A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGIOUS ADHERENCE AND MENTAL HEALTH LEVELS AMONG SUKSIS CORPS STUDENTS
Kajian Rintis Hubungan antara Penghayatan Agama dan Tahap Kesihatan Mental Mahasiswa Kor SUKSIS
Abstract
Mental health among university students has become an increasingly critical issue, particularly in the post-COVID-19 era. Previous studies have suggested that religious practice and spiritual commitment may function as protective factors in managing emotional distress such as depression, anxiety, and stress. This study aims to examine the relationship between the level of religious adherence—comprising the dimensions of creed (akidah), worship (ibadah), and ethics (akhlak)—and the level of mental health among members of the Student Civil Defence Corps (SUKSIS) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Employing a quantitative survey design, the study involved 32 respondents selected through purposive sampling. The instruments used were a religious adherence questionnaire adapted from Jurami & Fariza (2013) and the Malay version of the DASS-21 scale to measure symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation via SPSS version 29.0. Findings revealed a significant negative correlation between all three dimensions of religious adherence and psychological distress symptoms. The ethics dimension recorded the highest correlation (r = -0.199), followed by creed (r = -0.138) and worship (r = -0.038). Although the strength of the correlations was weak, their statistical significance provides early indications that religious adherence may contribute to reducing mental health symptoms. The study highlights the importance of integrating spiritual education and ethical development into student training and counselling programmes. Further research is recommended using a mixed-method approach with a larger sample size to enhance the generalisability of the findings.
References
Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz, Amin AlHaadi Shafie, Zuraina Ali & Noor Dahiah Sulhana Dzainal. 2020. Pengamalan Nilai Agama dalam Mengatasi Kemurungan Semasa Pandemik COVID-19. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH) 5(12): 31-44.
Abu-Raiya, H. & Pargament, K. I. 2015. Religious Coping Among Diverse Religions: Commonalities and Divergences. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 7(1): 24-33.
Adnan Ahmad. 2001. Psikologi Islam dan Kesejahteraan Mental. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Al-Attas, S. M. N. 1993. Islam and Secularism. Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC).
Al-Ghazali. 1988. Ihya’ Ulum al-Din. Al-Qahirah: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
Al-Qaradawi, Y. 1998. Al-Iman wa al-Hayah. Al-Qahirah: Maktabah Wahbah.
Azizi Yahaya & Tan Kok Wah. 2007. Mengurus Tekanan dan Konflik. Skudai: Penerbit Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Buheji, M. 2020. Psychological Resilience and Poor Communities Coping with COVID 19 Pandemic. International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences 10(4): 100–108.
Che Zarrina Sa’ari. 2019. Psikospiritual Islam: Konsep dan Aplikasi. Journal of Syarie Counseling 1(1): 43–51.
Creswell, J. W. 2012. Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Creswell, J. W. 2014. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Ferlis B. Bullare, Balan Rathakrishnan & Rosnah Ismail. 2009. Sumber Stres, Strategi Daya Tindak dan Stres yang Dialami Pelajar Universiti. Jurnal Kemanusiaan 13: 25-35.
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah. 2003. Madarij al-Salikin (terj. Haji Abdul Aziz Bin Umar). Kuala Lumpur: Pustaka Salam.
Jurami, S. K. & Fariza Md Sham. 2013. Pengamalan Ajaran Islam dalam Kalangan Pelajar Politeknik Ungku Omar, Ipoh. Islamiyyat 35(1): 29–38.
Khairul Hamimah Mohammad Jodi. 2006. Masalah Akhlak dan Hubungannya dengan Akidah di Kalangan Pelajar Institut Teknologi Tun Abdul Razak (ITTAR) Cawangan Kuala Lumpur. Tesis Sarjana: Jabatan Akidah dan Pemikiran Islam, Akademi Pengajian Islam, Universiti Malaya.
Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM). (2021). Laporan Tahunan KKM 2021. Putrajaya: Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia. https://www.moh.gov.my/moh/resources/Penerbitan/Penerbitan%20Utama/ANNUAL%20REPORT/Laporan_Tahunan_KKM_2021-compressed.pdf
Koenig, H. G., King, D. E. & Carson, V. B. 2012. Handbook of Religion and Health (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mohd Nasir Omar. 2005. Akhlak dan Kaunseling Islam. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn Bhd.
Muhammad Iswan Ismail & Mohd Yusof Yaziz. 2023. Tahap Tekanan Psikologikan dalam Kalangan Mahasiswa: Satu Tinjauan di Kolej Komuniti Temerloh. Global Journal of Educational Research & Management (GERMANE) 3(2): 27-43.
Musa, R., Fadzil, M. A. & Zain, Z. 2007. Translation, Validation and Psychometric Properties of Bahasa Malaysia Version of The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry 8(2): 82-89.
Pargament, K. I. 2007. Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred. New York: Guilford
Rohana Hamzah, Hafiz Salehan, Ahmad Muhaimin, Hadijah Ahmad, Mohd.Suhardi Mad Jusoh & Fatmawati Latada. 2021. Kesihatan Mental dan Kecerdasan Spiritual Mahasiswa di Universiti: Satu Perbandingan antara Tahun Pengajian dan Agama. International Journal of Humanities Technology and Civilization 6(3): 11–21.
Rosmarin, D.H., Kaufman, C.C., Ford, S.F., Keshava, P., Drury, M., Minns, S., Marmarosh, C., Chowdhury, A. & Sacchet, M.D. 2022. The neuroscience of spirituality, religion, and mental health: A systematic review and synthesis. Journal of Psychiatric Research 156: 100–113.
Sakinah Salleh, Rosni Wazir, Kamal Azmi Abd Rahman, Suriani Sudi, Abdul Hadi Awang & Auf Iqbal Kamarulzaman. 2022. Mengatasi Masalah Kesihatan Mental Melalui Pendekatan Psiko-spiritual. International Journal of Education, Psychology and Counseling (IJEPC) 7(47): 601-615.
Shamsuddin, S., Fadzil, F., Ismail, W. S. W., Shah, S. A., Omar, K., Muhammad, N. A., Jaffar, A., Ismail, A. & Mahadevan, R. 2013. Correlates of Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Malaysian University Students. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 6(4): 318–323.
Sidek Baba. 2006. Pendidikan Rabbani: Mengenal Allah Melalui Ilmu Dunia. Shah Alam: Karya Bestari Sdn Bhd.
Siti Aishah Yahya & Sidar Nazrun. 2016. Tahap Penghayatan Agama dalam Kalangan Remaja Hamil Tanpa Nikah. Malaysian Journal of Social Science 1(1): 17-35.
Siti Jamiaah Abdul Jalil, Rozmi Ismail, Yusmini Md Yusoff, Fariza Md Sham & Juwairiah Hassan. 2023. Peranan Program Keagamaan Terhadap Kebimbangan dan Kemurungan dalam Kalangan Banduan Wanita. Al-Hikmah: Journal of Islamic Dakwah 15(10): 78-103.
World Health Organization (WHO). 2022. Mental Health. https://www.who.int/health-topics/mental-health#tab=tab_1
Yusoff, M. S. B., Abdul Rahim, A. F., Baba, A. A., Ismail, S. B., Mat Pa, M. N. & Esa, A. R. 2010. Prevalence and Sources of Stress among Universiti Sains Malaysia Medical Students. Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences 17(1): 30–37.
© 2025 Al-Hikmah.
Copyright of the published article is vested in UKM Press, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia upon formal acceptance and completion of the copyright transfer agreement.
All articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
