Mental Health, Religion & Culture

November 2007; 10(6): 571–583

Religiosity, happiness, health, and psychopathology

in a probability sample of Muslim adolescents

AHMED M. ABDEL-KHALEK
Department of Psychology, College of Social Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait

Abstract
The aim of the present study was to explore the religiosity associations with the self-rating
scales of happiness, mental health, physical health, anxiety, and depression. A sample
(N ¼ 6,339) of Muslim Kuwaiti adolescents was recruited. Their ages ranged from 15 to
18. They responded to four self-rating scales to assess religiosity, happiness, mental
health, and physical health, as well as the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale, and the
Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale. Boys had higher mean scores on
happiness, mental health, and physical health than did girls, whereas girls had higher
mean scores on religiosity, anxiety, and depression. All the correlations were significant in
both sexes. They were positive between each of the self-rating scales of religiosity,
happiness, mental health, and physical health, and negative between these four rating
scales and both anxiety and depression. A high-loaded and bipolar factor was disclosed
and labelled ‘‘Religiosity and well-being vs. psychopathology.’’ In the stepwise regression,
the main predictor of religiosity was happiness in both sexes.

Introduction
This study explores the relationship between the self-rating of religiosity and
positive indicators of mental health, i.e., self assessment of happiness, mental
health, and physical health, as well as negative indicators of mental health, namely
anxiety, and depression. A probability sample of Muslim, Arab secondary school
students was recruited.
The last two decades have witnessed a resurgence of interest in religions
and their effects on, and correlates of different variables. A considerable amount
of work has been conducted on this endeavor in several disciplines including
psychology, psychiatry, medicine, epidemiology, gerontology, and geriatrics,
among others. The interest in the psychology of religion dates back more than

Correspondence: A. M. Abdel-Khalek, Department of Psychology, College of Social

Sciences, Kuwait University, PO Box 68168 Kaifan, Code No. 71962, Kuwait.
E-mail: ahmedkuniv@hotmail.com

ISSN 1367-4676 print/ISSN 1469-9737 online ß 2007 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/13674670601034547
572 Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek

a century (Al-Issa, 2000; Hall, 1882; James, 1902; Koenig, 1998; Larson &
Larson, 1994; Wulff, 1997).
Religion has been one of the most influential forces during the history of
mankind. Novak (1998) stated that the twenty-first century will be ‘‘the most
religious century’’ in recent times. Based on personal observation, external
religiosity increases and becomes stronger in an Arab, mainly Muslim countries
like Egypt, especially among college students. Abdel-Khalek and Thorson (2006)
found that undergraduates from Egypt had higher mean scores on intrinsic
religiosity than their American counterparts. In a similar vein, Thorson, Powell,
Abdel-Khalek and Beshai (1997) found that Kuwaiti students are more religious
than their American counterparts.
During the past two decades, there has been a virtual explosion of research on
the links between religion and both health and disease. As for the relationship
between religion and physical disease and dysfunction, the majority of studies
indicate that religiosity is associated with less coronary artery disease, hyperten-
sion, stroke, immune system dysfunction, cancer, and functional disability or
impairment, lower cholesterol level, and fewer negative health behaviors, e.g.,
smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, risky sexual behaviors, and sedentary lifestyle
(Koenig, McCullough, & Larson, 2001, p. 381). Moreover, certain religious
beliefs and activities appear to be related to fewer non-pain somatic symptoms.
This relationship is present in studies of Christians, Hindus, and Muslims
(Koenig, 1997; Koenig et al., 2001, p. 357). Likewise, Levin and Chatters (1998)
stated a positive association between religiosity and subjective health, and a
negative link with physical symptomatology and dementia.
A substantial body of research reveals an association between religion and
greater longevity. Involvement in a religious community is consistently related to
lower mortality and longer survival. Frequent religious attendance is associated
with a 25–33% reduction in the risk of dying during follow-up periods ranging
from 5 to 28 years. This association appears stronger in women and is
independent of confounders such as age, sex, race, education, and health status
(Koenig et al., 2001, p. 330). The same authors reviewed several studies, and
they concluded that several research findings support the protective and
preventive effect of religious involvement, and consider religion as a resource of
promoting recovery from illness, and a main factor in the prevention of morbidity
and mortality.
Koenig et al. (2001, p. 94) stated that when patients themselves are asked
how they cope with physical health problems and other major life stressors, they
frequently mention religious beliefs and practices. This is true for both medical
and psychiatric patients. Religions and spiritual coping strategies appear related
to better mental health and faster adaptation to stress. In the same vein, Kennedy
(1998) stated that religiosity potentially prevents, buffers, or repairs the effects
of stress.
Research on religion and depression supports the conclusion that some aspects
of religious involvement are indeed associated with less depression. People who
are involved frequently in religious community activity and who highly value their
 Religiosity, happiness, health, and psychopathology 573

religious faith for intrinsic reasons may be at reduced risk of depression. Even
when these persons experience depression, available research suggests that they
recover more quickly from it than those who are not religious. Furthermore,
religious involvement plays an important role in helping people cope with the
effects of stressful life circumstances (Koenig et al., 2001, p. 135).
Likewise, Kennedy (1998) stated that a significant inverse correlation between
depression and religiosity emerged, more sizeable with clinical than epidemio-
logical samples, and also more strongly in the relation of depression to physical
disability.
In discussing the current epidemic of depression among younger persons in the
USA, Seligman (1998) attributed it to the lack of larger buffers. Foremost among
them is the weak belief in, and the weak relationship to God.
As for anxiety, the preponderance of evidence suggests that religion as a whole
tends to buffer against anxiety (Abdel-Khalek, 2002; El-Jamil, 2003; Koenig
et al., 2001, chapter 9).
Davis, Kerr and Kurpius (2003) found that the higher the spiritual well-being,
existential well-being, religious well-being, and intrinsic religious orientation were
among males, the lower the anxiety. Likewise, Harris, Schoneman and Carrera
(2002) indicated a significant negative relationship between religiosity and trait
anxiety. However, other studies indicated non-significant association between
religiosity and anxiety (Francis & Jackson, 2003; Storch, Storch, & Adams,
2002).
Regarding religiosity and happiness or well-being, extensive literature has
demonstrated an apparent connection between them (see Argyle, 2002; Francis,
Jones, & Wilcox, 2000; French & Joseph, 1999; Myers & Diener, 1995). Koenig
et al. (2001, p. 117) reviewed studies that have examined the relationship
between religious involvement and measures of well-being, happiness, and life
satisfaction. Almost 80% of the 100 studies that have statistically examined that
relationship report a positive correlation. Thirteen percent of studies reviewed
reported no association, and 7% reported mixed or complex findings. Only one
study found a negative correlation between religiosity and mental adjustment, and
well-being, and this study was conducted in a small, non-random sample of
college students. In the vast majority of studies, religious involvement was
positively correlated with a greater well-being. Following a similar pattern,
numerous studies have found a positive association between religiosity and
satisfaction with life (Diener & Clifton, 2002; Eungi Kim, 2003; Fife, 2005),
emotional adjustment, self-esteem, mastery, and coping (Levin & Chatters,
1998).
Lewis (2002) stated that eight samples have demonstrated a significant positive
association between happiness and attitude toward Christianity. However, other
samples have demonstrated no significant association between happiness and
attitude toward Christianity (Francis, Ziebertz, & Lewis, 2003; Lewis, Lanigan,
Joseph, & de Fockert, 1997; Lewis, Maltby, & Burkinshaw, 2000).
In contrast, a small number of other studies reported negative health effects of
religion. That is, religiosity is positively associated with anxiety, depression,
574 Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek

