Spirituality and the Health of U. S. College Students: A Partial Replication and Extension

Abstract

Spirituality has been linked with numerous positive effects, and the university experience is generally viewed as an important time for students to develop their spiritual identities. The purpose of this study was to partially replicate and extend the findings of Nelms et al. (2007) on the relationship between spirituality and the health of university students. In a survey study of 968 first-year undergraduate students in the western United States, we found that spirituality was associated with higher levels of physical health, emotional health, and exercise, and these relationships were generally different for white individuals and men than for minorities and women.