Examining the Relationship between Parents' Spiritual Health and the Desire to Have Children: A Systematic Review

The relationship between the spiritual health of parents and their desire to have children is a research area with wide implications for individuals, families, and society.

The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between parents' spiritual health and desire to have children.

This systematic review was conducted based on the PRISMA statement in the winter of 2023 without a time limit. Persian articles were searched using the keywords spiritual health, parenting, and parenting in Magiran, Iran Medex, SID, and Irandoc databases. Also, the databases of PubMed, Google Scholar, ISC, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for English articles with the keywords Spiritual health, childbearing, and parents.

Finally, 14 articles were included in the study. The findings showed that the factors affecting the spiritual health of parents include three basic axes, which include beliefs and values formed in parents, religious practices and traditions, institutionalization in the family, and social support for the family. Also, the findings showed that the factors affecting parents' desire to have children include three basic axes, which are: parents' biological and evolutionary factors, sociocultural influences, and parents' psychological and emotional issues.

Spiritual health and its various factors can play an important role in parents' decisions about having children. Therefore, national managers and policymakers are advised to integrate the dimensions of spiritual health with the overall well-being of the family so that informed decisions of parents can be expanded towards having children.