Religiosity, anxiety, and depression among a sample of Iranian medical students.
OBJECTIVE
There are many studies of religion and mental health in a Christian context, but studies in Islamic countries are few. Most previous studies used only a single question for measuring religion, and several of them showed negative associations between religion and indexes of anxiety or depression among older people. This study preliminary assesses the associations between religious variables, anxiety, and depression in a sample of Muslim students.


METHODS
This cross-sectional study examines a sample of medical students (N = 285) for association(s) between religiosity, anxiety, and depression. The subjects completed a Muslim religiosity questionnaire including religious beliefs, emotions, and behaviors subscales and the Beck anxiety and depression inventories during their psychiatry rotation at Roozbeh psychiatric hospital, Tehran, Iran.


RESULTS
all the three religious subscales were negatively associated with and negatively predicted depression and anxiety; but only prediction of anxiety by the religious beliefs score was statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings provide further evidence for a protective role of religion against anxiety and depression but more studies are required.
Vasegh
Sasan
S
Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. sasan_vasegh@yahoo.com
Mohammadi
Mohammad-Reza
MR
D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education; D012067:Religion; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D029181:Spirituality; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires