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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.
m m m m m m m m m m 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
m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m Paired Samples Test
Pair 1
m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m Mean m m SD m m m m m SD error m m m m m
95% CI m m m df m m m m significance
m m m m m m m m m m My spirituality
m m m m m m m m m m Felt Sad m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m 2.38 m m m 3.61 m m m m m m m .670 m m m m 1.00-
3.75 m m m 28 m m <.001 - m .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
m m m m m 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
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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 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.
m m m m m 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.
m m m m m 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
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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
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
