The BENEFIT through spirituality/religiosity scale--a 6-item measure for use in health outcome studies

Spiritual Care

Die junge Disziplin widmet sich den Seelenkräften, die Heilung und Durchhaltewillen, Coping und Resilienz vermitteln. Das Wissen darum lässt sich vergleichsweise leicht in den Klinikalltag einbauen und verbessert oft die Atmosphäre für alle Beteiligten.

Does Religiosity/Spirituality Play a Role in Function, Pain-Related Beliefs, and Coping in Patients with Chronic Pain? A Systematic Review

This systematic review examined the extent to which measures of religiosity/spirituality (R/S): (1) are associated with pain, function, pain-related beliefs (beliefs), coping responses, and catastrophizing in people with chronic pain; and (2) moderate the association between beliefs, coping and catastrophizing, and pain and function. Experimental and observational studies examining at least one of these research questions in adults with chronic pain were eligible. Two reviewers independently performed eligibility screening, data extraction, and quality assessment. Twenty studies were included. Most studies focused on the association between R/S and pain or function. When significant associations emerged, those between R/S and psychological function were weak to strong and positive; those between religious/spiritual well-being and pain and physical dysfunction were negative, but weak. Few studies examined the associations between R/S and beliefs/coping/catastrophizing; none examined the moderation role of R/S. The findings suggest that R/S is associated with pain and psychological function in people with chronic pain, and that viewing oneself as being "spiritual," regardless of religion, may contribute to positive psychological adjustment. More research is needed to determine the reliability of this finding. PROSPERO registry CRD42018088803.

Gender Differences in Psychosocial, Religious, and Spiritual Aspects in Coping: A Cross-Sectional Study with Cancer Patients

Background: There is a growing awareness of religiosity and/or spirituality (R/S) as a possible resource in coping with cancer. Gender differences in religious coping have not yet been thoroughly examined. This study aimed to analyze differences in religious coping between men and women with cancer and compare the impact of R/S on anxiety and depression symptoms.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Divisions of Hematology and Oncology of the Medical University of Vienna. In total, 352 patients with a cancer diagnosis, who regarded themselves as religious and/or spiritual, were interviewed at Vienna's university hospital with standardized questionnaires. To answer our research questions, we used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Benefit Through Spirituality/Religiosity (Benefit) questionnaire, and collected demographic characteristics.

Results: Of 689 cancer patients, 51% (352) regard themselves as religious and/or spiritual. Women with cancer tend toward R/S more significantly (57%) than men (45%). In patients with an R/S belief, women scored higher in almost all items of the Benefit questionnaire and showed higher prevalence of anxiety (p < 0.001) and depression than men. Regarding the socioeconomic characteristics, more women were widowed, and had significantly lower income than men.

Conclusions: The results show a significant gender gap concerning the importance of R/S for cancer patients and the effect on psychological well-being.

Women in this study were more religious/spiritual than men and scored higher on anxiety and depression. We support the notion that the gender perspective is essential and can contribute to better patient care in identifying gender-specific concerns.

The Role of Spirituality in Pain, Function, and Coping in Individuals with Chronic Pain

OBJECTIVE

Chronic pain is a multidimensional experience associated with psychosocial (e.g., pain-related beliefs and pain coping responses) and spiritual factors. Spirituality is a universal aspect of the human experience that has been hypothesized to impact pain experience via its effects on pain, physical/psychological function, resilience and pain-related beliefs, and pain coping responses. However, research evaluating the associations between measures of spirituality and measures of pain and function in individuals with chronic pain is limited. This study seeks to address this limitation.

METHODS

Participants were 62 Portuguese adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Participants completed measures of spirituality, pain intensity, physical and psychological function, and pain coping responses.

RESULTS

Spirituality as hope and a positive perspective toward life was positively and moderately associated with better psychological function and coping responses of ignoring pain sensations and coping self-statements. Spirituality as a search for meaning and sense of purpose was positively and moderately associated with the coping response of task persistence.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest the possibility that spirituality may be a useful resource for facilitating psychological adjustment, potentially promoting the use of some adaptive pain coping responses.

