The relationship between religious attitudes and psychological symptoms in pregnant women referring to Urima health centers in 1395

Religious beliefs constitute one of the crucial factors in human life and can have a marked effect on his mental health. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationship between religious attitudes and psychological symptoms in pregnant women referring to Urima health centers in 1395. This descriptive, cross-sectional adopted a correlational design. In this study, 350 pregnant women referring to health centers in rural and urban areas of Urmia in the fourth quarter of 1395 were selected through two-stage random cluster sampling. The instrument used for data collection comprised 3 parts : The first part, which was aimed to gather demographic information, had 8 questions; the second part had 25 questions and was intended to assess the participants’ religious attitudes; and the third part contained 25 items measuring the participating women’s depression, anxiety and stress. After explaining the purpose of study and gaining the participants’ consent, questionnaires were administered among them. The data were analyzed through carrying out t-test, chi-square, linear regression and Pearson's correlation coefficient. All ethical issues were observed in the study and the researchers declared no conflict of interests. The results indicated a significant inverse correlation between religious attitudes, on the one hand, and depression, anxiety and stress, on the other hand. This shows that with the rise of religious attitudes, depression, anxiety and stress are reduced in pregnant women (P<0.001). The findings also displayed significant, positive associations between depression, anxiety and stress. This means that higher degrees of depression will result in more anxiety and stress (P<0.001) According to the obtained results, stronger religious attitudes can improve the mental health of pregnant women.