Religion and Bio-Psycho- Social Health: A Review and Conceptual Model

This paper presents a research-based conceptual model respectively linking three dimensions of religious experience (religious practices, spiritual beliefs, and faith community) with three dimensions of health (biological, psychological, and social). The model is used as a framework to highlight findings in the religion-health knowledge base and to provide a broad survey of this domain of inquiry. Considerations for future research on religion and health are addressed.     

Effects of auditory masking by white noise on variability of fundamental frequency during highly similar productions of spontaneous speech

Six adults (3 men, 3 women) produced highly similar spontaneous speech utterances during quiet and 90-dB SPL white noise. Although subjects' fundamental frequency (fo) was significantly increased when speaking in noise, their fo variability (coefficients of variation) throughout the utterance was not affected by the auditory disruption. This indicated that their ability to vary fo for linguistic stressing was preserved under short-term disturbed auditory feedback. These findings further supported the hypothesis that fo is under open-loop regulation.     

Transcendence Matters: Do the Ways Family Members Experience God Meaningfully Relate to Family Life?

As more Americans continue to move away from an institutional approach to religion and spirituality to a more personal approach, it is important to explore the ways that personal perspectives about God influence various aspects of life including family life. This study explored how participants viewed and experienced God as an authority figure (Directive Transcendence), as a close confidant (Intimate Transcendence), or as both (Authoritative Transcendence). In-depth interviews with 198 religious families from across America were analyzed using a team-based qualitative approach. These analyses revealed that participants experienced God as both an authority figure and as a close confidant. Both types of experiences are associated with family relationships in different ways. Concepts relating to ideas of authority, parenting styles, and attachment theory are used to help understand familial impacts from how one experiences God.     

Gender differences in patterns of emotional distress following heart transplantation

The study provides the first empirical evaluation of gender differences in psychological symptomatology and DSM-III-R major depressive disorder (MDD) across the first year following heart transplantation. An important goal was to identify physical health-related and psychosocial factors that could account for, or mediate, any association between gender and psychological distress. The sample for the present analyses was drawn from a larger cohort of 172 heart recipients and included all 28 women in the cohort plus 118 men who were matched demographically with the group of women. Detailed patient assessments were completed at 2, 7, and 12 months posttransplant. As expected, women's symptom levels were consistently higher than men's. However, while men's symptom levels in all areas declined with time posttransplant, women's distress in the area of depression initially improved but then worsened by the 12-month assessment. The distribution of episodes of MDD showed a temporal pattern of gender differences similar to that of depressive symptoms. The most important mediators of the gender-depression relationship were factors related to early posttransplant daily functional limitations: women reported more impairments in daily activities. Higher levels of such impairments, in turn, predicted subsequently higher depression levels by 12 months posttransplant. Several additional variables pertaining to transplant-related concerns and a low sense of personal mastery—while not serving as mediators—exerted their own independent effects on 12-month depression levels. The findings are relevant to the tailoring of educational and clinical interventions to the individual needs of women and men who receive heart transplants.Roberta G. Simmons, Ph.D., died on February 15, 1993, during data collection for this paper.     

Optimism and Hope After Multiple Disasters: Relationships to Health-Related Quality of Life

Natural and technological disasters are devastating events for individuals and communities. The authors examined the role of optimism and hope in predicting health indicators in a sample of disaster survivors who were exposed to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Participants were noncoastal residents, current coastal residents, and current coastal fishers who were also economically impacted by the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. All participants completed measures of optimism, hope, and the SF-36 Health Survey, which provides summary scores for mental and physical health. Logistic regressions indicated that optimism and hope were independently and positively associated with better mental health (OR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.32 and OR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.17 respectively). Neither optimism nor hope were significantly associated with physical health when considered alone. However, optimism interacted with prior lifetime trauma, where optimism only significantly predicted physical health for those with higher previous trauma scores. These results provide new evidence of optimism and hope as protective factors that may positively impact mental health after multiple disasters.