| Summary: | The relationship between spirituality and various dimensions of health and quality of
life has been extensively examined during the past decade. Though several literature reviews
have been conducted in an attempt to synthesize research findings pertaining to the
relationship between spirituality and dimensions of health, a meta-analysis of studies
examining spirituality in relation to quality of life has not been identified. The present study
was therefore designed to: (a) determine whether there is empirical support for a relationship
between spirituality and quality of life, (b) provide an estimate of the strength of this
relationship, (c) hypothesize and examine the existence of any potential moderating variables
affecting this relationship, and (d) contribute to the conceptualization of spirituality in
relation to quality of life.
The research design followed methods for quantitative meta-synthesis as discussed by
Lipsey and Wilson (2001), Cooper and Hedges (1994), and Hunter and Schmidt (1990).
Potential moderating effects of several methodological differences and sample characteristics
were examined using meta-analytic approaches to multivariate regression and analysis of
variance. An extensive multidisciplinary literature search resulted in 3,040 published reports
that were manually screened according to pre-established selection criteria. Subsequent to the
selection process, 62 primary effect sizes from 51 studies were included in the final analysis.
A random effects model analysis of the bivariate correlation between spirituality and
quality of life resulted in a moderate effect size (r = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.28 - 0.40), thereby
providing support for the theoretical framework underlying this study wherein spirituality is
depicted as a unique concept that stands in relationship to quality of life. Subsequent
regression analyses indicated that differences between operational definitions of spirituality and quality of life significantly affected the magnitude of this relationship (R2 = 0.27). Other
potential moderators, such as age, gender, ethnicity, religious affiliation and sampling
method were also examined but the findings pertaining to these variables were inclusive due
to limitations associated with the sample of primary studies. The implications of this study
are mostly theoretical in nature and raise questions about the commonly assumed
multidimensional conceptualization of quality of life.
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