intolerance of ambiguity, rigidity, authoritarianism, prejudice, dependency, and

poor physical and mental health (Koenig et al., 2001, chapter 4).
It is particularly noteworthy that the vast majority of studies on this endeavor
have been carried out with Western, Judeo-Christian participants. Research on
Muslim and Arab people is scarce. Of importance is to study the same topic
among different religions and cultures. Religions may differ in their emphasis on
specific spiritual or materialistic aspects of faith, creed, and different matters of
daily life. Some of these differences are subtle and disguised, whereas others are
clear and major. In this respect, Husain (1998) discussed the relation between
religion and mental health from the Muslim perspective. He illustrated the
spiritual and moral systems of Islamic faith, and the value that Islam attaches to
the spiritual, mental, and physical health of mankind.
To quote some studies conducted on Muslim participants, Jamal and Badawi
(1993) studied 325 Muslim immigrants in North America. Multiple regression
revealed that religiosity was significantly and positively related to fewer
psychosomatic symptoms, more happiness in life, greater job satisfaction, greater
job motivation, more organizational commitment, and less turnover motivation.
It was found also that religiosity was a buffer against the dysfunctional
consequences of job stress.
Using a large sample (N ¼ 2,453) of Kuwaiti Muslim adolescents, Abdel-
Khalek (2002) found a significant negative correlation between anxiety and
religiosity. Al-Kandari (2003) found a negative correlation between both systolic
and diastolic blood pressure and religious commitment and religious activity
among a sample of 223 Muslim Kuwaitis. Suhail and Chaudhry (2004) recruited
1,000 Pakistani Muslims and found that religious affiliation was among the
better predictors of subjective well-being. Recently, Abdel-Khalek (2006a), using
a sample of 2,210 Kuwaiti Muslim college students, found significant positive
correlations between the self-rating-scales of happiness, physical health, mental
health, and religiosity. Moreover, the factor analysis of the correlational matrix of
the last-mentioned four self-rating scales yielded one high loaded factor. Multiple
regression revealed that religiosity accounted for approximately 15% of the
variance in predicting happiness.
Abdel-Khalek and Naceur (2007) recruited a college student sample (N ¼ 244)
from Algeria, in which all were Muslims. They found that religiosity was
significantly and positively correlated with self-ratings of physical health, mental
health, happiness, satisfaction with life, and a questionnaire of optimism, whereas
religiosity correlated negatively with both anxiety and pessimism among women.
Among men, religiosity was significantly correlated only with the self-rating of
mental health.
The majority of published research papers have been carried out on Anglo-
Saxon, English-speaking samples. Therefore, there is a need to use samples
derived from other countries to run cross-cultural comparisons, and to test the
generizability of results. The present study was based on a sample of different
properties in language, religion, site, circumstances, and culture, i.e., Arabic,
Muslim, and living in the Middle East, being Kuwaiti adolescents. To the best of
 Religiosity, happiness, health, and psychopathology 575

our knowledge, there were no previous studies investigating the current variables
on Muslim adolescents as young as 14 years.
The aim of the current investigation was to explore the associations of
religiosity and the following variables: happiness, mental health, physical health,
anxiety, and depression among a probability sample of Kuwaiti Muslim
adolescents. Religiosity, as the variable of primary interest in the current study,
was defined on the basis of the self-rating of the participant.

Method
Participants
Kuwait is an Arab, Muslim country situated in the Arabian/Persian Gulf.
The most important and traumatic event in the modern history of Kuwait was the
Iraqi invasion of August 1990. During the seven months of that armed
occupation, the Kuwaiti people witnessed severe atrocities and experienced
manifold traumatic events, including detention, torture, intimidation, assassina-
tion, and captivity (Abdel-Khalek, 1997). Ibrahim (1992) stated that, ‘‘the Iraqis
left coarse scars on the psyche of Kuwait’’ (p. A3).
The Kuwaiti population has today approximately 950,000 inhabitants.
However, there are around 1,500,000 working foreigners from various countries
around the world. Among the Kuwaiti citizens, there are only 200 Christians.
A probability sample of 6,339 Kuwaiti Muslim secondary school students was
recruited from the different districts of the State of Kuwait. Their ages ranged
from 14 to 18 years. The mean age for boys (n ¼ 3,181) was 14.6 (SD ¼ 2.4), and
that for girls (n ¼ 3,158) was 14.7 (SD ¼ 2.3) t ¼ 1.37 (n.s.). This sample
represented 10.8% of boys and 8.8% of girls in the governmental secondary
schools in Kuwait. No information has been collected regarding the religious sect,
either Sunni or Shiite; however, all of the participants were Muslims. Generally
speaking, they represented different socio-economic status, but there was some
skewness toward the higher portion of the SES dimension. It is important to note
that the two scales of anxiety and depression, along with the four self-rating-
scales, were only used with a sample of 5,042 boys (n ¼ 2,520) and girls
(n ¼ 2,522).

Measures
Self-rating scales. Four separate self-rating-scales were used to assess religiosity,
happiness, mental health, and physical health. These scales are as follows:
(1) What is your level of religiosity in general?
(2) To what degree do you feel happy in general?
(3) What is your estimation of your mental health in general?
(4) What is your estimation of your physical health in general?
Each question was followed by a string of numbers from 0 to 10. The research
participant was requested (a) to respond according to their global estimation and
576 Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek

