Religious and Spiritual Struggles as Concerns for Health and Well-Being

Abstract

People struggle with religion and spirituality in several ways, including challenges in trusting God, confronting supernatural evil, tolerating other perspectives on religion, maintaining moral propriety, finding existential meaning, and managing religious doubt. These religious and spiritual (R/S) struggles relate to both physical and mental health independently of other religious and distress factors. Causality in this connection needs further study, but evidence supports many potential causes and moderators of the link between R/S struggle and health. These include personality, social, and environmental influences, including traumatic experiences and subcultural differences. Many theoretical questions remain unresolved, including how change in R/S struggle can predict or be predicted by change in health and other connected constructs, and how one might intervene to aid those who struggle with religious or spiritual challenges. Nonetheless, research momentum has grown, having already produced a wealth of information that underscores the need for greater attention to this domain. R/S struggle poses an important exception to generally positive overall associations between religion and well-being, though even R/S struggle may promote growth. This review offers a brief introduction to emerging psychological theory and research on R/S struggle with an emphasis on its relevance to wellness and illness.Keywords: religion; spirituality; struggle; stress; well-being; health ResumoAs pessoas experimentam conflitos com a religião e a espiritualidade de vários modos, incluindo os desafios em confiar em Deus, o confronto com o mal sobrenatural, a tolerância em relação a outras perspectivas sobre a religião, a manutenção do decoro moral, a busca de um sentido existencial e o gerenciamento da dúvida religiosa. Esses conflitos religiosos e espirituais (R/S) dizem respeito tanto à saúde física quanto a mental, independentemente de outros fatores religiosos e de sofrimento. A relação de causa e efeito, neste contexto, necessita de mais estudos, mas há evidências que apoiam a existência de muitas causas potenciais e moderadoras da relação entre conflitos Religiosos/Espirituais (R/S) e saúde. Estas incluem personalidade, influências sociais e ambientais, incluindo as experiências traumáticas e diferenças culturais. Várias questões teóricas permanecem pendentes, incluindo como a mudança nos conflitos religiosos e espirituais (R/S) poderia prever ou ser prognóstico de mudança na saúde e outras questões afins, e como se pode intervir para ajudar aqueles que enfrentam conflitos religiosos ou espirituais. No entanto, embora o montante da pesquisa tenha crescido, tendo produzindo inclusive uma riqueza de informações, ressalta-se a necessidade de uma maior atenção nesse campo Os conflitos religiosos/espirituais (R/S) colocam uma importante questão para a associação geralmente positiva entre religião e bem estar, ainda que os conflitos religiosos/espirituais (R/S) possam promover crescimento. Esse estudo oferece uma breve introdu...

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