Depression in Australian women: The varied roles of spirituality and social support

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of spirituality on depression in Western Australian women. Two hundred and seventy-eight women (aged 18–78) completed an online survey about factors relating to daily spiritual experience, depression, anxiety and social support. Significant correlations were found between spiritual experience and depression, whereby individuals who reported higher spirituality also reported higher rates of social support and lower levels of depression. A major finding from this study was that spirituality accounted for a significant proportion of variance in depressive symptoms beyond the mediating effect of social support.