general feeling (not their present states); (b) to know that the zero is the
minimum, and that 10 is the maximum score; and (c) to circle a number which
seems to them to describe the actual feelings accurately. The high score denotes
the rating of the trait or the attribute at a high degree.
The one-week test–retest reliability of the four self-rating scales ranged between
0.76 and 0.89 (see Table I), denoting high temporal stability, and corroborates
the trait-like nature of the scores.
As for the validity, the self-rating scale of religiosity correlated 0.51 (N ¼ 531)
with the Hoge’s (1972) Intrinsic Religious Motivation (IRM) Scale, denoting
good criterion-related validity. The factor analysis of the correlations between the
self-rating of religiosity, the IRM, and the self-rating of strength of religious belief
yielded a high-loaded factor of Religiosity, in which the present self-rating scale
loaded 0.84, denoting good factorial validity (Abdel-Khalek, submitted).
However, there is a need to compute the correlation between the self-rating of
religiosity with a single item and social desirability (Gillings & Joseph, 1996; Leak
& Fish, 1989; Lewis, 1999; Trimble, 1997).
Regarding the self-rating-scale of happiness, its correlation with the Oxford
Happiness Inventory (Argyle, Martin, & Lu, 1995) ranged between 0.56 and
0.70, with a median of 0.63 among six different age groups of Kuwaiti samples
(N ¼ 1,412), denoting good criterion-related validity of the self-rating scale of
happiness (Abdel-Khalek, 2006b). The self-rating scale of mental health
correlated
0.51 with the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (Abdel-Khalek,
2000), denoting good criterion-related validity of both scales. The correlations
between the self-rating scale of physical health and the Somatic Symptoms
Inventory (Abdel-Khalek, 2003b) in three studies ranged from
0.49 to
0.57,
indicating good validity.

Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (KUAS; Abdel-Khalek, 2000, 2003a, 2004). This
consists of 20 brief statements. The scale has three comparable Arabic, English,
and Spanish versions. Each statement is answered on a 4-point intensity scale,
anchored as follows: 1 Rarely and 4 Always. In previous studies on Kuwaiti
samples, reliabilities of the scale ranged from 0.88 to 0.92 (alpha), and between
0.70 and 0.93 (test–retest), denoting good internal consistency and temporal
stability. The criterion-related validity of the scale ranged between 0.70 and 0.88
(five criteria), while the loadings of the scale on a general factor of anxiety were
0.93 and 0.95 in two factor analyses, demonstrating the scale’s criterion-related
and factorial validity. Discriminant validity of the scale has also been
demonstrated. Factor analysis of the scale items yielded three factors labeled
Cognitive/Affective, Subjective, and Somatic anxiety. The scale has displayed
good psychometric properties in large Kuwaiti and Arab samples of under-
graduates (Alansari, 2002, 2004), in Spanish Ss (Abdel-Khalek, Tomás-Sabádo,
& Gómez-Benito, 2004), in Saudi and Syrian Ss (Abdel-Khalek & Al-Damaty,
2003; Abdel-Khalek & Rudwan, 2001), and in American Ss (Abdel-Khalek &
Lester, 2003).
 Religiosity, happiness, health, and psychopathology 577

Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D). The CES-D scale is a

20-item self-report scale (Radloff, 1977). It was developed to measure depressive
symptomatology in adults in the general population. Items were selected from
areas of depressive symptomatology previously described and validated. The
items tap areas of depressed mood, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, feelings of
helplessness and hopelessness, psychomotor retardation, loss of appetite, and
sleep disturbance. The scale items emphasize the affective component and
depressed mood (Katz, Shaw, Vallis, & Kaiser, 1995). Subjects respond to each
item on a 4-point scale according to the frequency of occurrence in the 7 days
previous to the testing. It has been found to have very high internal consistency
and adequate test–retest reliability. Construct validity has also been established
(Radloff, 1977).
With the kind permission of the NIMH, the present writer translated the
CES-D scale into Arabic. Two bilingual Ph.D. psychologists and two Ph.D.
linguists were requested to check the compatibility of meaning between the
Arabic and English forms of the scale. Suitable revisions and corrections were
carried out. As a check on the adequacy of the English to Arabic translation, a
Ph.D. linguist who was unfamiliar with the scale was requested to translate it back
from the Arabic into English (Brislin, 1970, 1980). Good results were achieved.
As for the Arabic form, alpha coefficients were 0.80 and 0.81, while the one-week
test–retest reliability was 0.79 and 0.71 for men and women, respectively.
Criterion-related validity was 0.74 and 0.83. The criteria were the SCL-90,
D and the Hopkins Symptom Check List-depression scale, respectively.

Procedure
The four self-rating scales along with the KUAS and CES-D in Arabic were
administered anonymously to students during group testing sessions in their
classrooms. Each session contained 25–30 students. Competent assistants carried
out the administration of the scales. The return rate was 100%. SPSS (1990) was
used for the statistical analysis of the data. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, Pearson
correlations, factor analysis, and stepwise regression were used.

