Spiritual self-care in adolescents: a qualitative study

Abstract

Abstract Objectives One of the existential questions during adolescence is about the ambiguity in spiritual realms. Adolescents at this age not only have the spiritual, psychological, and unique needs, but also have spiritual needs that help them to relax and solve problems. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to understand the concept of spiritual self-care in Iranian adolescents in 2019. Methods This qualitative study with content analysis approach was conducted on 14 adolescents with the age range of 14–20 years, who had been selected by purposeful sampling method. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews which were carried out between 4 March 2019 and 20 August 2019. Results The interviews were transcribed immediately after the recording, and then were analyzed using direct content analysis. A total of 252 primary codes related to the adolescents’ spiritual self-care were extracted from the analysis, which determined 4 main aspects of spiritual self-care (spiritual belief, spiritual experience, social-religious activities, and spiritual growth). Conclusions The findings of this study showed that, spiritual self-care is a form of self-care by which a person uses his or her spiritual beliefs, teachings, and experiences as a source of control over stress and crises, and will be able to cope with problems.