Can people use religious coping approaches to reduce the symptoms of depression?
Evidence
Some scholars opine that people who believe that they are guided by a larger spiritual force have notably lower depression systems compared to who doesn’t use religious coping approaches. Paraphrasing Harold Koeing, a professor at Duke University Medical Centre, religion cannot be continued to be overlooked as a depression recovery variable. (Religious Coping Plays a Role in Recovery From Depression).

Description of evidence
The researching team carried out the research on 114 patients whose average age was 67.5 years. The process use was Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) at baseline (of P < 0.02) and at the end of a half year. Each and every patient was asked by the research team both their religious coping and the range of their religion.
The outcome showed a higher number of patients who stated that they practiced religion, when compared with considerably lower baseline (P< 0.02) MADRS scores. Those results were reached unto after covariates such as social support were adjusted. At the research that was conducted for a period of a half year, 90% of the patients revealed that after other factors (P < 0.08) were adjusted the practice of religion didn’t forecast lesser MARDS scores.
Critical appraisal tool you used
The article doesn’t describe the age of the patients and the range of religion practice was asked the patients being examined of which its accuracy can’t be vouched for.

Assessment of evidence validity and generalisability
The methodology used doesn’t sound enough to justify the findings and the conclusions. First the notion that religious coping plays a role in recovery from depression was reached unto after a research was conducted on 114 people. This little number can’t be used to represent the view that the practice of religion can work on everyone as a variable of depression. Second, basing a conclusion after conducting a research in a little period of six months can’t logically represent a human’s life of an average of seventy years. Third, the range of religion practice among the patients was reached unto by asking them.
If a patient opted to cheat on his or her range of religion practice, of which they could without the research team ever knowing, it could greatly have an impact on the results. Four, the research was carried on patients. What if those patients were poorly diagnosed? If they were, then it could greatly interfere with the research results. The fifth factor that could have or was overlooked is coincidental (Daniel). What if patients wrongly cheated on their range of religion practice (say for example they reported that they had a higher religion practice while in real sense they weren’t) and miraculously, there was a coincidental of their cheating with the considerably little scores of MADRS at the baseline (P< 0.02)?
Conversely, the article states that puts it clearly that 90 patients on the half year follow-up revealed that the practice of religion didn’t considerably forecast lesser scores of MADRS even after other aspects (P<0.03) had been adjusted. The article contradicts itself by saying the high negative religious ranges were linked with the high scores of MADRS at baseline (P< 0.02) but findings similar to those were never got at a period of a half year. The results can in a way or the other vary due to other factors. For example they would be those who would pretend to have a higher religious practice for fear of the way the others would be view them. The results of the research can be generalised to other contexts because people tend to put their faith in something if all other ways have proved futile.
References
Daniel, K. (n.d.). MH today. Retrieved August 2nd, 2011, from Religious Coping Plays a Role in Recovery From Depression : http://www.mental-health-today.com/articles/spirituality.htm