Existential Health, Religion and Youth in a Global Perspectives
A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 April 2025 | Viewed by 100
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue in Religions is dedicated to exploring thriving and health in adolescents and young adults from an existential perspective. Survival chances and thriving for youth vary greatly across the world. Violence, accidents, diseases, and drug use are important factors affecting youth health from a global perspective. However, according to the World Health Organization, depression and anxiety are among the leading causes of illness and disability among youth. Addressing primarily the mental health aspect, there is a growing body of research highlighting the role of existential aspects and spirituality in adolescent health.
Researchers have examined existential health from different angles, proposing various definitions. A comprehensive definition does not exist, and existential and spiritual health are used as being interchangeable in relation to different cultures and religions.
The World Health Organization (2012) has proposed existential health as a fourth dimension of health, in addition to physical, mental, and social well-being. According to the WHO, existential health concerns attaining quality of life through eight aspects: spiritual connection, meaning and purpose in life, experience of awe and wonder, wholeness and integration, spiritual strength, inner peace, hope and optimism, and faith.
Existential and spiritual health have interested scholars from various research disciplines, such as social sciences, humanities, and medicine, as well as religious studies and theology. The concept and understanding of health, including existential health, are complex, even more so in a global context. Moreover, research shows that the views that young people hold on religion and spirituality today, including non-religious worldviews, can be diverse and multifaceted. Concepts, theories, and methods of researching this aspect of health in general and specifically among the youth are developing, and empirical results are still precarious, varying across the globe.
In this timely Special Issue, we gather scientific and scholarly knowledge on the meaning of religion, spirituality, and existential health, from different regional and local contexts, to help youth thrive, build resilience, and foster support. We welcome contributions from different contexts around the globe and articles from both transdisciplinary perspectives and individual disciplines.
The challenges in adolescents are vast and diverse, and religious landscapes and traditions are multifaceted. We, therefore, encourage contributions that present results from different contexts and perspectives and articles exploring the theoretical and methodological challenges of religion, spirituality, and existential health. The range of thematic fields is consequently broad, including, for example, religious and social change, lived religion, faith and theology, migration, identity, gender, race, nature and climate change, agency, meaning-making, coping, and resilience.
We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and abstract of 200–300 words summarising their intended contribution to either the Guest Editor or the Assistant Editor of Religions, Ms. Violet Li ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors to ensure a proper fit within the scope of this Special Issue, and full manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer review.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Katarina Westerlund
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- existential health
- religion
- youth
- spirituality
- contextual perspectives
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