The International NERSH Data Pool of Health Professionals' Attitudes Toward Religiosity and Spirituality in 12 Countries

The amount of research concerned with the values of health professionals (HPs) is steadily growing. Around the world HPs face similar challenges when patients express their existential and spiritual views. How HPs engage these views, and the degree of embedment into consultations, differ across cultures. Today, more than ever before, researchers in this field need to share experiences and build new knowledge upon local findings. To meet this demand, we founded the international collaboration "Network for Research on Spirituality and Health" ( https://NERSH.org ). One of the central projects of our network has been to build a large international data pool of health professionals' attitudes toward religiosity and spirituality. Today the data pool hosts answers from more than 6,000 health professionals from 17 separate surveys derived from 12 countries. Data were gathered by either the questionnaire "Religion and Spirituality in Medicine, Perspectives of Physicians" (RSMPP) or its successor 'NERSH Questionnaire'. In this article we describe the methodology behind the construction of the data pool. We also present an overview of five available scales related to HP religiosity and spirituality, including a description of scale reliability and dimensionality.

Utilized Resources of Hope, Orientation, and Inspiration in Life of Persons with Multiple Sclerosis and Their Association with Life Satisfaction, Adaptive Coping Strategies, and Spirituality

In a cross-sectional survey among 213 patients with multiple sclerosis, we intended to analyze their resources of hope, orientation, and inspiration in life, and how these resources are related to health-associated variables, adaptive coping strategies, and life satisfaction. Resources were categorized as Faith (10 %), Family (22 %), Other sources (16 %), and No answer (53 %). These non-respondents were predominantly neither religious nor spiritual (70 % R-S-). Although R-S- persons are a heterogeneous group with varying existential interest, they did not significantly differ from their spiritual/religious counterparts with respect to physical and mental health or life satisfaction, but for an adaptive Reappraisal strategy and Gratitude/Awe.

Perceived functional impairment and spirituality/religiosity as predictors of depression in a Sri Lankan spinal cord injury patient population

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study.

OBJECTIVES

To test the hypothesis that self-perceived functional impairment and religiosity/spirituality (S/R) predict depression among traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients in Sri Lanka.

SETTING

Ragama Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital, Ragama, Sri Lanka.

METHODS

The Spinal Cord Independence Measure, Benefit Through Spirituality/Religiosity Scale, Sheehan Disability Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) were administered to 61 consenting in-patients with traumatic SCI between June and July 2014. A linear regression model on BDI-II score was developed to examine the impact of self-perceived functional impairment and S/R activities on psychiatric outcomes in context of various sociodemographic variables.

RESULTS

Psychiatric consequences of SCI were reflected in a 41% prevalence of depression. Thirty-six percent (R²=0.36) of the variance in BDI-II scores (F(5, 55)=6.07, P<0.001) was explained by the regression model. Functional impairment (β=0.54, t(55)=4.73, P<0.001) and perceived benefit through S/R activities (β=-0.31, t(55)=-2.55, P<0.05) emerged as the strongest predictors for depression severity.

CONCLUSIONS

Perceived functional impairment in work, social and family domains predicted depressive symptomatology among SCI inpatients in Sri Lanka, while perceived benefit through S/R protected against depression. The findings emphasize the need for rehabilitative programming to support patients' S/R activities and mental wellbeing, promoting reintegration into their community roles.

Do spirituality and faith make a difference? Report from the Southern European Psycho-Oncology Study Group

Objective:

In the last decade, some attention has been given to spirituality and faith and their role in cancer patients' coping. Few data are available about spirituality among cancer patients in Southern European countries, which have a big tradition of spirituality, namely, the Catholic religion. As part of a more general investigation (Southern European Psycho-Oncology Study – SEPOS), the aim of this study was to examine the effect of spirituality in molding psychosocial implications in Southern European cancer patients.

Method:

A convenience sample of 323 outpatients with a diagnosis of cancer between 6 to 18 months, a good performance status (Karnofsky Performance Status > 80), and no cognitive deficits or central nervous system (CNS) involvement by disease were approached in university and affiliated cancer centers in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland (Italian speaking area). Each patient was evaluated for spirituality (Visual Analog Scale 0-10), psychological morbidity (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale— HADS), coping strategies (Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer — Mini-MAC) and concerns about illness (Cancer Worries Inventory — CWI).

Results. The majority of patients (79.3%) referred to being supported by their spirituality/faith throughout their illness. Significant differences were found between the spirituality and non-spirituality groups (p ≤ 0.01) in terms of education, coping styles, and psychological morbidity. Spirituality was significantly correlated with fighting spirit (r = −0.27), fatalism (r = 0.50), and avoidance (r = 0.23) coping styles and negatively correlated with education (r = −0.25), depression (r = −0.22) and HAD total (r = −0.17).

Significance of results:

Spirituality is frequent among Southern European cancer patients with lower education and seems to play some protective role towards psychological morbidity, specifically depression. Further studies should examine this trend in Southern European cancer patients.