This research has confirmed that spiritual well-being is a key factor in reducing anxiety that leads to stress and depression. Indonesian Muslims believe that increasing spirituality, or faith in God, can help reduce anxiety during the pandemic. Spiritual health and mental health are closely intertwined, and those with higher spiritual health suffer less from stress, anxiety, and depression. Spirituality influences many decisions people make, encouraging them to have better relationships with themselves, others, and the unknown.
It can provide a sense of peace, purpose, and forgiveness that helps to cope with stress, especially during difficult times. The decision to use an elementary model was due to the lack of theoretical assumptions about the relationships between the various measures to be tested. Additionally, since spirituality has been shown to reduce the likelihood of risky health behaviors (Jesse and Reed, 2004; see also Unterrainer et al.), it is now seen as an important part of holistic health beyond biological and psychosocial well-being. Therefore, it can be concluded that spirituality has a stronger relationship with psychological well-being in university students whose curricula focus on the psychosocial dimension of health and the human mind and spirit.
Planning to improve the spiritual health of chronic patients from the onset of their illness to their treatment and even death can prevent many mental disorders in these patients and offer them a better prognosis. Sociological study of spiritual health in young individuals with an emphasis on social and cultural capital is also important. Many people with mental illness find hope when talking to a religious or spiritual leader. Heszen-Niejodek and Gruszyńska (200) understand transcendence as a common denominator of many concepts of spirituality.
Only spirituality is associated with the type of education acquired, particularly in the group of students whose studies focus on the human mind and spirit. The relationship between the type of education and psychological well-being was not expected to be significant since there were no assumptions about the differences in the level of well-being between those groups. However, it must be noted that spirituality is a complex construct that is defined in multiple ways and measured with different tools (Lun and Bond, 201). Understanding the difference between a spiritual crisis and mental illness is essential for getting to the root of the problem.
Additionally, few studies have been conducted on the impact of spirituality on health-related behavior, although it was recognized as one of the four dimensions of health (Harris et al.). On the contrary, students educated in the humanities and social sciences may focus more on developing their potential in psychosocial and spiritual health than physical health due to their dominant curriculum subjects. The relationship between spirituality and psychological well-being was strongest in the group of human mind and spirit students. The constructive validity of Ryff's psychological well-being scales and their extension to spiritual well-being further confirms this connection.
