Spirituality attenuates the association between depression symptom severity and meaning in life

Abstract

Objectives: This cross-sectional study examined whether spirituality moderates the association between depression symptom severity and meaning in life among treatment-seeking adults.

Method: Participants were 55 adults (≥60 years of age) newly seeking outpatient mental health treatment for mood, anxiety, or adjustment disorders. Self-report questionnaires measured depression symptom severity (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), spirituality (Spirituality Transcendence Index), and meaning in life (Geriatric Suicide Ideation Scale-Meaning in Life subscale).

Results: Results indicated a significant interaction between spirituality and depression symptom severity on meaning in life scores (β = .26, p = .02). A significant negative association between depression symptom severity and meaning in life was observed at lower but not the highest levels of spirituality.

Conclusion: In the presence of elevated depressive symptomatology, those participants who reported high levels of spirituality reported comparable levels of meaning in life to those without elevated depressive symptomatology. Assessment of older adult patients’ spirituality can reveal ways that spiritual beliefs and practices can be can be incorporated into therapy to enhance meaning in life.

Keywords:

• spirituality
• depression
• meaning in life

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported in part by National Institutes of Health [KL2RR024136], [K23MH096936], [K24MH072712].