A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Spiritual Prayer in Reducing Level of Depression Among Orphan Children in Selected Orphanage Home, Central Part of Gujarat State: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this pilot study was to assess the effectiveness of spiritual prayer in reducing level of depression among orphan children. Design: Quasi-experimental design Setting: This study took place in one orphanage home of Anand, Gujarat. Participants: Ten participants were selected, who have age between 10 and 17 years, and who scored in mild-to-moderate ranges for depression on the child depression inventory were randomly assigned to spiritual prayer to experimental group. Intervention: In this study, spiritual prayer refers to the spiritual song which will be provided twice a day for 14 days. Many people think that prayer is helpful in healing, not owed to marvelous control but due to mental and bodily benefits for patients as well as normal human beings. Outcome measures: Child depression inventory was used to assess pre-intervention and post-intervention depression level in participants. Results: In experimental group, pre-test was (N = 5, M = 20.40, SD = 4.16), which was significantly decreased in post-test after intervention (N = 5, M = 13.20, SD = 4.21). On the other hand, the pre-test value of control group was (N = 5, M = 17.60, SD = 4.04) and post-test value was (N = 5, M = 18.00, SD=4.30) without any intervention. It shows that there is no significant difference in pre- and post-test results of control group. Conclusions: Spiritual prayer is an efficacious intervention to significantly reduce the level of depression for orphan children.