Spirituality and Negative Emotions in Individuals With Coronary Heart Disease

Many individuals with coronary heart disease (CHD) experience disease-related anxiety, depressive symptoms, and anger. Spirituality may be helpful to cope with these negative emotions. Research findings on the role of spirituality in dealing with negative emotions are inconsistent. In this study, we examined the associations between 7 dimensions of spirituality (ie, meaningfulness, trust, acceptance, caring for others, connectedness with nature, transcendent experiences, and spiritual activities) and negative emotions among individuals with CHD in Indonesia, controlling for perceived social support as well as demographic and clinical characteristics. In total, 293 individuals with CHD were recruited from the 3 largest hospitals in Bandung, Indonesia. They completed the Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Trait Anxiety Scale of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Multidimensional Anger Inventory, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that a higher overall level of spirituality was associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, less anxiety, and less anger. Specifically, a higher level of trust was significantly associated with both less depressive symptoms and less anxiety. Higher levels of caring for others and spiritual activities were associated with less anxiety, and a higher level of connectedness with nature was associated with less anger. These findings underscore the importance of specific dimensions of spirituality as a potentially independent buffer against negative emotions in individuals with CHD.