Relationship between Religiosity with Meaning of Life and Spiritual Health of Students of Islamic Azad University, Babol Branch, Iran, During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Today, the consequences of the spread of COVID-19 on the religious aspect of human life is one of the discussing areas. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the relationship between religiosity and the meaning of life, and the spiritual health of the students of Islamic Azad University of Babol during the COVID-19 period.

The statistical sample in this descriptive-correlational study included 330 students in the Islamic Azad University, Babol Branch, Babol, Iran, in the academic year 2019-2019 in the age range of 20-29 years, who were selected through simple random sampling method and the questionnaire link has been sent to them through online social networks. Data were collected through standard questionnaires, including Polotzin and Ellison's spiritual health questionnaire (1983),  Steger’s Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ, 2006), and Khodayari Fard et al.’s religiosity measurement scale (2015). The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 26) through descriptive statistics, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and focal regression. All ethical considerations have been observed in this study and the authors have not reported any conflict of interest.

The findings showed a positive and significant relationship between religiosity with the meaningfulness of life and spiritual health in students. The effect of religiosity on the meaningfulness of students’ lives and spiritual health was found to be 0.651 and 0.552, respectively.

Targeting the meaningfulness of life and spiritual health through religious and spiritual interventions can be effective in improving the meaningfulness of life and spiritual health of students during the COVID-19 epidemic.