Results
Table I presents the descriptive statistics of the self-rating-scales and
questionnaires. Inspection of this table reveals that all the gender-related
differences were statistically significant. Boys had higher mean scores on the
self-rating scales of happiness, mental health, and physical health than did girl
counterparts, whereas girls had higher mean scores on religiosity, anxiety, and
depression than did their boy peers.
Table II sets out the intercorrelations between the study variables. Reference to
this table reveals that all the correlations were significant (p < 0.001 and above).
On the one hand, the correlations between the four self-rating scales of religiosity,
happiness, mental health, and physical health were positive and ranged between
578 Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek

Table I. Reliability, mean (M), standard deviation (SD), and t values in boys and girls.

Boys Girls

r11 N M SD r11 N M SD t

Religiosity 0.88 3181 6.82 2.86 0.89 3158 7.14 2.55 4.72**
Happiness 0.84 3181 7.87 2.61 0.86 3158 7.50 2.70 5.54**
Mental health 0.76 3181 7.77 2.81 0.77 3158 7.45 3.00 4.42**
Physical health 0.76 3181 8.02 2.34 0.77 3158 7.90 2.48 2.02*
Anxiety 0.91 2520 34.90 10.41 0.92 2522 37.79 11.62 8.61**
Depression 0.86 2520 18.23 10.35 0.88 2522 22.18 12.04 11.52**
Note. The test–retest method was used to compute the stability of the four self-rating scales,
whereas the alpha reliability was used with the two scales of anxiety and depression.
*p < 0.04 (two-tailed); **p < 0.0001 (two-tailed).

Table II. Pearson correlation coefficients among boys (lower matrix; n ¼ 2,520) and girls (upper
matrix; n ¼ 2,522).

Variables Religiosity Happiness Mental health Physical health Anxiety Depression

Religiosity – 0.273 0.260 0.189
0.249
0.263

Happiness 0.258 – 0.549 0.352
0.491
0.560
Mental health 0.241 0.474 – 0.438
0.553
0.559
Physical health 0.181 0.310 0.449 –
0.356
0.329
Anxiety
0.224
0.438
0.439
0.291 – 0.769
Depression
0.237
0.511
0.477
0.310 0.711 –
Note. All the correlations are significant (p < 0.001 and above).

0.18 and 0.55. On the other hand, the correlations between these four self-rating-
scales and both anxiety and depression were negative and ranged from
0.22 to

0.56. The lowest (but significant) correlation was between religiosity and
physical health, whereas the highest correlation (regardless of the anxiety and
depression correlation) was between the self-rating of happiness and depression
(negative). The aforementioned findings were applied to both samples of boys
and girls.
The Pearson intercorrelation matrix (6  6) was computed and factored using
principal-components analysis (SPSS, 1990). Based on the Kaiser Unity test, i.e.,
the eigenvalue >1.0, only one factor was retained. Table III reports this factor.
It accounted for 48.75 and 52.62% of the total variance among boys and girls,
respectively. It is a bipolar factor, i.e., self-rating scales of religiosity, happiness,
mental health, and physical health vs. anxiety and depression. Therefore, it was
labeled religiosity and well-being vs. psychopathology.
Table IV reports the stepwise regression. Religiosity was the dependent
variable. It was found that the main predictor of religiosity was happiness in
both sexes.
 Religiosity, happiness, health, and psychopathology 579

Table III. Loadings of the first factor in boys (n ¼ 2520) and girls (n ¼ 2522).

Factor 1

Variables Boys Girls

Religiosity 0.440 0.442

Happiness 0.734 0.763
Mental health 0.754 0.798
Physical health 0.585 0.590
Anxiety
0.781
0.827
Depression
0.819
0.844
Eigenvalue 2.93 3.16
Percentage of variance 48.75 52.62

Table IV. Stepwise regression for predicting religiosity in boys (n ¼ 2520) and girls (n ¼ 2522).

Boys Girls

Variables B  t R2 B  t R2

Happiness 0.159 0.150 6.09** 0.067 0.127 0.136 5.12** 0.075

Mental health 0.104 0.100 3.87** 0.018 0.081 0.095 3.45** 0.008
Physical health 0.078 0.061 2.63* 0.003 0.066 0.062 2.67* 0.003
Anxiety
0.026
0.096 4.01** 0.008 – – – –
Depression – – – –
0.023
0.113 4.21**
0.017
R2 0.095 0.103
F-ratio 56.27** 60.82**
*p < 0.01 (two-tailed); **p < 0.001 (two-tailed).

