A study of the relationship between the components of spiritual health and happiness of students at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2016

Abstract

Background: Spiritual health is regarded as one of the major dimensions of human health and an important approach in public health. On the other hand, happiness plays a vital role in mental and physical health and efficient social participation. Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the components of spiritual well-being and happiness of students at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2016. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional and correlational study, the statistical population consisted of all students at the Midwifery, Paramedics, Health, and Nursing Schools at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2016. The sample size was determined through the Cochran's sample size formula, and 277 students were selected through the simple random sampling. Further, for data collection, the spiritual health scale by Paloutzian and Ellison and the Argyle's revised Oxford happiness questionnaire were utilized. Then, data were analyzed through the descriptive (percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson's correlation coefficient) in the SPSS Statistics Software version 21.0. Results: In the present study, the mean scores and standard deviations of students' spiritual health and happiness measured 3.95 ± 0.47 and 3.38 ± 0.24, respectively. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that there was a significant and positive relationship between the students' spiritual health and happiness. Further, the results of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient revealed that the correlation coefficient between the students' spiritual health and happiness measured 0.51. Conclusions: The results revealed that the students' spiritual health and happiness at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences were average, and they significantly and positively correlated. Hence, it is recommended that the contents of spirituality, spiritual health, and their significance be incorporated in the core curriculums in universities.