Spirituality as a Predictor of Well-Being, Mental Distress or Both: A Four-Week Follow-Up Study in a Sample of Dutch and Belgian Adults
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Method
2.1. Sampling
2.2. Participants
2.3. Instruments
2.4. Statistics
- Step 1: taking demographic covariates into account, spirituality at T1 was used as independent variable;
- Step 2: taking demographic covariates as well as baseline mental distress into account, mental distress at T1 was added as an independent variable;
- Step 3: taking demographic covariates as well as baseline well-being into account, mental distress at T1 was exchanged for T1 well-being; and
- Step 4: take demographic covariates as well as baseline mental distress and baseline well-being into account.
3. Results
3.1. Sample Characteristics
3.2. Prospective Association between Spirituality and Well-Being
3.3. Prospective Association between Spirituality and Mental Distress
3.4. Additional Analyses: Possible Modification by Age, Education or Well-Being
4. Discussion
4.1. Practical Implications
4.2. Limitations
5. Further Research and Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Completers (n = 560) | Dropouts (n = 314) | Completers vs. Dropouts | |
---|---|---|---|
Age M (SD) | 48.4 (13.9) | 44.0 (14.7) | t(872) = 4.38 * |
Gender: | |||
Female (%) | 66.1 | 65.0 | χ2(1) = 0.11 |
Male (%) | 33.9 | 35.0 | |
Relation: | |||
No (%) | 24.8 | 29.9 | χ2(1) = 2.7 |
Yes (%) | 75.2 | 70.1 | |
Paid job: | |||
No (%) | 20.2 | 19.7 | χ2(1) = 0.02 |
Yes (%) | 79.8 | 80.3 | |
Education: | |||
Professional (%) | 27.7 | 26.4 | χ2(1) = 0.16 |
Scientific (%) | 72.3 | 73.6 | |
Kids: | |||
No (%) | 61.5 | 55.3 | χ2(1) = 3.2 |
Yes (%) | 38.4 | 44.7 | |
Spirituality T1 M (SD) | 102.2 (16.7) | 101.9 (15.5) | t(863) = 0.29 |
Well-being T1 M (SD) | 44.1 (12) | 43.8 (11.6) | t(865) = 0.40 |
Mental distress T1 M (SD) | 24 (18) | 24.1 (16.3) | t(791) = −0.06 |
Spirituality T2 M (SD) a | 99.7 (16.9) | ||
Well-being T2 M (SD) a | 44.8 (12.2) | ||
Mental distress T2 M (SD) a | 23.1 (18.8) |
Well- Being T1 | Spirituality T1 | Mental Distress T1 | Well Being T2 | Spirituality T2 | Mental Distress T2 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Well-being T1 | 1 | 0.50 ** | −0.43 ** | 0.82 ** | 0.51 ** | −0.44 ** |
Spirituality T1 | 1 | −0.23 ** | 0.46 ** | 0.86 ** | −0.23 ** | |
Mental distress T1 | 1 | −0.47 ** | −0.23 ** | 0.83 ** | ||
Well-being T2 | 1 | 0.50 ** | −0.54 ** | |||
Spirituality T2 | 1 | −0.26 ** | ||||
Mental distress T2 | 1 |
Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
β | β | β | β | |
R2 = 0.22 ** | R2 = 0.36 ** ΔR2 = 0.14 | R2 = 0.67 ** ΔR2 = 0.31 | R2 = 0.68 ** ΔR2 = 0.01 | |
Gender 1 | 0.01 | −0.01 | 0.02 | 0.02 |
Age | −0.05 | −0.10 * | −0.03 | −0.04 |
Relation 2 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Paid job 3 | 0.10 * | 0.07 | 0.03 | 0.03 |
Education 4 | −0.04 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.02 |
Home living child 5 | −0.03 | −0.05 | −0.01 | −0.02 |
