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Exploring the impact of religiosity and spirituality on depressive symptoms in homeless people

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2024

P. H. F. Camargo*
Affiliation:
1Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of Itajubá
J. V. G. N. de Moraes
Affiliation:
2Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of Itajubá, Itajubá, Brazil
L. M. Vitorino
Affiliation:
2Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of Itajubá, Itajubá, Brazil
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Depression is a major concern among homeless individuals. Studies link religiosity and spirituality (RS) with lesser depressive symptoms, but evidence is scarce among the homeless.

Objectives

This study aims to assess the association between RS and depressive symptoms in homeless individuals in Brazil.

Methods

This cross-sectional study involved 456 homeless individuals in São Paulo, Brazil. It received approval from the Ethics and Research Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Itajubá, Brazil. We used adjusted linear regression models to analyze the association between RS and participants’ depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). We used the P-DUREL to measure religiosity, FACIT-Sp12 for spirituality, and the Brief-RCOPE scale for religious-spiritual coping strategies.

Results

Out of 482 invited participants, 456 (94.6%) completed all questionaries, mostly males (75%) with an average age of 44.53 (SD 12.62) years. About 49.6% had depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥10 points). After controlling for sociodemographic and health variables, factors such as temple/church attendance (≥ 3 times per month), increased religiousness (both organizational and intrinsic), positive religious/spiritual coping, and peace, faith and meaning were inversely related to depressive symptoms. Conversely, dysfunctional use of RS, such as in negative spiritual-religious coping strategies, correlated with heightened depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

High depressive symptom prevalence was found among Brazilian homeless individuals. Functional use of RS was negatively linked to depressive symptoms, while dysfunctional RS, like negative spiritual-religious coping strategies, correlated with higher depressive symptoms. These findings can aid healthcare professionals, particularly psychologists and psychiatrists, in addressing RS in the homeless population.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
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