The relationship of prayer and internal religiosity to mental and spiritual well-being

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between internal religiosity, including prayer, to well-being, which includes religious and existential well-being. A convenience sample of 60 Behavioral Health hospital patients from a Midwestern hospital were invited to participate in this study. Three instruments were used in addition to twelve demographic questions. All instruments used a likert scale and the demographic questions were multiple choice. The Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale (1972) was used to determine the level of the person's internal religious commitment. The Structure of Prayer Scale (1997) was used to determine the participant's prayer preference. The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (1982) was used to determine a person's self reflected well-being personally and spiritually. The instruments were correlated using a Pearson Correlation. This study provides health professionals with correlated data about which clients are better able to adjust to the stresses of being mentally ill. Correlations may lead to research that supports causal relationships and allows health professionals to provide better support options for their clients who are mentally ill. Future studies could focus on understanding the relationship between a specific mental illnesses and religious or spiritual well-being. The future research could also foster greater internal religiosity and encourage the mentally ill to use specific types of prayer as an effective intervention to increase patient well-being.