Spirituality, religion, and pediatrics: Intersecting worlds of healing

Religious practices such as prayer represent the most prevalent complementa ry and alternative therapies in the United States. However, biomedicine has sometimes viewed faith and related religious worldviews as relevant only w hen they obstruct implementation of scientifically sound biomedical care. R ecent efforts to arrive at a new synthesis raise challenges for pediatricia ns. This article reviews theories of child faith development, and models of child spirituality from different disciplinary perspectives. It provides s ources illustrating how spirituality and religion may inform children's liv es; play a part in children's moral formation, socialization, and induction into a sacred worldview; and provide the child with inner resources. It al so suggests some of the positive and negative effects of spiritual and reli gious engagement. Second, this article examines aspects of spirituality and religion that parents may bring to bear in relation to their children's he alth. Third, this article addresses the spiritual and/or religious identity of the provider. These topics are discussed in the context of cultural com petence and the related importance of religious diversity. The authors sugg est 1) some approaches for appropriate inclusion of spirituality in clinica l practice, 2) challenges for medical education, and 3) areas requiring fur ther research.