The associations between religion, bereavement and depression among Hong Kong nurses

Cheung, Teris, Lee, Paul H. and Yip, Paul S.F. (2017) The associations between religion, bereavement and depression among Hong Kong nurses. BMC Research Notes, 10 (1), [242]. (doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2588-7).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: This paper is to examine the associations between religion, bereavement and depression among nursing professionals using a cross-sectional survey design. There is little empirical evidence in Asia suggesting that religion may either increase or lower the likelihood of nursing professionals being depressed. Methods: We analyzed the results of a Mental Health Survey soliciting data from 850 Hong Kong nurses (aged 21-59, 178 males) regarding their mental well-being and associated factors, including participants' socio-economic profile and recent life-events. Multiple linear regression analyses examined associations between religion, bereavement and depression. Results: Religious faith is weakly associated with lower self-reported depression in bereavement. Conclusions: Our findings confirm those studies suggesting that religion positively affects mental health and yet healthcare providers have yet to assimilate this insight.

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Published date: 4 July 2017

Additional Information: Funding Information: Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff for recruiting participants in this study. Special thanks go to Dr. Calais Chan, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, who allowed us to use his translated Chinese version of the DASS21 in our study. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 The Author(s).

Keywords: Bereavement, Depression, Mental health, Nurses, Religion