OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess rates of Papanicolaou (Pap) testing and associations between religion-related factors and these rates among a racially and ethnically diverse sample of American Muslim women. MATERIALS AND METHODS A community-based participatory research design was used in partnering with the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago to recruit Muslim women atten...

OBJECTIVES Gratitude is widely perceived as a key factor to psychological well-being by different cultures and religions. The relationship between gratitude and coping in the context of familial dementia caregiving has yet to be investigated. DESIGN This study is the first to examine the associations among gratitude, coping strategies, psychological resources and psychological distress using ...

Individuals with serious psychiatric disabilities may become demoralized or hopeless consequent to longstanding disability and stigma. Potential antidotes are social support from the religious community and use of personal spiritual resources as coping mechanisms. The "Spirituality Matters Group" offers comfort and hope through structured and innovative exercises focusing on spiritual beliefs a...

BACKGROUND Although church attendance has been associated with a reduced risk of mortality, no study has examined the impact of religious struggle with an illness on mortality. OBJECTIVE To investigate longitudinally the relationship between religious struggle with an illness and mortality. METHODS A longitudinal cohort study from 1996 to 1997 was conducted to assess positive religious copi...

An in-depth qualitative interview study is reported, with respondents (N=52; all female) from the following urban-dwelling religious groups: White Christian, Pakistani Muslim, Indian Hindu, Orthodox Jewish and Afro-Caribbean Christian. Qualitative thematic analysis of open-ended interview responses revealed that the degree to which religious coping strategies were perceived to be effective in t...

Results of qualitative biographical research on Christian fundamentalist converts and de-converts, and on occultist adolescents are presented and documented using case studies. Research focused on life themes and on biographical processes and transformations. Contrastive comparison of the cases resulted in typologies of Christian fundamentalist biographies and of "ways of dis-enchantment". Thes...

BACKGROUND Religion-rooted beliefs and values are often cited as barriers to organ donation among Muslims. Yet how Islamic religiosity relates to organ donation attitude among Muslims is less studied. METHODS Using a community based participatory research approach, we recruited adults from mosque communities to self-administer a questionnaire assessing levels of Islamic religiosity, attitude ...

An in-depth qualitative interview study is reported, with respondents (N=52; all female) from the following urban-dwelling religious groups: White Christian, Pakistani Muslim, Indian Hindu, Orthodox Jewish and Afro-Caribbean Christian. Qualitative thematic analysis of open-ended interview responses revealed that the degree to which religious coping strategies were perceived to be effective in t...