Investigação dos conceitos de “religiosidade” e “espiritualidade” em amostra clínica e não clínica em contexto brasileiro: um estudo quali-quantitativo

Abstract

Introduction: The role of religiosity and spirituality (R / S) on the physical and mental health of individuals is already known (usually positive), but even with robust evidence among these associations, there is no scientific consensus regarding the concepts of R / S, a fact that leads to implications as: non-accurate instruments, the extension, or "reduction" of the concepts to other constructs that are not necessarily R / S, besides clinical aspects that can confuse R / S with psychopathological aspects. Objective: to evaluate in a quantitative and qualitative way, the main attributes that the concepts of religiosity and spirituality have in a clinical, and in a non - clinical sample of the Brazilian context. Methods: Patients and their companion from 2 general hospitals of Juiz de Fora-MG answered a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness and Spirituality, the Duke religiosity scale, a health self-assessment, and 2 questions regarding to transcendental beliefs, and beliefs in afterlife. In order to collect the qualitative data, 14 subjects were sorted out and responded to a semi structured questionnaire about the concepts of religiosity and spirituality. SPSS was used for statistical analyzes, and tests such as chi-square, t-student, Spearman, Anova and Bonferroni were used. Results: the sample consisted of 651 people (262 patients and 389 companions) and it was composed of a majority of women, Caucasian, married or in a stable union, with a second degree complete. The most frequent religion was catholic, followed by protestants, spiritists and other religions. Of the sample, 3.3% said they were "without religion". In the multivariate logistic regression, only intrinsic religiosity and non-organizational religiosity keep a statistically significant association with 'being religious'. Religious affiliation, non-organizational religiosity, and spiritual religious coping, Keep a statistically significant association with 'being spiritualized'. The correlation between 'being religious' and 'being spiritual' was 0.483 (p> 0.001). The main highlights from the qualitative interviews were uncertainty about the definition of concepts, the importance of religious aspects in respondents' lives, the association that some participants made between spirituality and spiritism, and the belief that there was something beyond the material world, especially after death. Conclusion: non-organizational religiosity, intrinsic religiosity, faith, and spiritual religious coping were dimensions associated with both concepts. The correlation between religiosity and spirituality was moderate, demonstrating that they were distinct constructs, but rather interconnected. Insecurity was noted for the definition of concepts of religiosity and especially spirituality.