Abstract
The primary focus of this study was to investigate the roles of spirituality and religiosity in self-reported physical health, and to determine whether there is an association between an individual’s spirituality and cardiovascular responses to two stressors. Fifty-two females participated in both a betrayal interview and a structured interview, during which blood pressure and heart rate were monitored. Spirituality, as assessed by the Spiritual Well-being Scale, was associated with perceived stress, subjective well-being, and medication use. The Existential Well-being subscale predicted fewer physical health symptoms and was associated with lower mean heart rate and decreased heart rate reactivity. The Religious Well-being subscale was associated with reduced systolic blood pressure reactivity in response to the structured interview. These findings suggest that spirituality may have a salutary effect on health, even in a fairly young sample. While previous studies have predominantly reported that religion, as well as spirituality, have a health protective effect, this study did not find strong support for that conclusion. Religiosity in this age group may still be undergoing developmental maturity, which may explain the lack of relationships to health.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
R.K. Bufford R.F. Paloutzian C.W. Ellison (1991) ArticleTitleNorms for the spiritual well-being scale Journal of Psychology and Theology 19 56–70
T.J. Chamberlain C.A. Hall (2000) Realized Religion: Research on the Relationship Between Religion and Health Philadelphia Templeton Foundation Press PA
Cochran, J.K., Beeghley, L., and Bock, E.W. (1988). Religiosity and Alcohol Behavior: An exploration of reference group theory. Sociological Forum 3, 25676.
S. Cohen H.M. Hoberman (1983) ArticleTitlePositive events and social supports as buffers of life change stress Journal of Applied Social Psychology 13 99–125
S. Cohen T. Kamarck R. Mermelstein (1983) ArticleTitleA global measure of perceived stress Journal of Health and Social Behavior 24 385–396
T.P. Daaleman L. VandeCreek (2000) ArticleTitlePlacing religion and spirituality in end of life care JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association 284 IssueID(19) 2514–2517
E. Diener R.A. Emmons R.J. Larsen S. Griffin (1985) ArticleTitleThe Satisfaction With Life Scale Journal of Personality Assessment 41 71–75
Drinnon, J.R. and Jones, W.H. (1999). Measuring an act of forgiveness. Paper presented at SEPA, Mobile, AL.
V. Genia (2001) ArticleTitleEvaluation of the spiritual well-being scale in a sample of college students The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 11 IssueID(1) 25–33
L.K. George D.B. Larson H.G. Koenig M.E. McCullough (2000) ArticleTitleSpirituality and health: What we know, what we need to know Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 19 IssueID(1) 102–116
N.H. Gottleib L.W. Green (1984) ArticleTitleLife events, social network, life-style, and health: An Analysis of the 1979 National Survey of Personal Health Practices and Consequences Health Education Quarterly 11 91–105
S. Graham S. Furr C. Flowers M.T. Burke (2001) ArticleTitleReligion and spirituality in coping with stress Counseling and Values 46 IssueID(1) 2–13
A.H.S. Harris C.E. Thoresen M.E. McCullough D.B. Larson (1999) ArticleTitleSpiritually and religiously oriented health interventions Journal of Health Psychology 4 IssueID(3) 413–433
H. Hestick S.C. Perrino W.A. Rhodes K.D. Sydnor (2001) ArticleTitleTrial and lifetime smoking risks among African American college students Journal of American College Health 49 IssueID(5) 213–219
J.S. House K.R. Landis D. Umberson (1988) ArticleTitleSocial Relationships and Health Science 241 540–545 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:BieB1M%2FmslQ%3D Occurrence Handle3399889
E.L. Idler S.V. Kasl (1997) ArticleTitleReligion among disabled and nondisabled persons I: Cross-sectional patterns in health practices, social activities, and well-being Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 52B S294–305
