Abstract
This chapter is the first in a series of eight chapters that systematically describe the scientific research on the relationship between religious involvement and health in Christians and Muslims. In these chapters, we don’t “pull any punches,” but simply report what has been found. The intention of the present chapter is to briefly and concisely summarize the quantitative research conducted in predominantly Christian populations up through the year 2010. After defining our terms (religion, religious coping, spirituality), we review research on religiosity and negative mental health (depression, suicide, anxiety, substance abuse), positive mental health (happiness and well-being, hope, optimism, meaning and purpose, self-esteem, sense of control), neutral mental health as expressed in personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience), social health (social support, marital stability, crime, delinquency, social capital), behavioral health (cigarette smoking, exercise, diet, weight, sexual behavior), and physical health (heart disease, hypertension, stroke, dementia, diabetes, metabolic disorders, immune function, endocrine function, cancer, perceptions of overall health, mortality). Opinion and speculation are laid aside as the results from hundreds of systematic studies are presented. The chapter ends by discussing mechanisms that might explain how religiosity affects health in Christians.
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Koenig, H.G., Shohaib, S.A. (2014). Religion and Health in Christian Populations. In: Health and Well-Being in Islamic Societies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05873-3_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05873-3_6
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Online ISBN: 978-3-319-05873-3
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