Prediction of behavioral symptoms from representation of God in college students

Representation of God in individuals is based on their experience and feeling with deity and is acquired during individual’s encounter with sacred- relate objects; this construct has been investigated in the field of religion and spirituality. The aim of the current study was to prediction of behavioral symptoms from representation of God in Tehran Medical Sciences University. To accomplish the stated goal 195 students were selected by means of proportional sampling procedure. The Image of God Inventory (Lawrence, 1997) and Symptom Checklist90-R (Deragotis et al.,1973) were administered on them. Analysis of data using a multiple regression analysis revealed that the magnitude of behavioral symptoms can be predicted from the quality of student's representation of God. Moreover, data revealed that students who had a positive and accepting representation of God were lower in behavioral symptoms. Theroretical implications of the findings in treatment of mental disorders are reported in the paper.