutic applications to be sensitive to the nuanced experiences of individuals and to better tailor interventions in clinical settings.

Religion and mental health in young adulthood: a register-based study on differences by religious affiliation in sickness absence due to mental disorders in Finland

BACKGROUND

Religiosity and spirituality are known to be positively correlated with health. This is the first study to analyse the interrelation between religious denomination and sickness absence due to mental disorders using population register data with detailed ICD codes.

METHODS

The follow-up study was based on the entire population born in Finland between 1984 and 1996 (N=794 476). Each person was observed from age 20 over the period from 2004 to 2018. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to analyse the association between religious denomination and first-time sickness allowance receipts for any cause and mental disorder. Mental disorders were categorised as severe mental illness (F20-F31), depression (F32-F33), anxiety (F40-F48) and any other mental disorder (all other F codes). Men and women were analysed separately.

RESULTS

The differences in sickness absence due to mental disorder were substantial between religious affiliations. Compared with members of the Evangelical Lutheran state church, the relative hazard for mental disorders among non-affiliated women was 1.34 (95% CI 1.30 to 1.39), while that among women with other religions was 1.27 (95% CI 1.19 to 1.35), after adjusting for own and parental characteristics. The corresponding numbers for men were 1.45 (95% CI 1.39 to 1.50) and 1.42 (95% CI 1.30 to 1.54), respectively. The gradient was larger for severe mental illness and depression than for anxiety and other mental disorders. For any cause of sickness absence, there was no difference between Lutherans, non-affiliated individuals and those with other religions.

CONCLUSIONS

Epidemiologists and public health practitioners should further examine the association between mental disorders and church membership using administrative registers.

The role of religiosity types in the phenomenology of hallucinations: A large cross-sectional community-based study in a predominantly Muslim society

Religiosity is a multidimensional construct known to influence the occurrence of hallucinations. However, it remains unknown how different religiosity types affect clinically relevant phenomenological features of hallucinations. Therefore, we wished to explore associations between intrinsic and extrinsic (non-organizational and organizational) religiosity and hallucinations severity, distress or impact on daily function in a non-clinical Muslim population. We recruited a representative sample of full-time students at Qatar's only national university via systematic random sampling and administered the Questionnaire of Psychotic Experiences online. The study design was cross-sectional. Using structural equation modeling, we estimated effects of the religiosity types on hallucinations severity, distress or impact on daily function in the past week while accounting for sociodemographic variables, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and, delusions. Extrinsic non-organizational religiosity (ENORG) was associated with experiencing reduced distress or impact on daily function from hallucinations both directly and indirectly through intrinsic religiosity. In contrast, extrinsic non-organizational religiosity (EORG) was associated with increased hallucinations distress or impact albeit only through higher intrinsic religiosity. We found no association between any religiosity types and hallucinations severity. Younger and married participants from lower socio-economic class had comparatively more severe hallucinations and more distress from them. Qatari nationality was positively associated EORG and negatively associated with hallucinations distress or impact. Evidence of differential associations between the religiosity types, socioeconomic and cultural groups, and distress or impact from past week's hallucinations supports the importance of alignment between religious, mental health, and well-being education.

The Prevalence of Symptomatology and Risk Factors in Mental Health in Mexico: The 2016-17 ENCODAT Cohort

There is little recent information about the prevalence of symptomatology of mental health disorders in representative population samples in Mexico. To determine the prevalence of mental health symptoms in Mexico and its comorbidity with tobacco, alcohol, and drug use disorder (SUD), we used the 2016-17 National Survey of Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco Use (Encuesta Nacional de Consumo de Drogas, Alcohol y Tabaco, ENCODAT 2016-2017). The data were collected from households using a cross-sectional, stratified, multistage design, with a confidence level of 90% and a response rate of 73.6%. The final sample included 56,877 completed interviews of individuals aged 12-65, with a subsample of 13,130 who answered the section on mental health. Symptoms of mania and hypomania (7.9%), depression (6.4%), and post-traumatic stress (5.7%) were the three main problems reported. Of this subsample, 56.7% reported using a legal or illegal drug without SUD, 5.4% reported SUD at one time on alcohol, 0.8% on tobacco, and 1.3% on medical or illegal drugs, 15.9% reported symptoms related to mental health, and 2.9% comorbidity. The prevalence found is consistent with those reported in previous studies, except for an increase in post-traumatic stress, which is consistent with the country's increase in trauma.

