A paper uniting the fields of health care, psychology, religious studies, medicine and social work titled “Relationships among Spirituality, Religious Practices, Personality Factors, and Health for Five Different Faiths” and co-authored by four current MU professors furthers the position that spirituality can improve mental health. The five faiths examined in the study were Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism; and across all religions, surveys showed a greater involvement in religious ceremonies and practices correlated with indicators of better mental health.
“Spiritual beliefs may be a coping device to help individuals deal emotionally with stress,” one of the co-authors of the study, assistant professor Dan Cohen of the Religious Studies Department at MU, told the MU News Bureau of the findings.
In the paper, published online first in May in the Journal of Religion and Health, the researchers discuss the implications of the survey results, and suggest that health psychologists should use religious counseling strategies in therapy of patients facing particularly stressful prognoses.
The lead author of the paper is Brick Johnstone, a professor in MU’s Department of Health Psychology. In addition to Cohen, MU researchers involved in the project include Dong Yoon of the School of Social Work and James Campbell of the School of Medicine. The paper, in its entirety, is available via SpringerLink.
For more information, contact Johnstone via email.
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TREE partner releases free app for domestic abuse victims
The One Love Danger Assessment app, available free for both Apple and Android devices, was released this month to help aid victims of domestic abuse. The app is specifically tailored to woman, and allows victims, health professionals and other concerned parties to determine whether abuse is occurring and how to seek help.
The app is also available online through a web browser.
The Danger Assessment was developed by Dr. Jackie Campbell in the 1980s. Tina Bloom, a researcher at MU’s Sinclair School of Nursing and a partner with Teen Relationship Education, an affiliated project with the Center, helped develop the app to expose a wider audience to the assessment.
For more information, contact Bloom via email or by phone (660-537-4213). Also, visit the Missouri Health Cares about Domestic Violence website.