astronomy

Handbook of Religion and Health

Handbook of Religion and Health is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Handbook of Religion and Health rather than just read about it. In short: Handbook of Religion and Health is a scholarly book about the relation of spirituality and religion with physical and mental health. Written by Harold G.

Key takeaways

Handbook of Religion and Health belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Handbook of Religion and Health to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Handbook of Religion and Health from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Handbook of Religion and Health is a scholarly book about the relation of spirituality and religion with physical and mental health. Written by Harold G. Koenig, Michael E. McCullough, and David B. Larson, the first edition was published in the United States in 2001. Subsequent editions in 2012 and 2023 provide entirely new content as each edition reviews researched published since the previous edition. The book has been discussed in magazines and reviewed in professional journals.

Topics covered

The first edition of the Handbook of Religion and Health (published in 2001) is divided into 8 major parts that contain a total of 34 chapters. The book also contains an 11-page introduction, a 2-page conclusion, 95 pages of references, and a 24-page index. One reviewer described the book as "surprisingly readable" (p. 791). The parts and chapters are shown in the adjacent table. Most chapters focus on reviewing and discussing the relation between religion and particular health outcomes, such as cardiovascular disease or depression. In two chapters, the authors present more encompassing theoretical models that they suggest may explain the generally favorable associations observed between religion and health:

In chapter 15, on mental health, the authors theorize that the relation between religion and mental health outcomes may be mediated (causally explained) by stressful life experiences, as well as various other psychological factors that include coping resources and future goals. In chapter 25, on physical health, the authors theorize that the religion / physical health relation may be mediated (causally explained) by mental health, social support, and health behaviors, which in turn may affect various physiological processes as well as disease detection and treatment compliance, which affect physical health. The authors note that their model for effects on physical health

does not consider 'supernatural'... explanations... since such mechanisms (if they exist at all) act outside the laws of science as we know them today. We focus here on known psychological, social, behavioral, and physiological mechanisms by which religion may exert effects on physical health. (p. 389)

The book's 34th and final chapter contains a 77-page table with systematic information about all 20th-century studies of religion and health. Topics are arranged in the order of the other chapters, and provide technical information such as the type of population, the number of subjects, the existence of a control or a comparison group, and a 1-to-10 rating or "grade" of the study's quality and rigor. The "reader thus gains a snapshot view of each study, can easily identify those with a variable of interest, and can reference back to the text to see what the authors have to say about it" (p. 139).

Reviews and response Reviews and discussions have appeared in The New Yorker, Freethought Today, First Things, Journal of the American Medical Association, The Gerontologist, the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, Journal of Sex Education & Therapy, Anglican Theological Review, the American Journal of Psychiatry, and elsewhere. The Journal of the American Medical Association wrote that the authors of the Handbook of Religion and Health are

well-regarded researchers in this maturing field... Their analysis of more than 1200 studies and 400 reviews is meticulous and balanced.... This is an unparalleled resource not only for physicians with an interest in the relationship between religion and health but perhaps even more for those who doubt its significance. All physicians should consider the possibility that something so meaningful to a large number of patients might also be good for their health. (pp. 465-6)

JAMA also stated that "Studies are cited to illustrate the complexity and limitations of available knowledge," that "The authors offer theoretical models for how religion might directly or indirectly influence both mental and physical health," and that "The authors provide an outline for a religious history that can serve as part of a clinical assessment. Ways to aid patients to use their religious beliefs within the health care system are suggested" (all p. 465). In the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Leonard Duhl wrote that

the authors have done a very thorough overview of all we know at this time. Clearly spirituality and religion affect growth and development, the creation of pathology and the treatment of disease. They have not got the total answer. However, they have laid a ground work for understanding a complex set of issues. They review those studies that exist, critically interpret their findings, and offer new ways of "asking the question." They hypothesise the possible mechanisms, and suggest new directions. (p. 688)

In The Gerontologist, David O. Moberg described the book as "mind-boggling, comprehensive, and evenhanded...This comprehensive reference work deserves an honored place in every medical, religious, gerontological, professional, and scientific research library, even though it has one major weakness, the lack of an index of names." (pp. 699–700;) In The New Yorker, Jerome Groopman wrote that the Handbook's conclusions

are not entirely encouraging: they suggest that although the relationship between health and spirituality is clearly worthy of serious study, much of the research done in the field to date has been shoddy. Koenig and his collaborators also go to great lengths to educate the reader about negative effects of belief and orthodoxies... such as the fear that disease is punishment for sin, and that assistance is preferably derived through miracles rather than through medicine. (p. 166)

Freethought Today, a magazine published by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, wrote that the Handbook "reports that there are at least 1200 studies on religion and health - with the vast majority showing positive associations" and asked

Are there really this many studies? What are these studies like? Well, here's one of them that qualifies by Koenig's standards.... The authors reported differences between Jewish and non-Jewish Cleveland attorneys in the incidence of some index of cardiovascular disease. That's it.... So that's how numbers like 1200 arise, because studies like this get included. (pp. 10-11)

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Handbook of Religion and Health

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Handbook of Religion and Health claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Handbook of Religion and Health before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Handbook of Religion and Health ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Handbook of Religion and Health

In research: Handbook of Religion and Health appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Handbook of Religion and Health in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Handbook of Religion and Health is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2001 non-fiction books, 2012 non-fiction books, Health research, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Handbook of Religion and Health outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Handbook of Religion and Health in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Handbook of Religion and Health means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Handbook of Religion and Health out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Handbook of Religion and Health in simple terms?

Handbook of Religion and Health is a scholarly book about the relation of spirituality and religion with physical and mental health. Written by Harold G.

Why does Handbook of Religion and Health matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Handbook of Religion and Health?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Handbook of Religion and Health.