Religious beliefs shorten hospital stays? Psychology works in mysterious ways: comment on Contrada et al. (2004)

Abstract

A study by R. J. Contrada et al. (2004; see record 2004-13299-001) suggested that religious involvement affects recovery from coronary artery bypass graft surgery. This finding makes a significant contribution to the growing literature on the role of religion in health and illness, yet it is unlikely to have a comparable impact on coronary artery bypass graft surgery research. Why? What determines the importance of psychosocial predictors of medical outcomes? How can health psychologists increase the impact of biopsychosocial research?