The Relationship between Attachment to God, Perception of God and Emotional State, and Psychological Well-being: The Sample of Chronic Diseases
Authors: SAĞLAM DEMİRKAN Fatma 
Published: May 2023

Worldwide population growth, inadequate and unhealthy living conditions are among the main reasons that increase the number of people with chronic diseases. Chronic diseases generally consist of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, stroke, and chronic respiratory diseases. Although chronic diseases usually develop due to advancing age, they may sometimes be seen at young ages. These diseases progress slowly and require regular and continuous treatment and care. In addition, the number of individuals with chronic diseases is increasing day by day due to the increase in population, and since it is not possible to cure the disease, patients are given supportive treatment. In addition to drug treatment, psycho-educational programs are applied to patients by specialists. In other words, patients are informed about the conditions that may cause the disease, what to pay attention to and how the disease can affect their lives. Because high mortality rates due to chronic diseases can negatively affect the psychological health of patients. In this process, patients are informed about the ways of coping with the problems brought about by the disease and psychological support is provided to them as necessary. If a psychopathological condition has developed due to the disease, psychological treatment can be started for the patient. To the extent that the patient gives consent, moral support practices can also be used during the treatment process. Here, a holistic approach to the patient's problems is important for patient health. According to the World Health Organization's definition, health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being of the individual. Well-being is divided into two as subjective well-being and psychological well-being. According to Ryff, psychological well-being is the state of being aware that a person with a complex structure is a whole and that they have their own responsibility to protect, maintain and improve their well-being in this whole. This research was conducted to determine whether attachment to God, perception of God and emotional state predict psychological well-being. For this purpose, adult individuals with chronic diseases were included in this study. The research sample consisted of 304 individuals residing in different provinces of Turkey and having chronic diseases. The age range of the sample is between 25 and 72 and the mean age is 47.98. This research, in which scanning method and survey technique were used is fieldwork. In this research, God Attachment Inventory, God Perception Scale and Psychological Well-Being Scale were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed with the SPSS package program. The findings show that attachment to God, perception of God and emotional states are among the variables that predict psychological well-being. The other variables predicting psychological well-being; loving God, anxious attachment to God, anxious mood, high school and secondary school graduate, conditional God, restless emotional state, and the place where their spent most of their life (village-town). This study showed that there was a relationship between the biological, psychological and spiritual dimensions of human beings. This study will provide data for spiritual counseling and guidance services in health field.