The relationship between religious attitude and mental health among students of Arak University of Medical Sciences

Nowadays, scientific religion studies using the commonly accepted methods in human sciences is one of the new, interesting research areas in scientific and academic research. Noticing the importance of religion in student’s mental health, this study was designed and conducted.

In this Cross-Sectional study, 310 students at Arak University of Medical Sciences were randomly surveyed through demographic, Khodayary Fard’s religious attitude, and GHQ-28 questionnaires. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, Chi square, and Pearson-product correlation through SPSS software. In all stages of the research, ethical issues in research were taken into consideration.

The mean and standard deviations of age, GHQ, and religious attitude were 21.29±2.22 years, 24.04±9.41, and 81.04±11.9, respectively. In terms of religious attitude, 1.4% (4 students) had weak, 12.5% had moderate, and 86 % (240 students) had strong attitudes. A positive relationship was observed between religious attitude and mental health. Also, there was a significant inverse relationship between religious attitude and age, major, place of living, and mother’s level of education (p<0.05).

In this study, the majority of the students had strong religious attitudes and a significant positive correlation was found between the students’ religious attitude and mental health. Improving religious attractions through educational, religious, cultural programs for enhancing the religious attitudes of students is suggested.