A Study on the Relationship between the Performance of Ritual Prayers and General Health among the Students of Universities in Kerman

The present research seeks to investigate the relationship between performance of ritual prayers and university students’ general health. In this research, “general physical health, anxiety, social function, and depression” as the criteria of general health are investigated; and students’ behavioral, cognitive and emotional (attitudes and feelings) variables in the performance of prayers as intervening variables are studied. In the research sample 230 students from Kerman universities were selected to fill out the questionnaire on general health and researcher – made questionnaire on prayers. The research findings show that on the scales of general health questionnaire (except for the disorder in social function) there is a significant difference between the scores of the students who perform prayers and the scores of those who do not perform prayers. Also, there is a significant correlation between physical symptoms, anxiety, and insomnia, on the one hand and the behavioral aspect of performance of prayers, on the other hand. These findings also show that there is a significant correlation between depression and cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of prayers, (p<0.01). Furthermore, a significant difference is found between male students and female students on depression scale and in the aspects of the three obligatory prayers.