The relationship between religious attitude and mental health in students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Mental disorders are very common in human societies and it is possible for many people to get mental problems. Faith, religious beliefs and monotheistic attitudes are some of the factors that can be used effectively in prevention and treatment of mental disorders. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between religious attitudes and mental health in students.

This is a descriptive- analytic study conducted to investigate the relationship between religious attitude and mental health in students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Samples were selected by multistage random sampling. Data was collected by means of general health questionnaire (GHQ-28) and a religious attitude questionnaire containing 25 questions (Golriz- Berahani). SPSS software version 19 was used to analyzethe collected data by tests of Chi-square and Pearson correlation coefficient.

The participants (n=300) in this study were 31.4% boys and 68.6% girls. The mean age of them was 21.71 years old. The mean of religious attitude and general health scores of the participants was 39.73 and 22.1 respectively. There was no statistically significant association between students’ general health and demographic variables (P>0.05). There was no statistically significant association between general health and religious attitude (r= 0.1 and P>0.05).

Although there was a positive correlation between general health and religious attitude, there was no statistically significant association between them.