C.D. Jenkins R.H. Rosenman S.J. Zyzanski (1974) ArticleTitlePrediction of clinical coronary heart disease by a test for the coronary-prone behavior pattern New England Journal of Medicine 290 1271–1275
H.G. Koenig L.K. George J.C. Hays D.B. Larson H.J. Cohen D.G. Blazer (1998) ArticleTitleThe relationship between religious activities and blood pressure in older adults International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine 28 189–121
K.A. Lawler J.W. Younger (2002) ArticleTitleTheobiology: An analysis of spirituality; cardiovascular responses, stress, mood, and physical health Journal of Religion and Health 41 IssueID(4) 347–362
M.F. Ledbetter L.A. Smith W.L. Vosler-Hunter J.D. Fischer (1991) ArticleTitleAn evaluation of the research and clinical usefulness of the Spiritual Well-being Scale Journal of Psychology and Theology 19 IssueID(1) 49–55
J.S. Levin H.Y. Vanderpool (1989) ArticleTitleIs religion therapeutically significant for hypertension Social Science and Medicine 29 69–78
K.C. Light A. Sherwood J.R. Turner (1992) High cardiovascular reactivity to stress: A predictor of later hypertension development. J.R. Turner A. Sherwood K.C. Light (Eds) Individual Differences in Cardiovascular Response to Stress:Perspectives on Individual Differences Plenum Press New York
W.R. Lovallo M.F. Wilson (1992) The role of cardiovascular reactivity in hypertension risk. J.R. Turner A. Sherwood K.C. Light (Eds) Individual Differences in Cardiovascular Response to Stress:Perspectives on Individual Differences Plenum Press New York
J.R. Mahalik H.D. Lagan (2001) ArticleTitleExamining masculine gender role conflict and stress in relation to religious orientation and spiritual well being Psychology of Men and Masculinity 2 IssueID(1) 24–33
M.E. McCullough K.C. Rachal S.J. Sandage E.L. Worthington S.W. Brown T.L. Hight (1998) ArticleTitleInterpersonal forgiving in close relationships: II Theoretical elaboration and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 75 IssueID(6) 1586–1603
E.L. Morris (2001) ArticleTitleThe relationship of spirituality to coronary heart disease Alternative Therapies in Health Medicine 7 IssueID(5) 96–98
Musick, M.A., Traphagan, J.W., Koenig, H.G., and Larson, D.B. (2000). Spirituality in physical health and aging. Journal of Adult Development, 7(2) 73–86.
R. Paloutzian C.W. Ellison (1982) Spiritual well-being and quality of life L. Peplau D. Perlman (Eds) Loneliness Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research and Therapy Wiley-Interscience New York
K.I. Pargament (1997) The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice The Guilford Press New York
R.L. Piferi K.A. Kline J.W. Younger K.A. Lawler (2000) ArticleTitleAn alternative approach for achieving cardiovascular baseline: Viewing an aquatic video International Journal of Psychophysiology 37 207–217
T.G. Plante A.C. Sherman (2001) Research on faith and Health: New approaches to old questions. T.G. Plante A.C. Sherman (Eds) Faith and Health: Psychological Perspectives Guilford Press New York
R.H. Rosenman (1991) ArticleTitleDoes anxiety or cardiovascular reactivity have a causal role in hypertension Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science 26 296–304
K.S. Seybold P.C. Hill J.K. Neumann D.S. Chi (2001) ArticleTitlePhysiological and psychological correlates of forgiveness Journal of Psychology and Christianity 20 IssueID3 250–259
C.E. Thoresen (1998) Spirituality, health, and science: The coming revival? S. Roth-Roemer S.R. Kurpius (Eds) The Emerging Role of Counseling Psychology in Health Care W.W. Norton & Co., Inc New York
P.J. Waite S.R. Hawks J.A. Gast (1999) ArticleTitleThe correlation between spiritual well-being and health behaviors American Journal of Health Promotion 13 IssueID3 159–162
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Edmondson, K.A., Lawler, K.A., Jobe, R.L. et al. Spirituality Predicts Health and Cardiovascular Responses to Stress in Young Adult Women. J Relig Health 44, 161–171 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-005-2774-0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-005-2774-0