7 - Future directions in research

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This chapter discusses the future directions in research on religion and mental health. The research on religion and mental health has been a source of sustained scientific interest for many researchers since the early 1980s. This vigorous activity has, almost through brute force, raised a general awareness among many scholars that a curious and perhaps important relationship exists between religious faith and mental health. However, for religion and mental health to become a scientific discipline, it is necessary to develop a strategic approach to conducting research so that one can accumulate a database of well-established, clinically useful knowledge. This chapter summarizes that if the field of research on religion and mental health can meet the challenges of specialization, the field might not only continue to grow but also begin to mature and yield valid, clinically useful knowledge about the relationships between religion and mental health.

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