title: Spirituality and stress management in healthy adults.
abstract: The purposes of this longitudinal, descriptive pilot study were to (a) test the acceptability and feasibility of a 6-week spiritual intervention; (b) determine the relationship between spirituality and stress; (c) explore the effects of the intervention on measures of perceived stress, spiritual perspective, and spiritual well-being; and (d) explore the meaning of spirituality. The sample consisted of 27 community-dwelling adults. Six categories emerged from the qualitative data as descriptors of the meaning and significance of spirituality. The survey data indicated that there were significant negative correlations between perceived stress and spiritual well-being at three time intervals, a significant decline in the levels of perceived stress, and a significant increase in spiritual perspective from the pretest to the 6-week follow-up. There were no significant changes in spiritual well-being. The intervention proved effective in reducing stress in this healthy adult sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Systems, School of Nursing, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA.
authors.forename: Inez
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tuck
authors.forename: Renee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alleyne
authors.forename: Wantana
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Thinganjana
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D018939:Holistic Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D012016:Reference Values; D029181:Spirituality; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires