The Religion-Health Connection: Evidence, Theory, and Future Directions

Yıl 2018, Cilt: 18 Sayı: 2, 449 - 478, 27.09.2018

Fatma Balci Arvas

Öz

The volume and quality of research on what we term the religion-health connection have increased markedly in recent years. This interest in the complex relationships between religion and mental and physical health is being fueled by energetic and innovative research programs in several fields, including sociology, psychology, health behavior and health education, psychiatry, gerontology, and social epidemiology. This article has three main objectives: (1) to briefly review the medical and epidemiologic research on religious factors and both physical
health and mental health; (2) to identify the most promising explanatory mechanisms for religious effects on health, giving particular attention to the relationships between religious factors and the central constructs ofthe life stress paradigm, which guides most current social and behavioral research on health outcomes; and (3) to critique previous work on religion and health, pointing out limitations and promising new research directions.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Religion, Health, Connection

DİN-SAĞLIK İLİŞKİSİ: KANIT, TEORİ VE GELECEĞE YÖNELİK ÖNERİLER

Öz

Bizim din-sağlık ilişkisi şeklinde tanımladığımız konu üzerine yapılan çalışmaların sayısı ve niteliği son yıllarda belirgin bir şekilde artmaktadır. Din ile ruh sağlığı ve fiziksel sağlık arasındaki kompleks ilişkilere yönelen bu ilgi, sosyoloji, psikoloji, sağlık davranışı, sağlık eğitimi, psikiyatri, gerontoloji (yaşlılık bilimi) ve epidemiyoloji gibi bir çok alandaki etkin ve yenilikçi araştırma programları tarafından körüklenmektedir. Bu makalenin üç temel amacı vardır: (1) dini faktörler ile hem ruh sağlığı hem de fiziksel sağlık konuları üzerine yapılan tıbbi ve epidemiyolojik çalışmaları kısaca gözden geçirmek; (2) sağlık göstergeleri konusunda yapılan güncel sosyal ve davranışsal araştırmalara yol gösteren (bir konu olarak) yaşam stresi paradigmasının merkezi yapıları ve dini faktörler arasındaki ilişkilere özel bir dikkat vermek suretiyle, dinin sağlık üzerindeki etkilerini en elverişli şekilde açıklayan mekanizmaları tanımlamak; (3) din ve sağlık üzerinde yapılan daha önceki çalışmaların sınırlılıklarına ve ümit verici yeni araştırma yönelimlerine işaret ederek bir eleştiri sunmak.

Anahtar Kelimeler

DİN, SAĞLIK, İLİŞKİSİ

Kaynakça

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