Discussion
The main objective of the current investigation has been successfully fulfilled.
The results indicate that the self-rating of religiosity was significantly and
positively correlated with happiness, mental health, and physical health, whereas
religiosity was significantly and negatively correlated with anxiety and depression.
It is important to note that these results were relevant to both sexes. Consistent
with these results on Kuwaiti Muslim adolescents are previous findings on
Kuwaiti Muslim adolescents and college students in their early adulthood (Abdel-
Khalek, 2002, 2006a). Overall, the replicability of the same results in spite of the
change in age group and educational level adds a lot to the trustworthiness of
these findings among a Muslim society.
In further support, the present results are compatible with previous findings
reached with Muslims in other countries, e.g., participants from Algeria (Abdel-
Khalek & Naceur, 2007), immigrants in North America (Jamal & Badawi, 1993),
and participants from Pakistan (Suhail & Chaudhry, 2004). Moreover, numerous
results of studies carried out on Western subjects, mainly Christian and Jewish,
580 Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek

have reached the same conclusion (see, e.g., Francis et al., 2000; Hackney &
Sanders, 2003; Hill & Pargament, 2003; Kennedy, 1998; Koenig et al., 2001;
Levin & Chatters, 1998).
The extraction of a high-loaded factor of ‘‘Religiosity and well-being versus
psychopathology’’ among boys and girls adds other evidence to the main thesis
of religiosity being associated positively with happiness and health, and negatively
with psychopathology. It seems true that the participants in the present sample
viewed the self-ratings of religiosity, happiness, and health, and questionnaires
of psychopathology, in a specific and predictable manner, and the co-variation of
these variables was high.
On the basis of the current findings, it can be concluded that the participants
with high scores on religiosity saw themselves as enjoying good physical and
mental health, and being happier. Inversely, they viewed themselves as being less
anxious and less depressed.
Arab Muslims in Egypt and Kuwait attained higher mean scores on a scale of
intrinsic religious motivation than did their American counterparts, mainly Judeo-
Christians (Abdel-Khalek & Thorson, 2006; Thorson et al., 1997). Therefore,
it seems true that the religion of Islam as a value system has a high rank and
importance among its believers, so the association of religiosity with positive
ratings such as happiness and good health is predictable. On the other hand,
it seems that religion acts as a coping mechanism against anxiety and depression.
As Hall (1915) said: ‘‘the promise of religion was the great answer to human
kind’s most compelling fear.’’ In Islam proper, multiple practices are available to
relieve anxiety and depression, i.e., ablution and prayer five times a day, reciting
Qur’an, remembering Allah, call or invocation, fasting a complete month in the
year (Ramadan), etc. It is interesting to note that one of the meanings of
happiness in the Arabic lexicon is as follows: the help of God to the human being
to do good deeds.
Gender differences are significant and in the predicted direction. That is, boys
had higher mean scores on self-rating scales of happiness, mental health, and
physical health than did girls, whereas girls had higher mean scores on religiosity,
anxiety, and depression. Consistent with previous results, females in Arab
countries attained higher mean scores than did their male counterparts for
anxiety, fear, neuroticism, depression, and religiosity (see Abdel-Khalek, 1994,
1997, 2002, 2006a; Abdel-Khalek & Alansari, 2004; Abdel-Khalek & Eysenck,
1983). Child-rearing practices and gender role can play a significant part in this
respect. Fakhr El-Islam (2000) stated that a son in the Arab region is given more
freedom, authority, and responsibility than a daughter.
In comparing the present results among adolescents with previous findings in
college students (Abdel-Khalek, 2006a), all Kuwaiti Muslims, it was found that
adolescents attained higher mean scores on both religiosity and happiness than
college students in both sexes. This result deserves further investigation based on
a developmental perspective. Further research appears warranted.
In spite of the sharp differences between the samples recruited from various
cultures, the results from this study may be consistent with findings from previous
 Religiosity, happiness, health, and psychopathology 581

research investigating the association between religion and health. Furthermore,

findings from this study are generalizable to Kuwaiti Muslim adolescents.
Despite the large number of participants in this study, this age range was
limited. Thus, an important next step in this endeavor would be to extend the
present study in other age groups, and to use demographic and social variables as
probable correlates of religiosity. These are points for further study. One of the
practical implications of the current results is the good possibility of using
religious involvement in psychotherapy with Muslim clients.

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