Positive effects of Spirituality on Quality of life for People with Severe Mental Illness

Recently, various bio-psycho-social factors have been identified in relation to quality of life for people with mental illness, but the role of spiritual factor on it has been relatively neglected. This study aims at exploring the positive effect of spirituality on quality of life for people with severe mental illness. 103 Chinese people with severe mental illness who are Christian and have received service from two community-based psychiatric rehabilitation projects in Hong Kong are included in this study. Respondent's quality of life is measured by Chinese World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument, while respondents' spirituality is assessed by Chinese Daily Spiritual Experience Scale. Daily spiritual experience is found moderately and positively related to individual's overall quality of life (r=.433, p=.000) and all quality of life sub-domains. Also daily spiritual experience can predict individual's overall quality of life and explain 18.7% variance of it. As spirituality has positive effects on quality of life for people with severe mental illness, mental health professionals should further explore effective spiritual interventions in enhancing quality of life for our service users.