Religious Coping, Religiosity, Depression and Anxiety among Medical Students in a Multi-Religious Setting

Benedict Francis, Jesjeet Singh Gill, Ng Yit Han, Chiara Francine Petrus, Fatin Liyana Azhar, Zuraida Ahmad Sabki, Mas Ayu Said, Koh Ong Hui, Ng Chong Guan and Ahmad Hatim Sulaiman
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Benedict Francis: Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Jesjeet Singh Gill: Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Ng Yit Han: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Chiara Francine Petrus: Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Jalan Raja Ashman Shah, Ipoh 30450, Malaysia
Fatin Liyana Azhar: Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Zuraida Ahmad Sabki: Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Mas Ayu Said: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Koh Ong Hui: Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Ng Chong Guan: Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Ahmad Hatim Sulaiman: Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: Medical students are vulnerable to depression and anxiety due to the nature of their academic life. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among medical students and the association between religious coping, religiosity and socio-demographic factors with anxiety and depressive symptoms. A cross sectional design was used for this study. Scales used were the Malay version of the Duke Religious Index (DUREL-M), the Malay version of the Brief Religious Coping Scale (Brief RCOPE) and the Malay version Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS-M). 622 students participated in this study. They scored moderately on the organized (mean: 3.51) and non-organized religious (mean: 3.85) subscales of the DUREL, but had high intrinsic religiosity (mean: 12.18). The prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms were 4.7% and 17.4% respectively, which is lower than local as well as international data. Islam, negative religious coping and the presence of depressive symptoms were significantly associated with anxiety symptoms. Only the presence of anxiety symptoms was significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Negative religious coping, rather than positive religious coping, has significant association with depressive and anxiety symptoms. Redirecting focus towards negative religious coping is imperative to boost mental health outcomes among medical students.

Keywords: coping; mental health; anxiety; depression; medical students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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