“Spiritus contra Spiritum?”: Spiritual Well-Being and Depression Among Male Alcohol Dependents in Treatment

Abstract

There is an ongoing discussion concerning the role of spirituality in alcoholism treatment. The main purpose of this study was to find out more about the spiritual needs among alcohol dependents. Spiritual well-being (SWB) and religious coping (RC) in the context of suicidal/depressive symptoms were investigated twice in 81 well-characterized male alcoholic inpatients, pre- and postwithdrawal treatment. Although suicidal/depressive symptoms decreased substantially as a result of the intervention, no changes were found with respect to SWB and RC. Based on these results, the authors address potential perspectives of how spirituality can be integrated in alcoholism treatment more adequately.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcoholism
• coping
• depression
• suicidality
• spirituality

Notes

Note. EWB = existential well-being; RWB = religious well-being; SWB = spiritual well-being; RC = religious coping; DEP = depression; SUI = suicidality; SUI-A⁽¹⁾ = suicidal attempt happened within 6 months before the beginning of treatment.

* p < 0.05;

** p < 0.01;

*** p < 0.001; Pearson's r coefficient.