Laura T. Flannelly

AN ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH ON RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL VARIABLES IN THREE MAJOR MENTAL HEALTH NURSING JOURNALS, 1991-1995

A review of quantitative research studies published between 1991 and 1995 in 3 major mental health nursing journals revealed that approximately 10% (31 of 311) included a measure of religion or spirituality. This percentage (10%) is 3 to 8 times higher than that found in previous reviews of empirical research in psychological and psychiatric journals, suggesting that mental health nursing research is more sensitive to the role of religious-spiritual factors on mental health than research in related disciplines. The results are discussed in the context of the history and philosophy of nursing and in comparison to related disciplines. Methodological aspects of the research, especially the importance of multiple measures, are discussed, as are other salient findings.

A systematic review of research on religion and spirituality in the Journal of Traumatic Stress: 1990–1999

Surveys reveal that religion and spirituality are highly valuable to many people in times of crisis, trauma, and grief. The relationship between coping with trauma and the use of various spiritual beliefs is well established. The importance of clergy in trauma recovery is also well documented. A review of the 469 research and non-research articles published between 1990 and 1999 in the Journal of Traumatic Stress revealed that 8.7% (6/69) of non-research articles, 4.1% (15/366) of quantitative research articles and 2.9% (1/34) of qualitative research articles considered religion or spirituality in their work. Analysis of variance found a significant overall increase in the percentage of articles that mentioned religion/spirituality between the first half (1990–1994) and the second half (1995–1999) of the study period. The results are discussed in the context of the trauma research and in comparison to related disciplines. Recommendations for future research and clinical application are suggested for both traumatologists and religious scholars.

Copulation increases offensive attack in male rats

Twenty-four adult male rats with previous sexual experience were tested for aggression against intruders after one of four treatments (n = 6 per treatment): exposure to inaccessible estrous females; exposure to anestrous females; no female exposure, or copulation to ejaculation. Although both exposure to inaccessible estrous females and copulation significantly decreased latency to attack only copulation produced significant elevation of intensity and duration of attack. Results are discussed in reference to the role of aggression in maintaining priority of access to females, and as a means of assuring paternity of offspring by dominant males.

Opponents' Size Influences Maternal Aggression

20 female Long-Evans rats were tested for aggression on the day they gave birth. Only 30% of females tested with male intruders appreciably larger than themselves bit their opponents, and none showed offensive behaviors. By contrast, 80% of females tested with smaller males bit the intruders, and all of these used male-like offensive tactics. All attacked intruders exhibited defensive behavior, and all but one emitted ultrasonic vocalizations usually associated with pain. None of the males retaliated against the females. It is suggested that the size of the larger males evokes fear and that fear reduces offensive tendencies.

A review of research on religious and spiritual variables in two primary gerontological nursing journals: 1991 to 1997

All articles published between 1991 and 1997 in the Journal of Gerontological Nursing and Geriatric Nursing were classified as qualitative research, quantitative research, or non-research. Of the 784 articles reviewed, 5.1% mentioned religion or spirituality. Research articles (7.7%) were more likely than non-research articles (2.8%) to address religion and spirituality. No statistical difference was found between the percentage of qualitative (10.7%) and quantitative (6.8%) studies addressing religious and spiritual factors. The percentage of quantitative studies including religious and spiritual variables was found to be higher than that found by systematic reviews of the research literature in various health professions.

The Quantity and Quality of Research on Religion and Spirituality in Four Major Gerontology Journals Between 1985 and 2002

The study examines the quantity and quality of research on religion published in four gerontological journals between 1985 and 2002. The percentage of studies that addressed religion increased significantly over time, especially in The Gerontologist and Research on Aging. The research quality of studies on religion also increased significantly over time. However, the measurement of religion and spirituality did not improve across time. The quality of religious measures used and other criteria of methodological and theoretical sophistication differed significantly between studies in which religion was the major research focus and those in which it was only a minor focus. The most important methodological improvement was the increased use of repeated measures designs, whereas the most important theoretical improvement was the increased use of hypothesis testing. Procedures and criteria for assessing the methodological and theoretical sophistication of a field are discussed.

Defining spiritual care: an exploratory study.

An electronic search was conducted on Medline for the years 1980–2005 identified 101 journal articles with the words “spiritual care” in their title, the majority of which were from nursing journals. Content analysis performed on 28 articles judged to be most relevant yielded 250 unique descriptions of interventions, which were subsequently consolidated to form 66 discrete interventions. Twenty five professional chaplains rated each item on the degree to which they considered it to be part of providing spiritual care to patients. The patterns of correlations among the interventions suggested that most of the items fell into ten major categories and a few minor categories, with only two of the major categories being explicitly religious in nature. The article discusses these categories within the context of pastoral care.

A test of the factor structure of the patient spiritual needs assessment scale.

Factor analysis was conducted on the responses of 683 individuals who completed a 24-item version of the Patient Spiritual Needs Assessment Scale. The results provided strong support for 4 of the 6 dimensions of spiritual needs and weaker support for one of the others. The 6 dimensions were appreciation of art and beauty, meaning and purpose, love and belonging, death/resolution, positivity/gratitude/hope/peace, and the Divine. The coherence of the dimensions is discussed in the context of the scales intended application.

A 10-year review of research on chaplains and community-based clergy in 3 primary oncology nursing journals: 1990-1999.

A manual examination of 3 primary oncology nursing journals was conducted to identify quantitative studies about chaplains and community-based clergy that were published between 1990 and 1999. This systematic review identified 7 studies involving chaplains and/or clergy dealing with a range of issues. Although the rate at which such studies were published in the oncology nursing literature was relatively low (1 in 123 studies), this rate far exceeds the rate found in a similar review of psychology journals (1 in 600 studies). The nature of the 7 studies and the issues they addressed are discussed and the authors make recommendations for future collaborative efforts.

Toward a theory of holistic needs and the brain.

This article reviews Maslows theory of motivation wherein he proposes a hierarchy of human needs. First, it describes the principal elements of Maslows theory and discusses considerations relating to the flexibility of the hierarchy. Second, it explains the relationship among Maslows theory of human needs, attachment theory, and evolutionary threat assessment system theory. Third, it provides an overview of the brain structures posited to be involved in attachment and evolutionary threat assessment system theory and their relation to Maslows hierarchy. Finally, it explains how the 3 theories converge to form a theory of holistic needs.