Children with asthma and their families' viewpoints on spiritual and psychological resources in adaptation with the disease

The Association between Bullying Victimization and Subjective Well-Being among Children: Does the Role of Child Religiosity Matter?

Bullying is a major risk factor for poor psychological development for both children and adolescents worldwide. The current study, based on data from the International Survey of Children's Well-Being (ISCWeB), explores the association between bullying victimization and subjective well-being as well as the moderating role of the child religiosity in this context among a sample of 2733 children aged 10-12 years old in Israel. Data was collected from children using self-reporting questionnaires, adopting a random stratified sampling method. A PROCESS moderation analysis was performed using SPSS for assessing the part played by child religiosity in moderating bullying victimization and the subjective well-being of children. This produced two key findings: first, children's subjective well-being is negatively associated with bullying victimization; second, children's religiosity serves as a protective factor by moderating the association between the child's bullying victimization and subjective well-being. In light of the results, we recommend professionals who work with children to incorporate spiritual and religious resources into school-based interventions aiming at strengthening the child's inner resilience and help overcome difficulties in their lives, based on a religious coping strategies.

Inpatient pediatric chaplain service utilization among children with chronic, non-cancer diseases

Despite the broad importance of pediatric spiritual care, most research focuses on oncologic and palliative care contexts. We aim to describe the utilization of pediatric chaplain services by children hospitalized for non-cancer chronic illnesses and to identify factors that predict utilization of chaplain services. Among 629 patients with 915 admissions, we found chaplain services were utilized in 5.0% of admissions. Utilization was similar between religiously affiliated patients (7.5%, 95%CI [5.3-10.6%]) and un-affiliated patients (6.4%, [3.6-11.0%]). Christian patients (7.3% [5.1-10.5%]) demonstrated similar utilization as non-Christian patients (7.0% [4.3-11.2%]). Utilization was significantly higher among patients with LOS >2 days (10.8% [7.9-14.6%]), compared to LOS ≤2 (1.7% [0.9-3.1%]). These results may represent an addressable gap in spiritual care, and they highlight an opportunity for pediatric chaplains to play a larger role in the holistic care of hospitalized children with chronic diseases, regardless of religious affiliation.

Factors promoting Iranian older adults' spirituality: a qualitative content analysis

Background

Spirituality plays an important role during old age, but reveals itself as a confounding mental health concept, which needs to be defined when providing spiritual care. The purpose of this study was to explore factors promoting Iranian older adults’ spirituality.

Method

In a qualitative content analysis approach, we searched for the factors promoting spirituality among a selection of Iranian older adults. Totally, 22 people aged above 60 years old were interviewed using open-ended questions. The recorded interviews were then transcribed, and a coding process was applied based on a qualitative, conventional content analysis.

Results

Three key factors were found to promote the spirituality among the older adults: 1) insight in personal belief, 2) spiritual socialization, and 3) peace of mind. Traditional dimensions, the cultural surroundings, and participants’ religious beliefs were apparent in each of the categories.

Conclusion

Society’s role in making the seniors spiritual role models was very important; moreover the hereafter life on religious grounds seemed to be another important factor in reaching for high levels of spiritual and mystical perfection. Educational interventions based on the elders’ needs for spiritual empowering by health care professionals especially with regards to their spiritual based social interactions and reaching peace of mind, will comprise a major part of wellness approaches.