SynthesisCancer2015
A meta-analytic approach to examining the correlation between religion/spirituality and mental health in cancer.
Synthesis in Cancer, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
67 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Religiosity, Spirituality and Mental Health: Meta-analysis of Studies from the German-Speaking Area.Journal of religion and health · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The development of the Religious Health Interventions in Behavioural Science (RHIBS) Taxonomy: a scientific classification of religious practices in health.Translational behavioral medicine · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of effects of psychosocial interventions on spiritual well-being in adults with cancer.Psycho-oncology · 2021Pooled it
- Psychological interventions to foster resilience in healthcare students.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Psychological interventions to foster resilience in healthcare professionals.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Religiosity/Spirituality and Mental Health: A Meta-analysis of Studies from the German-Speaking Area.Journal of religion and health · 2019Pooled it
- Distress Management, Version 3.2019, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN · 2019Guideline
- Religious Coping in Cancer: A Quantitative Analysis of Expressive Writing Samples From Patients With Renal Cell Carcinoma.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2020Trial
- Examining the effect of peer helping in a coping skills intervention: a randomized controlled trial for advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients and their family caregivers.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2018Trial
- Emotional Distress Statistically Accounts for the Cross-Sectional Association Between Spiritual Well-Being and Global Quality of Life in Patients with Cancer.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Symptom clusters and their influencing factors among Vietnamese women after cancer treatment.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Spirituality and Pain among Post-treatment Cancer Patients in Poland: Mediation by Meaning in Life and Pain Coping Strategies.Journal of religion and health · 2025Article
- An Investigation of Spiritual Well-Being of Individuals with Cancer in Türkiye.Journal of religion and health · 2025Article
- Christian cancer survivors' global meaning violations and well-being.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Spiritual care in outpatient oncology: a qualitative study of focus groups with cancer center chaplains.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Influence of religion and spirituality on head and neck cancer patients and their caregivers: a protocol for a scoping review.Systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Article
- Religiousness, sexual orientation, and depression among emerging adults in U.S. higher education: Findings from the Healthy Minds Study.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Does religious faith contribute to the preservation of personal value system in patients with schizophrenia? an empirical research.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Religion and spirituality (R/S) are patient-centered factors and often are resources for managing the emotional sequelae of the cancer experience. Studies investigating the correlation between R/S (eg, beliefs, experiences, coping) and mental health (eg, depression, anxiety, well being) in cancer have used very heterogeneous measures and have produced correspondingly inconsistent results. A meaningful synthesis of these findings has been lacking; thus, the objective of this review was to conduct a meta-analysis of the research on R/S and mental health. Four electronic databases were systematically reviewed, and 2073 abstracts met initial selection criteria. Reviewer pairs applied standardized coding schemes to extract indices of the correlation between R/S and mental health. In total, 617 effect sizes from 148 eligible studies were synthesized using meta-analytic generalized estimating equations, and subgroup analyses were performed to examine moderators of effects. The estimated mean correlation (Fisher z) was 0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.16-0.23), which varied as a function of R/S dimensions: affective R/S (z = 0.38; 95% CI, 0.33-0.43), behavioral R/S (z = 0.03; 95% CI, -0.02-0.08), cognitive R/S (z = 0.10; 95% CI, 0.06-0.14), and 'other' R/S (z = 0.08; 95% CI, 0.03-0.13). Aggregate, study-level demographic and clinical factors were not predictive of the relation between R/S and mental health. There was little indication of publication or reporting biases. The correlation between R/S and mental health generally was positive. The strength of that correlation was modest and varied as a function of the R/S dimensions and mental health domains assessed. The identification of optimal R/S measures and more sophisticated methodological approaches are needed to advance research.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.