Quality of Life and Spirituality in Indian University Students

University students can experience low levels of quality of life (QoL). Previous research has indicated a positive relationship between spirituality and QoL. The objective of this study was to examine the association between QoL and spirituality in Indian post-graduate university students. It was hypothesised that higher levels of QoL would be associated with higher levels of spiritual beliefs, spiritual practices, sense of purpose/connectedness and sense of hope/control after adjusting for a range of demographic variables and perceived social support. A group of 475 post-graduate university students (241 males and 234 females) from Pondicherry, India, participated in this cross-sectional study. Data was collected by using demographics, as well as the World Health Organisation's QoL-BREF Questionnaire and the Spirituality Attitude Inventory. The results indicated that religiosity was not associated with QoL in this sample. However existential wellbeing was independently associated with Physical Health QoL, Psychological QoL, and Environmental QoL; while a sense of hope/control was independently associated with Physical Health QoL, Social QoL and Environmental QoL. Negative religious coping had the strongest association with all of the measures of QoL. These results provide evidence that higher levels of spirituality are associated with higher levels of QoL in Indian university students. The findings of the study support the need for further interventional studies examining the promotion of spirituality in Indian university students in order to improve their QoL.