Meneses, R. F., Miyazaki, C., & Pais-Ribeiro, J. (5/7/2011). University students spirituality: Do communication skills make a difference?

Comunicao integrada no Simpsio: Emotion, behavior, and health, Chair: M. C. Miyazaki, Discussants: R. F. Meneses and Vicente Caballo. XIIth European Congress of Psychology, Istambul, Turquia.

The 12th European Congress of Psychology Istanbul, 4-8/7/2011

University students spirituality: Do communication skills make a difference?

Rute F. Meneses
FCHS-UFP, Porto, Portugal

Cristina Miyazaki
FAMERP, SP, Brazil

Jos Pais-Ribeiro
FPCE-UP, Portugal

Grant FCT - SFRH/BPD/39186/2007

Stress

Burnout

Ensino Superior Higher education

Psychological stress is a relation between

the individual and the environment

that is assessed by the individual as demanding or exceeding his/her resources and risking his/her well-being
(Lazarus & Folkman, 1984)

(Almeida, 2001; Fernandes et al., 2005; Fernandes & Almeida, 2005; Santos, 2001)

Distress is frequent in university students (US;

Aguiar, Vieira, Vieira, Aguiar, & Nbrega, 2009; Calais, Carrara, Brum, Batista, Yamada, & Oliveira, 2007; Santos & Jnior, 2007)

and spirituality seems a good way to cope with it

(Case & McMinn, 2001; Panzini & Bandeira, 2007;

Siegel, & Schrimshaw, 2002 ).

The concept of spirituality is difficult

to define and assess, but

its relevance is being more and more

recognized by the scientific community,

namely in the context of QOL research
(Fleck & Skevington, 2007; Meneses, 2006; MoreiraAlmeida & Koenig, 2006; Mount, Lawlor, Cassell, 2002).

There are authors that support the integration of spiritual/religious dimensions in psychotherapy, which requires an increase of

research in the area

(Peres, Simo, & Nasello, 2007).

Spirituality is constructed in the socio-cultural and historical contexts, structuring and giving meaning to values, behaviours, human experience, and sometimes it materializes itself in the practice of a specific religion
(Pinto & Pais-Ribeiro, 2007, p. 47).

Consequently, identifying modifiable variables related

to spirituality seems a promising step for its promotion.

Communication Effective communication - to express, n an assertive manner the opinions, the feelings, the needs, and the desires
(Minto et al., 2006, p. 565).

Communications skills can be trained with success

(e.g., Choque-Larrauri & Chirinos-Cceres, 2009).

Aim: To explore the relationship

between spirituality and satisfaction

with own communication skills in US.

Method
N %

Sex: Women Men Missing Marriage status: Single Married/cohabiting Missing Degree: Communication sciences Age: 18-47 years
(M=22,18, SD=3,70)

128 46 3 171 3 3 35

72,3 26,0 1,7 96,6 1,7 1,7 19,8

Participants (N=177)

Physical therapy
Dentistry Psychology

8
62 63

4,5
35,0 35,6

Religion: - 17.5% without - 44.6% not practising Health: 19.8% with problems

Social work
Professional status: Student Worker & student

9
146 31

5,1
82,5 17,5

- All the necessary authorizations - Self-administration, in class, in the presence of the researcher

Material

Socio-demographic & Clinical Questionnaire (13 items)

WHOQOL-SRPB (32 items)

Communication Skills Questionnaire (QCC) (26 items)

Results & Discussion - There was a considerable heterogeneity in the responses. - WHOQOL-SRPB predictors: no QCC item correlated/predicted Connect; 7 items predicted Meaning (R2a=0,043);

7 items predicted Awe (R2a=0,071);

8 items predicted Whole (R2a=0,077);

2 items predicted Strength (R2a=0,029);

2 items predicted Peace (R2a=0,036); 15 items predicted Hope (R2a=0,046); 1 item predicted Faith (R2a=0,026).

Although of small magnitude, the predictive results suggest that communication skills training programs could have a positive impact on US spirituality

Stress

Thank you very much

for your attention!

rmeneses@ufp.edu.pt
Note: Images were obtained via Google Images