“The Lord is my Shepherd”: examining spirituality as a protection against mental health problems in youth exposed to violence in Brazil

Abstract

Intrinsic and institutional spirituality or religiosity may each provide unique protective effects against the negative impacts of stress on mental health. Whether this extends to adolescents exposed to high levels of community violence is unknown. Three hundred twenty-five incarcerated adolescents from São Paulo City, Brazil responded to questions about spirituality and violence exposure drawn from the Social and Health Assessment, and mental health problems drawn from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. There was some evidence that intrinsic and institutional spirituality/religiosity may buffer the relation between violence exposure and certain mental health problems, and that intrinsic spirituality may mediate the relationship between institutional activities and certain mental well-being outcomes. These findings extend a degree of support to the multi-dimensional nature of spirituality to high-risk youth populations, suggesting a small differential and interactive role that intrinsic and institutional spirituality may play in protecting against some mental health problems.

Keywords:

• Brazil
• community violence
• mental disorders
• spirituality
• adolescents

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the youth who participated in the study and the assistance of the Brazilian research team based at Projeto Quixote and Universidade Federal de São Paulo. Funding for the original study was provided by the Canadian International Development Agency through the Child Protection Research Fund. During the course of this study, the second author was supported by personnel awards from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Thanks also to the anonymous journal reviewers whose recommendations around construct elements and mediational analysis significantly strengthened the paper.