To determine: (1) differences in spirituality, religiosity, personality, and health for different faith traditions; and (2) the relative degree to which demographic, spiritual, religious, and personality variables simultaneously predict health outcomes for different faith traditions. Cross-sectional analysis of 160 individuals from five different faith traditions including Buddhists (40), Catholics (41), Jews (22), Muslims (26), and Protestants (31). Brief multidimensional measure of religiousness/spirituality (BMMRS; Fetzer in Multidimensional measurement of religiousness/spirituality for use in health research, Fetzer Institute, Kalamazoo, 1999); NEO-five factor inventory (NEO-FFI; in Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO PI-R) and the NEO-five factor inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual, Psychological Assessment Resources, Odessa, Costa and McCrae 1992); Medical outcomes scale-short form (SF-36; in SF-36 physical and mental health summary scores: A user's manual, The Health Institute, New England Medical Center, Boston, Ware et al. 1994). (1) ANOVAs indicated that there were no significant group differences in health status, but that there were group differences in spirituality and religiosity. (2) Pearson's correlations for the entire sample indicated that better mental health is significantly related to increased spirituality, increased positive personality traits (i.e., extraversion) and decreased personality traits (i.e., neuroticism and conscientiousness). In addition, spirituality is positively correlated with positive personality traits (i.e., extraversion) and negatively with negative personality traits (i.e., neuroticism). (3) Hierarchical regressions indicated that personality predicted a greater proportion of unique variance in health outcomes than spiritual variables. Different faith traditions have similar health status, but differ in terms of spiritual, religious, and personality factors. For all faith traditions, the presence of positive and absence of negative personality traits are primary predictors of positive health (and primarily mental health). Spiritual variables, other than forgiveness, add little to the prediction of unique variance in physical or mental health after considering personality. Spirituality can be conceptualized as a characterological aspect of personality or a distinct construct, but spiritual interventions should continue to be used in clinical practice and investigated in health research.

This study determined the degree to which any negative spiritual beliefs, regardless of one's positive spiritual beliefs, are associated with health outcomes. Participants included 199 individuals with heterogeneous health conditions (i.e., traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, cancer, primary care disorders, healthy). Two groups were identified: a negative spirituality group (n = 61), that self-endorsed any degree of negative spiritual belief (i.e., feeling abandonment/punishment from a higher power) and a no negative spirituality group (n = 138), with no endorsement of any degree of negative spiritual belief. Measures included the 135 136 A. Jones et al. Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality and the Short-Form 36. Results indicated that the negative spirituality group endorsed significantly worse bodily pain, physical health, and mental health, as well as significantly less positive spirituality, less frequent religious practices, and a lower level of forgiveness.Negative spirituality was also significantly correlated with worse physical health, mental health, and pain, while positive spirituality was significantly correlated only with better mental health. It was concluded that any degree of negative spiritual belief, regardless of positive spiritual beliefs, is associated with worse health outcomes. The need exists to develop targeted interventions to specifically address negative spiritual beliefs, which have been shown to be related to increased pain and physical disability in several studies.

The objective of this article is to determine the convergent/divergent validity of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS; Fetzer Institute & National Institute on Aging Working Group 1999) subscales by correlating it with the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) Self-Transcendence subscales (i.e., Mysticism, Transpersonal Identification, Self-Forgetfulness; Cloninger et al. 1994). The cross-sectional analysis of 97 undergraduate/graduate students from a Midwestern university was made. The results are (1) all five BMMRS spirituality subscales were significantly correlated with the TCI Mysticism scale; (2) two BMMRS scales (i.e., Daily Spiritual Experiences, Values/Beliefs) were significantly correlated with the TCI Transpersonal Identification scales; (3) no BMMRS spiritual subscales were significantly correlated with the TCI Self-Forgetfulness scale; and (4) of the BMMRS religion scales, only the Organizational Religiousness subscale was correlated with any TCI subscale (i.e., Mysticism). The BMMRS appears to have adequate convergent/divergent validity, although the need exists to determine specific dimensions of spirituality. Inspection of the specific items of the BMMRS and TCI spiritual subscales that were most consistently correlated (i.e., BMMRS Daily Spiritual Experiences, Values/Beliefs; TCI Mysticism, Transpersonal Identification) suggests the existence of a distinct spiritual construct that is best conceptualized as the experience of emotional connectedness to the divine, nature, and/or others.

Chronic pain is common among individuals with physical disabilities. It can interfere with therapy since patients with chronic pain can become uncooperative and reluctant to move. In some cases, patients may even project their discomfort onto the therapist. This paper reviews the natural physiological mechanisms that can reduce pain perception. The occupational therapist can help facilitate the activation of these mechanisms through a combination of noninvasive modalities, functional activities, and the therapeutic use of self.

Ethnic minority populations are increasing in health care delivery systems. Statistics show that ethnic minorities have a greater need for health care but have not received comparable services as those afforded to the white middle class majority. This paper provides information on the characteristics, health beliefs and practices of Hispanic, Indochinese, Asians (Japanese, Chinese and Filipinos) and Black Americans. Effective treatment planning is contingent upon the recognition of these beliefs and cultural values. Strategies for intercultural communication as a guide to promoting better occupational therapy services to ethnic minorities will be provided.