The Prevalence of Religious Coping and Religious Practices among Patients with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Background: Religious coping is an essential resource influencing how individuals cope with the illness including patients with schizophrenia. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of religious coping and practices among patients with schizophrenia. Methods: This descriptive study conducted in one psychiatric hospital in Central Java Indonesia. A total of 116 patients with schizophrenia who were admitted in psychiatric hospital completed a survey consisting demographic questionnaire, religious practices and Brief Religious Coping (Brief R-COPE). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistic. Results: The mean age of the patients was 33.29 (SD = 9.21), most were male (71.6%) and most were Muslim (95.7%). This study found that the mean score for positive religious coping was 10.02 (SD = 3.38) while the mean score for positive religious coping was 3.48 (SD = 2.52). It was found that 87.9% of patients with schizophrenia had positive religious coping. The majority of the patients reported that prayer (68.1) was the most religious practices to cope with their illness. Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that religious coping and religious practices may serve as potentially effective method coping for patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, mental health professional especially nurses need to integrate spirituality into mental health care. Further study is needed to examine the relationship between religious coping and the symptoms of schizophrenia. Keywords: religious coping; religious practices; schizophrenia; spirituality