He Camino de Santiago is a transformative experience for almost everyone who dares to do it and has a profound impact on mental health of those who travel through it. In recent years, several studies have been carried out to analyze the effects that pilgrimages have on a mental level and one of them is the Ultreya Studio. This is a longitudinal study designed to evaluate the effects of the Camino de Santiago on a large scale. Conducted by several researchers between 2017 and 2020, the thesis analyzes the results in three key moments: before completing the Camino de Santiago, just after completing it and three months after finishing it.
Albert Feliu Soler, professor and researcher in health psychology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, has been in charge of leading the study. «I am a professor of clinical psychology and, after doing the Camino a few years ago, I started to think about all the benefits that the Jacobean route brings. and the impact it has on mental health. That's why I decided to carry out the study," he explains.
This is a pioneering study – with a design that includes a comparison group and an exhaustive approach to different psychological variables of a large sample – whose main objectives are to analyze the changes – in the short and medium term – that pilgrimage has in aspects linked to mental health and psychological well-being. Compare the effects with those of a control group that took a “standard” vacation; and identify the psychological aspects that change during the Camino and that contribute to making the experience beneficial.
Study in three moments of the pilgrimage
«Although other studies of this type have already been done, something this large has never been done before. The initial sample of pilgrims included 444 people, who intended to do the Camino and completed the initial questionnaire. Then they were 403 people completed the questionnaire at the end of the Camino and finally, 284 participated in the three-month follow-up evaluation after finishing the pilgrimage," says Feliu.
The Ultreya Studio seeks "give a twist to those made previously", explains the researcher.
"What this research allows us is to know the different psychological variables that, when completing the Camino, are activated in the body, especially at a mental level," he comments.
FOUNTAIN: THE GALLEGO POST
