Relationships Among Religiousness, Spirituality, and Health for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Objective: To examine the relationships among spirituality, religiosity, physical health, and mental health for individuals with SCI. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of 25 individuals with SCI and 31 healthy controls using the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS) and the Medical Outcomes Scale-Short Form 36 (SF-36). Results: Individuals with SCI reported receiving statistically significantly more congregational support than the health control group, with nonstatistical trends toward being more religious/spiritual for all BMMRS variables. For individuals with SCI, the SF-36 General Mental Health Scale was significantly correlated with only the BMMRS Religious Support scale (r = .73, p < .01). No BMMRS scales were significantly correlated with the SF-36 General Health scale for persons with SCI. Conclusions: Individuals with SCI appear to use congregationally based social support to help them adjust psychologically to their disabilities. Religious activities (e.g., prayer, service attendance) and spiritual beliefs (e.g., feelings of connectedness to God) do not appear to impact significantly the physical health of persons with SCI.