By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 31, 2014 <\/p>\n
Emerging research suggests religion and spirituality have distinct but complementary influences on health. <\/p>\n
Oregon State University researchers looked at the relationship between health, religion, and spirituality and developed a theoretical model that defines two distinct pathways. <\/p>\n
Religion helps regulate behavior and health habits, while spirituality regulates your emotions, how you feel, said Carolyn Aldwin, Ph.D., a gerontology professor at Oregon State University. <\/p>\n
Religiousness, including formal religious affiliation and service attendance, is associated with better health habits, such as lower smoking rates and reduced alcohol consumption. <\/p>\n
Spirituality, including meditation and private prayer, helps regulate emotions, which aids physiological effects such as blood pressure. <\/p>\n
The findings were published recently in the journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. <\/p>\n
No one has ever reviewed all of the different models of how religion affects health, said Aldwin. Were trying to impose a structure on a very messy field. <\/p>\n
There can be some overlap of the influences of religion and spirituality on health, Aldwin said. <\/p>\n
Still, more research is needed to test the theory and examine contrasts between the two pathways. <\/p>\n
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