Religiousness and mental health among Filipino Muslims: The role of gratitude as a mediator

• Main Author: Alonto, Sahara Iman M.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2024
• Subjects: Religiousness; Gratitude; Mental health—Religious aspects; Muslims > Philippines; Clinical Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_psych/87; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdm_psych/article/1081/viewcontent/2024_Alonto_Religiousness_and_Mental_health_among_Filipino_Muslims__The_Role.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

In recent years, empirical studies have advocated for a positive association between religiousness and mental health. However, there is a need to study this relationship on various dimensions of religiousness and indices of mental health across populations. Thus, the present study investigated if behavioral dimensions of religiousness, namely Islamic duties, Islamic positive religious coping, and Islamic ethical behaviors, significantly impact positive mental health among adult Muslim Filipinos, a minority population. Furthermore, it aimed to identify a mechanism responsible for religiousness's effect on Muslim mental health. Through a cross-sectional research design involving 439 adult Muslim Filipino respondents of an online survey, the current study tested whether state gratitude mediated religiousness's effect on mental health. Results showed that state gratitude only partially mediated the impact of behavioral dimensions of religiousness on mental health. To be more specific, results imply that religiousness facilitates a state of appreciation, which cultivates symptoms of mental health. Notably, only two of three dimensions of religiousness, Islamic positive religious coping, and Islamic ethical behaviors, predicted gratitude and mental health. However, the religiousness dimension of Islamic duty, which pertains to obligatory acts such as daily prayer, fasting, and giving charity, had no significant effect on state gratitude or mental health.