The Relationship between Religion, Spirituality, Psychological Well-Being, Psychological Resilience, Life Satisfaction of Medical Students in the Gaziantep, Turkey

Abstract

Religion and spirituality have been associated with better psychological health. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the psychological well-being, psychological resilience, life satisfaction and religion/spirituality. An online cross-sectional study was conducted at the Gaziantep University School of Medicine, Turkey. The data were collected by using Personal Information Form, Individual Religion Inventory (IRI), Psychological Wellbeing Scale (PWBS), Brief Psychological Resilience Scale (BPRS), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). A total of 399 students participated in the study, 84% of them stated that they were Muslim. The perception of good psychological health was significantly higher among Muslims (32.7%) than non-Muslims (14.3%) (p = 0.013). The PWBS, BPRS, SWLS scores were significantly higher in those who attached very importance to religious/spiritual practices compared to those who attached little importance. While PWBS scores and BPRS scores did not differ, the SWLS scores was significantly higher in Muslims compared with the non-Muslims. A positive correlation was found between the IRI scores and PWBS (r = 0.446 p < 0.001), BPRS (r = 0.252 p < 0.001), and SWLS scores (r = 0.450 p < 0.001) for Muslim participants. The study showed that giving importance to religious/spiritual practices is associated with better psychological health.