Religiosity/spirituality and health: A critical review of the evidence for biological pathways.

Seeman, Teresa E.; Dubin, Linda Fagan; Seeman, Melvin

doi:10.1037/0003-066x.58.1.53

Cited by 484 publications

(280 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…A variety of studies find R/S is related to lower or reduced blood pressure (Friedlander, Kark, Kaufmann, & Stein, 1985;Graham, Taylor, Hovell, & Siegel, 1983;Levin & Vanderpool, 1989; Teresa E. Seeman, Dubin, & Seeman, 2003;Sloan & Bagiella, 2002). In perhaps the first study on church attendance and blood pressure published in the first issue and year of the Journal of Behavioral Medicine in 1978, Graham and colleagues found lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure in frequent church attenders compared to infrequent church attenders (Graham et al, 1978).…”

Section: Spirituality and Blood Pressurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other possible mechanisms include improved health behaviors, access to social resources, improved coping resources, prayer (Ironson et al, 2002;Pargament, 1997), promotion of positive emotions (e.g., forgiveness) (McCullough & Worthington, 1999), taking part in religious rites (Benson, 1983;Bernardi et al, 2001), personal faith (Ellison & Levin, 1998;McCullough et al, 2000;Strawbridge et al, 2001), positive reappraisal (Carrico et al, 2006), and benefit finding (Dedert et al, 2004). R/S could work through physiological mechanisms such as neurohormonal function and cardiovascular function (Teresa E. Seeman et al, 2003). R/S could buffer cardiovascular reactivity through one, some, or all of these behavioral, cognitive, and physiological mechanisms.…”

Section: Spirituality As Buffer To Stressmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of Spirituality on Cardiovascular Reactivity Among African Americans

Hagemaster¹

2010

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In 2005, almost 71 million Americans had at least one form of cardiovascular disease. CVD can be caused by a group of metabolic risk factors including hypertension, abdominal obesity, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. African Americans share a disproportionate amount of stress-related disorders, including stress specifically related to racial and ethnic differences. Stress from racism or discrimination is pervasive and chronic. Racial discrimination may account for health disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study seeks to examine the role of religiousness / spirituality (R/S) as a buffer to stress. The current exploratory study examined the effects of religiousness and spirituality on stress reactivity following an acute racial stressor among African American men and women. In particular, this study examined whether religiousness/spirituality serves as a buffer to stress in an allostatic model where body mass index categories are compared for changes in stress reactivity. Stress was measured by systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and salivary cortisol. Results partially supported the study hypotheses. Stress reactivity was generally the lowest for normal weight participants and highest for participants who were obese. In addition, the effect of religiousness and spirituality on stress varied by allostatic load, as indicated by BMI in the current study. There was no support found for overall religiousness or overall spirituality providing a buffer effect for diastolic or cortisol stress reactivity. This study is important because it provides additional details about the relationship between spirituality and health outcomes. This study also provides evidence that allostatic load from overweight or obesity increases stress and decreases the body's effectiveness of responding additional stressors. This research project has added to the body of knowledge regarding convergent and divergent validity of R/S, as measured by the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness and Spirituality (BMMRS), with several other measures of resilience, hope, well-being, social support, depression, and state anxiety.

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Section: Spirituality and Blood Pressurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Spirituality As Buffer To Stressmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Spirituality on Cardiovascular Reactivity Among African Americans

Hagemaster¹

2010

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“…Additionally, there are factors that negatively affect the patient's psychological state as well [24]. These include perceived threat to one's life, the uncontrollable and unpredictable nature of one's condition, and the state of apprehension and hopelessness , which can have a considerable effect on the patient's thoughts , emotions, and behaviors [25][26][27]. Indeed, the lingering, long-term psychological effects such as anxiety , depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder commonly occur in response to critical illnesses [28,29].…”

Section: Hospitalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The interface of loneliness, hospitalization and illness

Rokach

2017

Nurs Palliat Care

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“…Regarding religion and health, Seeman, Dubin and Seeman's (2003) review of studoes related to biological processes indicates that "spirituality is linked to healthrelated physiological processes -including cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune function" (p. 53). They found that religious influence on health is particularly pronounced in studies of meditation, although they acknowledge that more evidence needed.…”

Section: Religion and Individual Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Protestant Spirituality and Religious Community on the Well-Being of People in Hong Kong

Ng¹,

Fisher²

2011

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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While the literature demonstrates that the relationship between religion and wellbeing is generally positive, detailed information about the context where the religion is based is rarely given. Drawing on multi-dimensional perspectives of spirituality, the present study regards spirituality as an integral dimension of a person's religious beliefs, practices and experiences within a given context. The manifestation of spirituality can be viewed from personal, interpersonal and social dimensions. The primary objective of the study is to examine whether, how and why the spirituality and religious community of Protestant tradition can affect the well-being of people in the context of Hong Kong.In the first phase of the study, 324 Chinese from four Protestant communities, representing four major kinds of Protestant spirituality, and one non-religious comparison group in Hong Kong were recruited. MANOVA results showed that religious community exerted a significant impact on people's spirituality and sense of community, which enhance their well-being -manifested in life satisfaction, social trust and civic participation. The different religious contexts exhibited different dimensions of spirituality and well-being, suggesting that the impact is not only direct but also dependent on and intertwined with the religious setting. Path analyses demonstrated the complex relationship between spirituality and well-being variables. While some of the spirituality-related variables may directly predict civic participation, the relationship between such variables and life satisfaction and social trust are mainly mediated through mental health and sense of community.The second phase of the study incorporated a field study (participant observation, interview and documentary analysis). Activity setting analysis was used as the interpretive framework, to unpack the elements of the various religious settings and to identify the present and absent conditions that help explain the variety and diversity of well-being outcomes manifested in the survey section. The data showed that immediate religious settings affect people's emotions, cognitions and behavioural patterns, through relational, ideational and even material aspects of the social environment, which finally lead to various kinds of well-being. Results also demonstrate that not only may the different religious settings enhance different kinds of well-being, but that they also provide different pathways to enhance a certain kind of well-being. These findings iii suggest that religious impacts on people's well-being are diverse and intricate. The present study thus confirms the important role of religion in people's well-being, but further signifies the intricate relationship between the various dimensions of religion and well-being. Moreover, when studying the effects of religion, both the subjective and the community context of a person's spirituality cannot be overlooked when drawing any conclusion on the costs and benefits of religion. iv v

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Religiosity/spirituality and health: A critical review of the evidence for biological pathways.

Cited by 484 publications

References 54 publications

The Impact of Spirituality on Cardiovascular Reactivity Among African Americans

The Impact of Spirituality on Cardiovascular Reactivity Among African Americans

The interface of loneliness, hospitalization and illness

Impact of Protestant Spirituality and Religious Community on the Well-Being of People in Hong Kong

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