title: Religious Confession and Symptom Severity: A Prospective Comparative Study.
abstract: Little research has been done on comparing confessions regarding mental health. In the present study, 320 people (78 Buddhists, 77 Catholics, 89 Protestants and 79 Muslims) were compared in terms of their symptom severity. Buddhists and Protestants had lower scores than Catholics and Muslims for obsessive-compulsive behavior and hostility. Muslim group had the highest comparative scores for psychoticism. Buddhists and Protestants had comparatively low scores for paranoid ideation and overall symptom severity, with Catholics and Muslims having high ones. Results reveal that confession should be taken in account in psychological research and diagnosis, since it is explicitly associated with psychological well-being.
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the German Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Madiha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rana
authors.affiliation: Department of Craniomaxillofacial Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Street 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. rana.majeed@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Majeed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rana
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the German Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Herzberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the German Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Krause
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002016:Buddhism / Q000523:psychology; D002410:Catholicism / Q000523:psychology; D030881:Disclosure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D033303:Protestantism / Q000523:psychology; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Brief symptom inventory; Confession; Mental health; Religion