This special issue focuses on the role that religious/spiritual factors play in the etiology, course, and treatment of depression. Given the worldwide prevalence of religious beliefs and activities and the influence they might play in the development and course of depressive disorders, clinicians and researchers need to be aware of research and current discussions on the relationships between religion/spirituality and emotional disorders. In the United States, nearly two thirds of the population indicates that religion is an important part of daily life, and many more report that spiritual factors are influential. After the September 11th terrorist attacks, 90% of Americans turned to religion to cope with the stress and anxiety of these attacks (NEJM, 2001; 345:1507-1512). A recent systematic review of quantitative research on religion, spirituality, and depression identified 444 studies that had examined these relationships; 61% of those studies reported inverse relationships between religiosity/spirituality and depression, whereas 6% reported positive relationships (Handbook of Religion & Health, 2011, Oxford University Press). Studies are now in the field examining the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapies for depression that utilize and integrate the religious and spiritual resources of patients in treatment. The present special issue will contain review articles, commentaries, and, in particular, original research on relationships between religion/spirituality and depression, and these papers will be sought from scientists around the globe. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Relationships between religion, spirituality, and depression
• Relationships between religion, spirituality, and depression, preferably a prospective study
• The roles that different religious faith traditions may play in the prevention or exacerbation of depression in different cultures
• Religious versus conventional CBT in the treatment of depression, either a report of original data from a completed study or a description of an ongoing clinical trial focused on this comparison
• Spiritually integrated intervention (not CBT) used for the treatment of depression/anxiety
• The interaction that religious involvement may have with either biological treatments (medication, ECT) or psychotherapy for depression
• How religious beliefs may exacerbate depression and prolong its course by worsening guilt and increasing anxiety
• How religious communities may discourage the use of antidepressants or psychotherapy and may condemn members for being depressed
• The spiritual assessment process in patients with depression/anxiety
• How to educate mental health professionals on the negative and positive effects on depression that religious involvement may have

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