Religiosity and Depression at Midlife: A Prospective Study.

Micheline R Anderson,Lisa Miller,Connie Svob,Priya Wickramaratne

doi:10.3390/rel12010028

Micheline R Anderson, Lisa Miller + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12010028

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Abstract

Objectives:Previously, authors found high personal importance of religion/spirituality (R/S) in early adulthood to predict a 75% decreased risk of recurrence of major depression in middle adulthood. Here, the authors follow up the original study sample to examine the association between R/S and major depression from middle adulthood into midlife.Method:Participants were 79 of 114 original adult offspring of depressed and non-depressed parents. Using logistic regression analysis, three measures of R/S from middle adulthood (personal importance, frequency of religious service attendance, and denomination) were used to predict Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in midlife.Results:High R/S importance in middle adulthood was prospectively associated with risk for an initial onset of depression during the period of midlife. Frequency of attendance in middle adulthood was associated with recurrence of depression at midlife in the high-risk group for depression, as compared to the low-risk group.Conclusion:Findings suggest that the relation between R/S and depression may vary across adult development, with risk for depression associated with R/S at midlife potentially revealing a developmental process.

Highlights

In the past two decades, inquiries into the association between religiosity and spirituality (R/S) and mental health have provided evidence for substantial salutary effects of R/S on physical and mental health (Koenig et al 2012)
The current longitudinal, prospective study shows that R/S is associated with a 14fold increase in risk for depression at midlife in the same sample of adults to have derived a 75% protective benefit against depression during early and middle adulthood
This life-course study raises the possibility of a period of spiritual struggle, a “dark night of the soul” in the changing relationship between R/S and depression during the passage of midlife

Summary

Introduction

In the past two decades, inquiries into the association between religiosity and spirituality (R/S) and mental health have provided evidence for substantial salutary effects of R/S on physical and mental health (Koenig et al 2012). Conflicting reports do exist (Maselko and Buka 2008; Pargament et al 2004; Lawrence et al 2016; Braam et al 2007), this positive association is often confounded within retrospective or cross-sectional data as a result of individuals with psychiatric symptoms seeking out religion as a means of coping. Despite these findings, a substantial body of literature supports an inverse association between R/S and depression that remains consistent across a myriad of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies (for review, see Sharma et al 2017; Bonelli et al 2012; Koenig 2012a). This study and its most recent predecessor (Miller et al 2012) establish temporality as a means to clarify the relationship between

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