The relationship between religion/spirituality and physical health, mental health, and pain in a chronic pain population

TLDR

Chronic pain patients exhibit distinct religious and spiritual beliefs, including a reduced desire to alleviate pain and feelings of abandonment by God. The study aimed to examine how multidimensional aspects of religion and spirituality relate to physical and mental health in 122 chronic musculoskeletal pain patients using a new Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religion/Spirituality. Researchers assessed participants with the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religion/Spirituality and applied hierarchical multiple regression analyses to explore associations between religious/spiritual components and health outcomes. Results showed that certain religious/spiritual factors—such as forgiveness, negative coping, daily spiritual experiences, religious support, and self‑rated intensity—predicted better mental health, while private religious practices were inversely linked to physical health, and overall religion/spirituality was unrelated to pain intensity or interference, highlighting both potential benefits and costs.

Abstract

This study sought to better understand the relationship between religion/spirituality and physical health and mental health in 122 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The current study conceptualized religion/spirituality as a multidimensional factor, and measured it with a new measure of religion/spirituality for research on health outcomes (Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religion/Spirituality). Pain patients' religious and spiritual beliefs appear different than the general population (e.g. pain patients feel less desire to reduce pain in the world and feel more abandoned by God). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed significant associations between components of religion/spirituality and physical and mental health. Private religious practice (e.g. prayer, meditation, consumption of religious media) was inversely related to physical health outcomes, indicating that those who were experiencing worse physical health were more likely to engage in private religious activities, perhaps as a way to cope with their poor health. Forgiveness, negative religious coping, daily spiritual experiences, religious support, and self-rankings of religious/spiritual intensity significantly predicted mental health status. Religion/spirituality was unrelated to pain intensity and life interference due to pain. This study establishes relationships between religion/spirituality and health in a chronic pain population, and emphasizes that religion/spirituality may have both costs and benefits for the health of those with chronic pain.