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Aim and Background: Prayer is one of the commandments of God and has an essential role in human&rsquo;s mental relaxation. Many text saboutreligion, spirituality and healing exist, and in many of them there lationship between prayer and mental health and the protective eeffec to fthese concepts have been noted. Depression is more common among students. It decreases their academic success and achievements and keeps them from reaching their goals. Therefore this study aimed to determine the relationship between prayer and depression and some demographical parameters. Methods and Materials: The present study was conducted by section during four months. 715 students from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were randomly chosen. Data gathering tool included demographic information form, Beck depression questionnaire and prayer checklist. Data were then analyzed. Findings: Depression incidence among students was 44%. There was a statistically significant relationship between nobligation to prayer and depression (P = 0.001). Also finding sreveal edthatthere was a statistically significant relationship between depression and respecting the priority of prayertime (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Praying and respecting the priority of prayer time significantly decreased depression among students. It is suggested in order to achieve primary prevention and decrease the prevalence of students&#039;depression disorders, more comprehensive actions should be performed to promote prayer culture.

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Aim and Background: Depression and anxiety among students are important issues, because they lead to scholastic decline and develop many difficulties for students in the future. Furthermore, adherence to religious beliefs and attitudes toward religion as a deterrent to many mental disorders, especially depression and anxiety, has attracted the attention of many psychologists. This study aimed to review the relationship between religious orientations, depression as well anxiety of students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2012. Methods and Materials: This was a descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional correlation study which was conducted on 715 students who were selected through stratified random sampling method. Data collection was done through demographic information questionnaire form, DASS-42 standard questionnaire and the Religious Orientations Scale (ROS) by Allport. Finally, statistical software SPSS was used to analyze the data by descriptive statistics, one way ANOVA as well as the Pearson correlation coefficient. Findings: Average score of depression and anxiety among female students was more than male students; however, in religious orientations, statistically there was no significant relationship between male and female students. Statistically, there was a significant relationship between students&rsquo; depression and anxiety and religious orientations (r = -0.61; P < 0.05) (r = -0.56; P < 0.05). Conclusions: Promotion of religious orientations leads to reduce students&rsquo; anxiety and depression, and therefore religious beliefs can play an important role in preventing mental disorders in people&#039;s lives particularly among university students.

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Abstract Aim and Background: Due to the high incidence of breast cancer and the importance of spiritual well-being (SWB) of patients with this type of cancer, this study was performed to predict the role of psychological, medical and demographic factors, on SWB in patients with breast cancer Methods and Materials: This Cross sectional study was a descriptive-analytic one conducted in 341 breast cancer patients with simple sampling methodology. Data collection instrument included a questionnaire contains 3 parts (demographic and medical information, SWB questionnaire and DASS-42 questionnaire). The data was analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics (One way Analysis of Variance, Student t-Test, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients and Multiple linear regressions), with applying SPSSv20 software. Findings: Based on study findings, there was a statistically significant relationship between SWB and stress, anxiety and depression among breast cancer patients. The results of regression analysis indicated that the stress, anxiety and depression explained totally 39.5% of the variance of patients&#039; SWB (R 2 = 39.5). Depression in the first was the best predictions of the breast cancer patients&#039; SWB with R 2 = 26.2. Conclusions: According to the results obtained, SWB of patients with breast cancer is predicable according to the stress, anxiety and depression. Breast cancer patients with higher grades of SWB, had lower stress, anxiety and depression so SWB is a protective factor against stress, anxiety and depression. &nbsp;