Reliance on God’s Help in Patients with Depressive and Addictive Disorders is not Associated with Their Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

Objective: Although there are several reports which support a (negative) association between depression and spirituality/religiosity, the specific nature of the relationships remains unclear. To address whether patients with depressive and/or addictive disorders use this resource at all, we focused on a circumscribed variable of intrinsic religiosity, and analyzed putative associations between intrinsic religiosity, depression, life satisfaction and internal adaptive coping strategies. Methods: We referred to data of 111 patients with either depressive and/or addictive disorders treated in three German clinics. For this anonym cross sectional study, standardized instruments were used, i.e., the 5-item scale Reliance on God's Help (RGH), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), the 3-item scale Escape from Illness, the Brief Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale (BMLSS), and internal adaptive coping strategies as measured with the AKU questionnaire. Results: Patients with addictive disorders had significantly higher RGH than patients with depressive disorders (F = 3.6; p = 0.03). Correlation analyses revealed that RGH was not significantly associated with the BDI scores, instead depressive symptoms were significantly associated with life satisfaction and internal adaptive coping strategies (i.e., Reappraisal: Illness as Chance and Conscious Living). Patients with either low or high RGH did not significantly differ with respect to their BDI scores. None of the underlying dimensions of RGH were associated with depression scores, but with life satisfaction and (negatively) with Escape from illness. Nevertheless, patients with high RGH had significantly higher adaptive coping strategies. Regression analyses revealed that OPEN ACCESS

Reliance on God’s Help Scale as a Measure of Religious Trust—A Summary of Findings

“…Also, in female cancer patients [8], the RGH was either not at all or only marginally related to cancer-related fatigue (r = 0.08), life satisfaction (r = 0.09), anxiety (0.08), depressive symptoms (r = − 0.15), and SF-12's mental health component (r = − 0.13). Similarly, in patients with depressive and/or addictive diseases [16], the RGH was weakly-but significantly-associated with life satisfaction (r = 0.24). However, the weak association for depression scores (r = − 0.13) failed to reach a level of significance.…”

“…In patients with depressive and/or addictive disorders (mean age 47.5 ± 10.1; 51% women; 68% Christians, 1% other, 31% no religious denomination) [16], the scale's mean score was lowest (45.8 ± 34.0) ( Table 1). In this sample, there were no significant effects related to gender (F = 1.1; n.s.).…”

“…In the following sections, we describe how the mean scores of the RGH scale were distributed in different samples, the influence of sociodemographic data, which variables may be related, and findings from previous studies and analyses [8][9][10][11]16,17].…”

How do Psychiatric Staffs Approach Religiosity/Spirituality in Clinical Practice? Differing Perceptions among Psychiatric Staff Members and Clinical Chaplains

“…For instance, the American study of Miller et al showed the protective relationship between maternal religiosity and having MDD (major depressive disorder) with p < 0.005 [17]. In a study with German patients, however, the depression measured by BDI (Beck's Depression Inventory) was not associated with RGH (Reliance of God's Help) [24].…”

German Psychiatrists’ Observation and Interpretation of Religiosity/Spirituality

“…Still, there are also empirical studies that have not confirmed a positive influence of ReS on psychiatric patients [ 15 , 16 ]; some have even shown negative effects of ReS [ 17 , 18 ]. For instance, Büssing and Mundle surveyed German patients with depressive and/or addictive disorders.…”