FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, US, March 12, 2009: Like adults, kids who are more spiritual or religious tend to be healthier.
So says Dr. Barry Nierenberg, Ph.D., ABPP, associate professor of psychology at Nova Southeastern University, who has been studying the relationship between faith and health. Nierenberg spoke recently at a national conference of the American Psychological Association’s Division of Rehabilitation Psychology.
“A number of studies have shown a positive relationship between participatory prayer and lower rates of heart disease, cirrhosis, emphysema and stroke in adults,” he says. “Prayer has been shown to correlate to lower blood pressure, cortisol levels, rates of depression, as well as increased rates of self-described well being.” But, he says, “very few studies have attempted to examine how children’s spiritual beliefs impact their health.”
Nierenberg examined children who were undergoing hemodialysis due to End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). The patients were questioned on a scale of spirituality behaviors and attitudes, and responses were correlated to several dialysis-related blood levels, including blood urea nitrogen (BUN).
“There was a significant negative correlation between spiritual attitudes and BUN levels. As children reported more agreement with statements like, ‘I am sure that God cares about me,’ and ‘God has a plan for me,” their average BUN levels over the past year were lower.”