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In this study, researchers examined the levels of depression that participants
experienced over the past week. The research variables consisted of nominal measures
with a total of 29 participants who participated in this study: 69% identifying as biological
females and 31% identifying as biological males. Figure 1 shows the relations between
gender and spirituality, and Figure 2 shows the relation between gender and feeling sad.
l l l l l l l l l l The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a relationship between intrinsic
spirituality and levels of depression. To determine this relationship between intrinsic
spirituality and depression, researchers used paired samples t-tests in spss, Figure 1. A
paired samples t-test was conducted to determine the correlation between “my
spirituality” and “felt sad”, df= 28, SD= 3.61, with a 95% confidence interval (1.00, 3.75),
(mean= 2.38), one sided p< .001 and two-sided p= .001. This was found to be statistically
significant and reject the null hypothesis. Looking at Table 1, you will see the information
provided about the relationship between, “My Spirituality” and “How Sad I Felt.”
Table 1
The Relationship Between My Spirituality and How Sad I Felt
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l Paired Samples Test
Pair 1
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l Mean l l SD l l l l l l SD error l l l l l 95% CI l l l df l l l l l significance
l l l l l l l l l l My spirituality
l l l l l l l l l l Felt Sad l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l 2.38 l l l 3.61 l l l l l l l l .670 l l l l 1.00-3.75 l l l l 28 l <.001 - l .001
Note. This table demonstrates the relationship between intrinsic spirituality and one of
the lowest levels for the depression scale questions.
Figure 1
Relation between Gender and spirituality
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Note. The above figure shows the relationship between females (1) and males (2) based
on intrinsic spirituality.
Figure 2.
Relation between gender and feeling sad.
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Note. The above figure shows the relationship between females (1) and males (2) based
on how sad they felt on a scale of 0-6.
Discussion
l l l l The goal of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between intrinsic
spirituality and levels of depression. A paired samples t-test was conducted to determine
the correlation between “my spirituality” and “felt sad”, df= 28, SD= 3.61, with a 95%
confidence interval (1.00, 3.75), (mean= 2.38), one sided p< .001 and two-sided p= .001.
Some of the limitations of this study included there being a short amount of time to
collect data and only having self-reported data. Going forward, this study could allow for
there to be more research into how religion and spirituality may help to improve a
person’s depression and may help to improve their lifestyle. This could also help the
general public to lean more towards spirituality as a way of dealing and coping with
depression, since therapy and taking prescribed medications are typically the most
common. This would be another way for people to be able to find themselves again and
could improve their happiness over time. For future studies being conducted similar to
this one, I would suggest that there would be more questions related to actions taken
during the week (such as activities they were involved in and how they felt while doing
these activities). This could also help to determine if the person was more depressed if
they laid in bed more often since they reported being sad or if they were more active after
they went to church or prayed that morning. This is important to the field of psychology
since depression is such a highly known mental health issues that such a large number
of people struggle with. Allowing more research between these two variables could
l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l 4
possibly change psychology in general for those helping others deal with depression.
This study was similar to other research studies that have been previously conducted.
l l l l Religion has been such a powerful contributor to mental and physical well-being over
time. The results of this study shown between mental health and religion found that there
is a unique role between the two variables which play a huge part in personality (Haney &
Rollock, 2020). The researchers found that there was a strong statistical significance
between intrinsic and extrinsic religion when it came to depression. However, there was
found to be no significance when it came to intrinsic and extrinsic religion for the
satisfaction with life (Haney & Rollock, 2020). This research showed there was a huge
significance between intrinsic spirituality and levels of depression however this did not
determine how satisfied the person was with their life. The study had a target population
of large public university students with about 580 total participants, who ranged in ages
from 18 to 29 years of age. What does no specific data about gender in this research.
Meaning that it contradicted the study that was conducted above.
l l l l Looking at may cause levels of depression can be a huge factor when it comes to the
outcome of the study. The awareness of a diagnosis for a terminally ill patient with
cancer may have a different outlook on life and there are levels of depression that come
with this. There was a total of 299 patients who are terminally ill with cancer that
participated in the study (Lai et al., 2016). This study did not include anything specific
about. Researchers used the hospital anxiety and depression scale to collect the
necessary data. Based on the information collected the researchers were able to
determine if there was a statistical significance inpatient who were aware of their
diagnosis versus those who are not. The participants who were aware of their diagnosis
were also found to have statistical significance with Intrinsic spirituality. However, when
it came to the statistical significance found between spirituality and psychological
symptoms such as anxiety and depression, they were found to be no significance (Lai et
al., 2016). In this case, they were still found to be lower levels of depression and anxiety
in terminally ill patient with cancer who were aware of their diagnosis than those who
were not.
Lastly, the correlation of spirituality and other women was conducted to look at mental
health and successful aging. The total of 3653 surveys sent out to participants, however,
only 1942 that were received were able to be used for the study (Vahia et al., 2010).
Humane measures of the study looked at spirituality and successful aging, meaning
depression was not as much of a concern as the other studies were. The study found
that there was I statistical significance in spirituality when it was associated with more
demographic variables. The participants used were from all around but recruited through
San Diego clinical Center for women’s Health initiative (Vahia et al., 2010). Since this
study looked at older women and women only there was not much for demographics and
participant options related in the data.
References
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Vahia, I. V., Depp, C. A., Palmer, B. W., Fellows, I., Golshan, S., Thompson, W., Allison, M., &
Jeste, D. V. (2010). Correlates of spirituality in older women. Aging & Mental Health, 15(1),
97–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2010.501069
Lai, C., Luciani, M., Galli, F., Morelli, E., Del Prete, F., Ginobbi, P., Penco, I., Aceto, P., &
Lombardo, L. (2016). Spirituality and awareness of diagnoses in terminally ill patients
with cancer. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, 34(6), 505–509.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909116630985
Haney, A. M., & Rollock, D. (2020). A matter of faith: The role of religion, doubt, and
personality in emerging adult mental health. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 12(2),
247–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000231
