Content area
Full Text
J Behav Med (2007) 30:329338 DOI 10.1007/s10865-007-9106-7
Prayer and Health: Review, Meta-Analysis, and Research Agenda
Kevin S. Masters Glen I. Spielmans
Accepted: April 4, 2007 / Published online: May 3, 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007
Abstract This article reviews the empirical research on prayer and health and offers a research agenda to guide future studies. Though many people practice prayer and believe it affects their health, scientic evidence is limited. In keeping with a general increase in interest in spirituality and complementary and alternative treatments, prayer has garnered attention among a growing number of behavioral scientists. The effects of distant intercessory prayer are examined by meta-analysis and it is concluded that no discernable effects can be found. The literature regarding frequency of prayer, content of prayer, and prayer as a coping strategy is subsequently reviewed. Suggestions for future research include the conduct of experimental studies based on conceptual models that include precise operationally dened constructs, longitudinal investigations with proper measure of control variables, and increased use of ecological momentary assessment techniques.
Keywords Prayer Health Spirituality Complementary and alternative treatment
In the last decade there has been a tremendous increase in scientic interest regarding the relations between religion/ spirituality and health. This trend may be viewed as part of a larger movement to examine grass-roots medicine or what is commonly identied in the medical and
scientic communities as complementary and alternative medicine. A 1993 study determined that Americans made an estimated 425 million visits to providers of unconventional therapy, a number that was greater than the number of visits to primary care physicians (388 million), and that they paid nearly as much out of pocket for these therapies as they did for all hospitalizations ($10.3 billion vs. $12.8 billion; Eisenberg et al. 1993). Recognizing both the popularity of these treatments and the lack of scientic evidence evaluating their effects, the U.S. Congress in 1991 passed legislation authorizing the establishment of an ofce within the U.S. National Institutes of Health to study what were called unconventional medical practices (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1991). The following year the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine was formed.
Barnes et al. (2002) revealed that 62% of Americans reported using some type of alternative medicine. Individuals...