Clinical Psychology PhD Student Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Abstract Body
Background: As of 2023, the number of Muslims residing in the United States (U.S.) is estimated at 3-4 million, with Islam being predicted to become the second-largest religion in the U.S. Despite this growth in Muslim populations across the country, they have been historically understudied due to erasure in psychological research, leading to treatment gaps regarding their religious/spiritual experiences. Even less is known about the prevalence of and risk factors associated with the development of psychosis in this marginalized community.
Methods: Fifty-four Muslims participants completed a survey exploring trauma, resilience, and psychosis-risk in the context of spirituality and religious identity. We expected trauma, daily and lifetime discrimination, and low spirituality/religiosity to exhibit a significant positive correlation with psychosis-risk. Additionally, we hypothesized that increased spirituality/religiosity, cultural belonging, and resilience will be negatively correlated with psychosis-risk in Muslim populations.
Results: Results found that our variables of interest were correlated in the expected directions. Religious and spiritual identity were positively correlated with cultural belonging, resilience, and negatively correlated with psychosis-risk, trauma, and daily and lifetime experiences of discrimination.
Discussion: This on-going study of mental health in the Muslim population suggests that the relationship between religion and spirituality and mental health variables is complex and that more nuanced examination of religion, community-building practices and resilience is necessary to understand social determinants of psychosis-risk in Muslim populations.
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