PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among spiritual and religious beliefs and practices, social support, and diabetes self-care activities in African Americans with type 2 diabetes, hypothesizing that there would be a positive association. METHOD This cohort study used a cross-sectional design that focused on baseline data from a larger randomized control tria...

Past research has found a robust effect of prejudice against atheists in largely Christian-dominated (belief-oriented) samples. We propose that religious centrality of beliefs vs. practices influences attitudes toward atheists, such that religious groups emphasizing beliefs perceive non-believers more negatively than believers, while groups emphasizing practices perceive non-practicing individu...

Public representations of God range from the highly anthropomorphic to the highly abstract, and the present study explored whether differences in the interpretation of those representations are correlated with differences in one’s religious beliefs and religious practices more generally. American adults of varying ages and religious backgrounds completed a questionnaire that probed their belief...

Religiosity and spirituality have been long investigated for their positive or negative effects on mental health, with mixed results. The author examines different associations and study methodologies, and describes criticism of the findings. Then, religious coping is explored and recent research on the inclusion of religious elements within therapeutical practices are reported. Finally, psycho...

There abound antagonisms in the health care practice and the religious beliefs of people from different societies. When health care practices cross the line of their beliefs, the people will rise to the occasion and oppose the practices. Religion and science are two opposing doctrines. What scientists believe sometimes collide with what different religious contexts uphold. An example where ther...

There abound antagonisms in the health care practice and the religious beliefs of people from different societies. When health care practices cross the line of their beliefs, the people will rise to the occasion and oppose the practices. Religion and science are two opposing doctrines. What scientists believe sometimes collide with what different religious contexts uphold. An example where ther...

Although considerable evidence has linked religious beliefs to mental health among Protestant Christians, previous theory and research has emphasized that practices play a more important role than beliefs for Jews. Beliefs about God’s benevolence may be salient for Orthodox Jews, however, as such beliefs are central to traditional Jewish doctrine. Two studies were conducted to compare the exten...

Sacral heritage, religious practices and customs, and the ethnomedical heritage of the Mošćenice region have not had so far the attention of medico-historians, which represents the starting point of this paper. The research of the mentioned dimensions of medico-historical reality of Mošćenice and its surrounding area has been conducted on three levels. Starting with the usual methodology, sacra...

In Hindu communities, breastfeeding is nearly universal and continues for most children beyond infancy. This review examines the religious and cultural basis for the contemporary breastfeeding practices amongst the Hindu. Practices at the time of birth and feeding rituals like prelacteal feeds, importance and timing of complementary feeds, and protections for the breastfeeding mother are examin...