Buddhism and Depressive Symptoms among Married Women in Urban Thailand.

Ting Xu,Thankam Sunil,Xiaohe Xu,Bangon Sirisunyaluck

doi:10.3390/ijerph17030761

Abstract

A growing body of research has documented salutary associations between religious involvement and poor mental health outcomes, such as depressive symptoms and psychological distress. However, little scholarly attention has been given to the association between Buddhism, a non-Western religious faith, and depressive symptomatology in Thailand. Using random survey data collected from urban Thailand, this study examines the association between religious involvement and depressive symptoms among married women in Bangkok. Findings from multiple linear regression models reveal that (1) Buddhist respondents report significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms than their non-Buddhist counterparts, (2) the frequency of participation in religious activities is significantly and inversely associated with the level of depressive symptoms, and (3) the inverse association between religious participation and depressive symptoms is more salient for Buddhists who frequently practice their faith (i.e., significant interaction effect). Research limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Highlights

A growing body of research has documented multifaceted and salutary associations between religious involvement and poor mental health outcomes, such as depressive symptoms and psychological distress in the context of Western societies [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
Along with healthcare institutions and professionals, Buddhism continues to play an important role in mental health care and treatment, which includes but is not limited to, late pregnancy and postpartum depressive moods, depression due to chronic and acute diseases, and substance abuse or alcoholism [18,19,20,21,22]. Bearing this unique socioreligious context in mind, we investigate the relationship between Buddhism and mental health/depression in urban Thailand
In terms of religious involvement, the vast majority of the Thai respondents in this study are Buddhist (90.88%), which is somewhat lower than that (94.6%) reported by the Survey on Status of Society and Culture conducted by the National Statistical Office of Thailand in 2011 [10]

Summary

Introduction

A growing body of research has documented multifaceted and salutary associations between religious involvement and poor mental health outcomes, such as depressive symptoms and psychological distress in the context of Western societies [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. In spite of inconsistent findings and controversies (e.g., the dark side of religion or the detrimental effects of religious involvement on mental health), scholars of religion and mental health have generally agreed that religion in general and religious involvement in particular, defined and measured, are protective factors for mental disorders and psychological distress [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] To put it religion benefits mental health, which is defined as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” [9].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion