Religiosity, anxiety, and depression among a sample of Iranian medical students

OBJECTIVE: There are many studies of religion and mental health in a Christian context, but studies in Islamic countries are few. Most previous studies used only a single question for measuring religion, and several of them showed negative associations between religion and indexes of anxiety or depression among older people. This study preliminary assesses the associations between religious variables, anxiety, and depression in a sample of Muslim students. METHOD: This cross-sectional study examines a sample of medical students (N = 285) for association(s) between religiosity, anxiety, and depression. The subjects completed a Muslim religiosity questionnaire including religious beliefs, emotions, and behaviors subscales and the Beck anxiety and depression inventories during their psychiatry rotation at Roozbeh psychiatric hospital, Tehran, Iran. RESULTS: all the three religious subscales were negatively associated with and negatively predicted depression and anxiety; but only prediction of anxiety by the religious beliefs score was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide further evidence for a protective role of religion against anxiety and depression but more studies are required.