Spirituality T1 | 0.48 ** | 0.39 ** | 0.04 | 0.04 |
Mental distress T1 | −0.38 ** | −0.12 ** | ||
Well-being T1 | 0.80 ** | 0.74 ** |
Step 1 | Step 5 | |
---|---|---|
β | β | |
R2 = 0.45 | R2 = 0.69 | |
Gender 1 | −0.08 * | 0.00 |
Age | −0.05 | −0.04 |
Relation 2 | −0.03 | −0.00 |
Paid job 3 | 0.00 | 0.01 |
Education 4 | −0.01 | 0.03 |
Home living child 5 | −0.03 | −0.02 |
Mental distress T1 | −0.04 | |
Well-being T1 | 0.69 ** | |
7 Subscales of the Spirituality Attitude and Interest List questionnaire (SAIL) | ||
Meaningfulness | 0.44 ** | 0.11 * |
Trust | 0.30 ** | 0.07 |
Acceptance | −0.06 | 0.02 |
Concern for others | 0.05 | 0.01 |
Connectedness with nature | 0.03 | 0.01 |
Transcendent experiences | 0.02 | −0.03 |
Spiritual activities | −0.08 | −0.06 |
Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
β | β | β | β | |
R2 = 0.09 ** | R2 = 0.23 ** ΔR2 = 0.14 | R2 = 0.70 ** ΔR2 = 0.47 | R2 = 0.70 ** ΔR2 = 0.00 | |
Gender 1 | −0.10 * | −0.11 ** | −0.02 ** | −0.02 |
Age | −0.18 ** | −0.18 ** | −0.08 * | −0.08 ** |
Relation 2 | 0.04 | 0.06 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
Paid job 3 | −0.09 | −0.05 | −0.01 | −0.00 |
Education 4 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
Home living child 5 | −0.08 | −0.10 * | −0.05 | −0.06 * |
Spirituality T1 | −0.20 ** | 0.03 | −0.01 | 0.03 |
Well-being T1 | −0.44 ** | −0.09 ** | ||
Mental distress T1 | 0.81 ** | 0.78 ** |
Step 1 | Step 5 | |
---|---|---|
β | β | |
R2 = 0.42 | R2 = 0.71 | |
Gender 1 | 0.03 | 0.00 |
Age | −0.16 ** | −0.09 * |
Relation 2 | 0.07 | 0.02 |
Paid job 3 | −0.01 | 0.00 |
Education 4 | 0.00 | 0.01 |
Home-living child 5 | −0.08 * | −0.06 * |
Mental distress T1 | 0.71 ** | |
Well-being T1 | −0.06 | |
7 Subscales of the Spirituality Attitude and Interest List questionnaire (SAIL) | ||
Meaningfulness | −0.35 ** | −0.04 |
Trust | −0.42 ** | −0.11 * |
Acceptance | 0.09 * | 0.01 |
Concern for others | 0.11 * | 0.02 |
Connectedness with nature | 0.01 | 0.00 |
Transcendent experiences | 0.22 ** | 0.08 * |
Spiritual activities | 0.03 | 0.01 |
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Huijs, T.; Braam, A.W.; Kruizinga, R.; Jacobs, N.; Reijnders, J.; Simons, M. Spirituality as a Predictor of Well-Being, Mental Distress or Both: A Four-Week Follow-Up Study in a Sample of Dutch and Belgian Adults. Religions 2024, 15, 179. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020179
Huijs T, Braam AW, Kruizinga R, Jacobs N, Reijnders J, Simons M. Spirituality as a Predictor of Well-Being, Mental Distress or Both: A Four-Week Follow-Up Study in a Sample of Dutch and Belgian Adults. Religions. 2024; 15(2):179. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020179
Chicago/Turabian StyleHuijs, Thijs, Arjan W. Braam, Renske Kruizinga, Nele Jacobs, Jennifer Reijnders, and Marianne Simons. 2024. "Spirituality as a Predictor of Well-Being, Mental Distress or Both: A Four-Week Follow-Up Study in a Sample of Dutch and Belgian Adults" Religions 15, no. 2: 179. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020179