Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate different dimensions of religiosity and spirituality among psychiatric in-patients. The study examines differences between addictive (ICD 10: F1x) and anxious/depressive (ICD 10: F3x/F4x) patients and considers the main implications for treatment.
Method: Differences in dimensions of religious/spiritual well-being (RSWB) between addictive (n = 389) and anxious/depressive patients (n = 200) are investigated, also by comparison to a control group (n = 1,500). Furthermore dimensions of RSWB are related to personality factors and different psychiatric parameters within the psychiatric groups.
Results: The psychiatric groups show a lower amount of overall RSWB (p < 0.001) than the healthy controls. Furthermore, dimensions of RSWB turned out to be negatively correlated with several psychiatric symptoms.
Conclusions: Based on these results we emphasize religious/spiritual issues within psychiatric treatment. Moreover, there may be a strong potential of the RSWB dimensions such as "Hope" or "Forgiveness" as positive therapeutic factors in psychiatric treatment.