[Talking about religion, spirituality and meaning making: an explorative study in Dutch child and adolescent psychiatry].

Résumé

BACKGROUND: Religion, spirituality and meaning making (RSM) are an important aspect of psychological health. Consequently, it is also important in child and adolescent psychiatry to engage with issues related to RSM. However, little is known about the perspective of care providers in child and adolescent psychiatry on RSM, and about the way in which this is practiced.AIM: To explore care providers’ perspectives on the importance of RSM, their ability to discuss it, and the practice.METHOD: A self-report questionnaire on the perceived importance and competencies at RSM was completed by 220 of the 737 child and adolescent psychiatry care providers (30%).RESULTS: Although 90% of respondents indicated that they found RSM important in their therapy and feel capable of discussing it, only 10% regularly discussed RSM during intake. Barriers included a lack of knowledge of the people to refer to (for 72% of respondents), a lack of knowledge about RSM (55%), the perception of not being responsible for RSM (30%), and a lack of time (25%).CONCLUSION: Discussing RSM in diagnosis and treatment is experienced as relevant by care providers in child and adolescent psychiatry. In practice RSM is not mentioned so often. Based on this research, it is recommended to equip care providers in the field of RSM.