Henderson-Matthews Betty, Kothe Reece, Gilham Skye, Wood Zachary J, Runner George Heavy, Johnson Iii Lester, Lafromboise Mary Ellen, Malatare Melveena, Salois Emily, John-Henderson Neha A
Blackfeet Community College, Browning, Montana, United States of America.
Montana State University, Department of Psychology, Bozeman, Montana, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 13;20(6):e0325931. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325931. eCollection 2025.
Prior work documents a relationship between spirituality and mental health in American Indians. Separately, a robust literature links loneliness to indices of mental health. The current study is grounded in Community Based Participatory Research methods and investigates the relationship between spirituality, loneliness and indices of mental health. In a sample of 276 Blackfeet American Indian adults, a linear regression controlling for age, gender, education and marital status showed that higher levels of spirituality predicted lower levels of loneliness (β = -.31, t(266)=-5.34, p < .001, r2 change = .10). and lower levels of symptoms of depression= (β = -.24, t(267)=-4.02, p < .001, r2 change = .06) and anxiety (β = -.33, t(267)=-5.94, p < .001, r2 change = .11). Further analyses showed that higher levels of spirituality were linked to fewer symptoms of depression in part through lower levels of loneliness indirect effect (standard error, SE)= -.42 (.11), 95% CI= [-.65,-.23]. Similarly, higher levels of spirituality were linked to fewer symptoms of anxiety in part through lower levels of loneliness (indirect effect (SE)=-.46 (.12), 95% CI= [=-.70, -.26]. The findings offer preliminary evidence to support the notion that spirituality may confer benefits for mental health in part by decreasing loneliness for Blackfeet American Indian adults. Future work should investigate the social and behavioral pathways through which spirituality is linked to loneliness and mental health in this community.
先前的研究记录了美国印第安人精神性与心理健康之间的关系。另外，大量文献将孤独感与心理健康指标联系起来。本研究基于社区参与式研究方法，调查精神性、孤独感与心理健康指标之间的关系。在276名黑脚族美国印第安成年人的样本中，一项控制了年龄、性别、教育程度和婚姻状况的线性回归分析表明，较高水平的精神性预示着较低水平的孤独感（β = -0.31，t(266) = -5.34，p < 0.001，r2变化 = 0.10），以及较低水平的抑郁症状（β = -0.24，t(267) = -4.02，p < 0.001，r2变化 = 0.06）和焦虑症状（β = -0.33，t(267) = -5.94，p < 0.001，r2变化 = 0.11）。进一步分析表明，较高水平的精神性部分通过较低水平的孤独感与较少的抑郁症状相关（间接效应，标准误差，SE = -0.42(0.11)，95%置信区间 = [-0.65, -0.23]）。同样，较高水平的精神性部分通过较低水平的孤独感与较少的焦虑症状相关（间接效应(SE) = -0.46(0.12)，95%置信区间 = [-0.70, -0.26]）。这些发现提供了初步证据，支持精神性可能通过降低黑脚族美国印第安成年人的孤独感而对心理健康有益的观点。未来的研究应该调查精神性与该社区孤独感和心理健康相关的社会和行为途径。
