Spiritual health, family functioning and symptoms of depression and anxiety among adults from a sample of northeastern Mexico

Abstract

Certain studies identify spiritual health and family functioning as predictors of a healthy lifestyle. Both constructs influence the presence of symptoms of depression and anxiety. To obtain more empirical evidence on this relationship, 128 adults from Northeast Mexico were administered the Spiritual Health Scale (ESE-UM), the Assessment of Family Functioning questionnaire, the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory. Significant effects of spiritual health and family functioning on depression and subjective anxiety were found. It is inferred that spiritual health and family functioning are protective factors for emotional problems.