The Relationship between Religiosity and Mental Health

Dear Colleagues,

The notion that religiosity has a positive impact on mental health has a long history dating back to scholars such as Allport, Jung, and beyond. Indeed, findings from meta-analyses conducted during the past several decades indicate that religiosity tends to be associated with decreased mental health problems. However, the strength of this relationship appears to depend on how religiosity and mental health are defined and measured (e.g., intrinsic versus extrinsic religiosity; general well-being versus specific mental health constructs). Moreover, a relatively small body of research has directly examined the question of “why” religiosity leads to positive mental health. In other words, further research that directly examines possible explanatory factors (e.g., mediating factors that are specific to religiosity) in the relationship between religiosity and mental health is needed.

We thus invite authors to submit papers to be considered for publication in a special issue that will focus on the relationship between religiosity and mental health. Although all articles on this topic are welcome, we are especially interested in articles that examine possible explanatory factors in this relationship, articles that delineate the particular aspects of religiosity that appear especially important in understanding this relationship, and/or articles that assess specific mental health constructs when examining this relationship.

Please note that papers conducted in non-Western countries are welcome, as are papers from authors representing a variety of disciplines and papers based on a variety of religions and denominations. Also, please note that authors do not have to pay a publication fee.

Prof. Dr. Joseph D. Hovey
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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.