@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2008-2630    Iranian Journal of War & Public Health 2019;11(1):29-34

Background
War as a psychological stressor imposes a wide range of personal and social consequences. Physical and psychological problems of the veteran and its indirect effects on their families are one of the most adverse consequences of war [1].
Previous Studies
... [2-8]. Today, the impact of spiritual therapy on reducing psychological stress has been considered by many researchers [9]. ... [10, 11]. Pargament et al. (1990) reported the positive effects of various forms of religious coping and the religious coping dimension. After summarizing his study on the relationship between coping and religion, he summed up his studies and proposed them theoretically [12]. It was shown that religious beliefs is powerful in explaining the influence of religion on mental health and those with stronger religious beliefs are less distressed [13]. Hardiness is one of the variables, which should be assessed in explaining variability of tendency to the mental health. ... [14-18]. It has shown that hardiness has a positive relationship with physical and mental health and as a source of internal resistance decreases the negative effects of stress and prevents physical and mental disorders [19]. ... [20]. Perls believes that people with mental health are completely connected with the realities of the world. Such individuals, since know themselves can be improved instead of seeking an ideal idea of themselves [21]. In a research entitled “Measuring the Effectiveness of Resilience Training on Mental Health and Quality of Life of Veterans' Spouses”, the mean score quality of life and mental health of the subjects who were trained about resilience was higher in the post-test. In addition, the resilience training program had a significant effect on improving their quality of life and mental health [22]. Griff in a research entitled "The Relationship between Mental Health and Religious Commitment with Marital Adaptation in Veterans’ Spouses" showed that there is a significant correlation between these variables with the good family performance of Japanese chemical warfare spouses. The highest marital adjustment was observed between spouses that agreed on a religious commitment to self-esteem, sexual relations and spending leisure time with each other [23]. ... [24].
Aim(s)
The aim of this study was to determine the correlation of religious commitment with hardiness and mental health in veterans’ spouses.
Research type
This research is a descriptive-correlational study.
Research society, place and time
This study was conducted on veterans’ spouses with the injury percentage of 25-49% in Karaj in 2017.
Sampling method and number
Based on Morgan’s table, 250 people were selected as sample, using simple random sampling method
Used devices&materials
The following questionnaires were used as research tools: 1) Worthington’s Religious Commitment Inventory (RCI): this 10-item questionnaire assesses the level of religious commitment of individuals, and their degree of adherence to values, beliefs, religious practices and their application in everyday life. RCI six questions are considered for measuring internal commitment and four questions for measuring external commitment, which are scored on a five-point scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole questionnaire is 0.93, internal commitment is 0.92 and for external commitment is 0.87 [25]. 2) Kobasa’s Hardiness Questionnaire: it was developed by Kobasa & Maddi in 1979 to measure the severity from the personal view. This scale has 50 items and three sub-scales, including commitment, control, and challenge and is scored from 0 to 3 on a Likert scale [16]. 3) Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ): the questionnaire was developed by Goldberg in 1972 for the screening of psychiatric patients [18]. It is a 28-item scale including four subscales, physical symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, depression and social function. A total score is obtained from four subscales. The subscales can indicate the symptoms; however they are not necessarily the same with psychological diagnosis. It is scored based on a Likert scale from zero to three. Several studies have reported an appropriate credibility and reliability for GHQ. In Iran, its validity and reliability have been confirmed [18]. The studied variables included religious commitment, hardiness and mental health. Data collection was done in two months and statistical analysis and data interpretation were performed through one month. Prior study, veterans' wives were informed about necessary information about study objectives, the length of research and their cooperation. The informed consent was obtained from the subjects and some participants were selected to complete questionnaires. They were also informed about the confidentiality of data and they can leave the study at any stage freely. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 24 software. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to assess normal distribution of data, Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine the correlation between variables, multivariate regression analysis was applied for prediction of the criterion variable based on the predictor variables
Findings by Text
26 subjects (10.4%) had a below diploma education, 87 subjects (34.8%) had diploma, 30 subjects (12.0%) had associate degree, 60 subjects (24.0%) had undergraduate degree, 40 subjects (16.0%) had master's degree and 7 subjects (2.8%) had PhD. There was a positive and significant correlation between religious commitment and hardiness (p=0.40, r=0.206) and mental health (p=0.27, r=0.122). In fact, those with a higher religious commitment had more hardiness and mental health. Moreover, there was a significant and positive correlation between religious commitment with mental health components, including physical symptoms (r=0.027, r=0.273), anxiety (p=0.023, r=0.239), social dysfunction (p=0.037, r=0.319) and depression (p=0.042, r=0.239) (Table 1). In general, religious commitment could predict 4% of severity variance and 15% of mental health variance (Table 2).
Main comparison to the similar studies
No similar study with the obtained results has been done. There was a positive and significant correlation between religious commitment with hardiness and mental health in veterans' spouses. It is consistent with the studies by Rodolico [10], Zahed Babolan et al. [18], Dehghan et al. [23], Lashkari et al. [24], Kheiravaran & Fatahi Andabil [25], Aidelkhani & Heydari [22], Austin et al. [26], Jordan et al. [27], Salovey et al. [28], Lee [29], Lichter & Carmalt [30], Tsaousis & Nikolaou [31], and Lambert et al. [17]. ... [32]. There was a significant correlation between religious commitment (internal and external) with hardiness in veterans' spouses. These findings are consistent with the studies by Lambert et al. [17], Zahed Babolan et al. [18], Kheiravaran & Fatahi Andabil [25], Aidelkhani & Heydari [22], Lashkari et al. [24], Lee [29], Ahmadi et al. [33], and Tsaousis & Nikolaou [31]. There was a significant relationship between religious commitment (internal and external) with mental health components (physical symptoms, anxiety symptoms, social dysfunction and depression) in veterans' spouses, which is consistent with studies by Joshi & Kumari [12], Aidelkhani & Heydari [22], Dehghan et al. [23], Ahmadi et al. [33], Lumley [34] and Rains [35].
Suggestions

Limitations

Conclusions
There is correlation between religious commitment with hardiness and mental health among veterans’ spouses; as the veterans’ spouses with high religious commitment have more hardiness and mental health.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Iranian Journal of War and Public Health, all professors and directors as well as veterans’ spouses who helped to conduct this study.
Conflict of interest
None declared.
Ethical Permissions
The informed consent was obtained from all participants. They were assured about the confidentiality of data and they are free to leave the study at any stage
Funding Sources
None declared.

TABLES and CHARTS

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