Purpose in Life and Character Strengths as Predictors of Health Sciences Students' Psychopathology During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND

Health sciences students experience high levels of psychopathology conditioned by psychosocial, financial, and academic factors. However, COVID-19 pandemic might even have worsened their mental health. Thus, this article aims to evaluate how the exposure to COVID-19 pandemic has affected these students' mental health and to determine the effect of purpose in life and character strengths on this psychopathology.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study of unpaired samples was carried out in Spain during the first and third waves of the pandemic in 70 medical and 52 nursing students.

RESULTS

The risk factor that most determined the appearance of anxiety was the exposure of family and friends to COVID-19 (OR = 4.01; p < 0.001), while the most protective factors were honesty (OR = -1.14; p = 0.025) and purpose in life (OR = -0.18; p < 0.001). Purpose in life also protected against the onset of depression and total psychopathology. In addition, we observed studying medicine was a protective factor against total psychopathology while being a nursing student was associated with high levels of acute stress.

CONCLUSION

Exposure of the students' family and friends to SARS-CoV-2 favored the appearance of symptoms of anxiety. Honesty had a preventing role in the onset of anxiety and a high purpose in life was protective against the appearance of anxiety, depression, and total psychopathology.

Relationship of religion with suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempt, and suicide death: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Suicide is a significant public health problem and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The effect of religion on suicidal behaviors (i.e., ideation, plan, attempt, and death) is an important issue worthy of consideration.

METHODS

Major electronic databases, including MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus, were searched for the articles published until 26 April 2021. Reference lists were also screened. Observational studies addressing the associations between religion and suicidal behaviors were also examined. Between-study heterogeneity was investigated using the χ2, τ2, and I2 statistics. The probability of publication bias was explored using the Begg and Egger tests, as well as trim-and-fill analysis. The effect size was expressed as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using a random-effects model.

RESULTS

Out of 11 389 identified studies, 63 articles were eligible, involving 8,053,697 participants. There was an inverse association between religion and suicidal ideation OR  =  0.83 (95% CI: 0.78, 0.88; P &lt; 0.001), suicidal plan OR  =  0.93 (95% CI: 0.83, 1.04; P =  0.200), suicide attempt OR  =  0.84 (95% CI: 0.79, 0.89; P &lt; 0.001), and completed suicide OR  =  0.31 (95% CI: 0.14, 0.72; P =  0.006). There was a no evidence of publication bias.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this meta-analysis support the notion that religion can play a protective role against suicidal behaviors. Nonetheless, the effect of religion on suicidal behaviors varies across countries with different religions and cultures. Although this association does not necessarily imply causation, an awareness of the relationship between religion and suicide risk can be of great help in suicide prevention policies and programs.

Spirituality, religiousness, and mental health: A review of the current scientific evidence

Research in the field of “Spirituality and Health” has been growing, with spirituality/religiousness (S/R) being consistently related to both physical and mental health. The objective of this article is to provide an updated review of the current scientific evidence on the relationship between S/R and mental health, highlighting the most important studies. As a secondary objective, the mechanisms that explain this relationship and the interventions that utilize this information in treating mental disorders will be discussed. The findings reveal a large body of evidence across numerous psychiatric disorders. Although solid evidence is now available for depression, suicidality, and substance use, other diagnosis, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, and anxiety, have also shown promising results. The effects of S/R on mental health are likely bidirectional, and the manner in which religious beliefs are used to cope with distress (i.e. negative and positive), may affect mental health outcomes. Despite these findings, the mechanisms that explain these associations and the role of S/R interventions need further study. Concerning clinical practice, mental health providers should ask patients about S/R that are important in their lives to provide holistic and patient-centered care.