Frequent Religious Service Attendance Research Articles

Mental health, substance use, and the importance of religion during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT COVID-19 has impacted all areas of life, with lasting effects on physical, mental, and societal health. Specifically, COVID and related losses have exacerbated prolonged grief responses and mental disorders including depression and anxiety. These mental health concerns are associated with increased detrimental coping strategies including substance use. In this study, we analysed secondary data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results showed a positive association between serious psychological distress and marijuana use, while frequent religious service attendance acted as a moderator in this relationship. Individuals involved in communal religious activity were less likely to use marijuana. This study highlights the impact of religion and faith in bringing hope and purpose during periods of loss, coping with stress, grief, mental health challenges, and substance use.

The Role of School and Community Involvement in the Psychosocial Health Outcomes of Black and Latinx LGBTQ Youth

PurposeLesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identified (LGBTQ) youth of color face poorer psychosocial health outcomes than their non-LGBTQ peers. Research suggests school-based and community activities promote psychosocial health for LGBTQ youth, but study samples are predominantly White. This study tested whether school enrollment and seven community activities were associated with LGBTQ community connectedness, happiness, and health among Black and Latinx LGBTQ youth. MethodsThis study used a subsample of Black and Latinx LGBTQ adolescents and young adults (N = 472) from the Social Justice Sexuality project. Mean differences in study variables were examined across intersectional racial/gender identity categories. Multiple regression analyses assessed the association of school enrollment and community activities with psychosocial health outcomes, accounting for covariates. ResultsSocial activities for LGBTQ people (ß = 0.19) and LGBTQ people of color (POC; ß = 0.15) were associated with greater LGBTQ connectedness. While moderate religious services attendance (ß = −0.13) was associated with lower LGBTQ connectedness, high attendance was associated with greater happiness (ß = 0.13) and health (ß = 0.12). Social activities for LGBTQ-POC (ß = 0.13) were also associated with better health. School enrollment was not significantly associated with any outcomes and Latinx transgender and diverse youth had the lowest happiness and health. DiscussionSocial activities for LGBTQ people and LGBTQ-POC may play a role in the social connectedness and health of Black and Latinx LGBTQ youth, while frequent religious service attendance may support health and happiness. Schools and faith institutions should ensure their institutions are welcoming to LGBTQ youth. Public health workers might facilitate the involvement and inclusion of LGBTQ youth, while policy should support funding for community activities.

Religious service attendance and mortality among older Black men

Religious institutions have been responsive to the needs of Black men and other marginalized populations. Religious service attendance is a common practice that has been associated with stress management and extended longevity. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between religious service attendance and all-cause mortality among Black men 50 years of age and older. Data for this study were from NHANES III (1988–1994). The analytic sample (n = 839) was restricted to participants at least 50 years of age at the time of interview who self-identified as Black and male. Mortality was the primary outcome for this study and the NHANES III Linked Mortality File was used to estimate race-specific, non-injury-related death rates using a probabilistic matching algorithm, linked to the National Death Index through December 31, 2015, providing up to 27 years follow-up. The primary independent variable was religious service attendance, a categorical variable indicating that participants attended religious services at least weekly, three or fewer times per month, or not at all. The mean age of participants was 63.6±0.3 years and 36.4% of sample members reported that they attended religious services one or more times per week, exceeding those attending three or fewer times per month (31.7%), or not at all (31.9%). Cox proportional hazard logistic regression models were estimated to determine the association between religious service attendance and mortality. Participants with the most frequent religious service attendance had a 47% reduction of all-cause mortality risk compared their peer who did not attend religious services at all (HR 0.53, CI 0.35–0.79) in the fully adjusted model including socioeconomic status, non-cardiovascular medical conditions, health behaviors, social support and allostatic load. Our findings underscore the potential salience of religiosity and spirituality for health in Black men, an understudied group where elevated risk factors are often present.

Difference in predictors and barriers to arts and cultural engagement with age in the United States: A cross-sectional analysis using the Health and Retirement Study.

Arts and cultural engagement are associated with a range of mental and physical health benefits, including promoting heathy aging and lower incidence of age-related disabilities such as slower cognitive decline and slower progression of frailty. This suggests arts engagement constitutes health-promoting behaviour in older age. However, there are no large-scale studies examining how the predictors of arts engagement vary with age. Data from the Health and Retirement Study (2014) were used to identify sociodemographic, life satisfaction, social, and arts appreciation predictors of (1) frequency of arts engagement, (2) cultural attendance, (3) difficulty participating in the arts, and (4) being an interested non-attendee of cultural events. Logistic regression models were stratified by age groups [50-59, 60-69, ≥70] for the frequency of arts participation outcome and [50-69 vs ≥70] all other outcomes. Findings indicated a number of age-related predictors of frequent arts engagement, including gender, educational attainment, wealth, dissatisfaction with aging, and instrumental activities of daily living (iADL). For cultural event attendance, lower interest in the arts predicted lack of engagement across age groups, whereas higher educational attainment and more frequent religious service attendance became predictors in older age groups (≥ 70). Adults in both age groups were less likely to report difficulties engaging in the arts if they had lower neighbourhood safety, whilst poor self-rated health and low arts appreciation also predicted reduced likelihood of this outcome, but only in the younger (50-69) age group. Adults in the older (≥ 70) age group were more likely to be interested non-attendees of cultural events if they had higher educational attainment and less likely if they lived in neighbourhoods with low levels of safety. Our results suggest that certain factors become stronger predictors of arts and cultural engagement and barriers to engagement as people age. Further, there appear to be socioeconomic inequalities in engagement that may increase in older ages, with arts activities overall more accessible as individuals age compared to cultural engagement due to additional financial barriers and transportation barriers. Ensuring that these activities are accessible to people of all ages will allow older adults to benefit from the range of health outcomes gained from arts and cultural engagement.

School types in adolescence and subsequent health and well-being in young adulthood: An outcome-wide analysis.

While past empirical studies have explored associations between types of primary and secondary schools and student academic achievement, outcomes beyond academic performance remain less well-understood. Using longitudinal data from a cohort of children (N = 12,288, mean age = 14.56 years) of nurses, this study examined associations between the types of schools participants attended in adolescence and a wide range of subsequent psychological well-being, social engagement, character strengths, mental health, health behavior and physical health outcomes. Results in this sample suggested little difference between attending private independent schools and public schools across outcomes in young adulthood. There were, however, notable differences in subsequent outcomes comparing homeschooling and public schools, and possibly some evidence comparing religious schools and public schools. Specifically, there was some evidence that attending religious schools versus public schools was associated with a higher likelihood of frequent religious service attendance and becoming registered voters, a lower risk of overweight/obese, fewer lifetime sexual partners, and a higher risk of subsequently being binge drinkers; however, these associations were not robust to correction for multiple testing. Homeschooling compared with public schooling was associated with subsequently more frequent volunteering (ß = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.15, 0.52), greater forgiveness (ß = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.16, 0.46), and more frequent religious service attendance (Risk Ratio [RR] = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.27, 1.80), and possibly also with greater purpose in life, less marijuana use, and fewer lifetime sexual partners, but negatively associated with college degree attainment (RR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.67, 0.88) and possibly with greater risk of posttraumatic stress disorder. These results may encourage education stakeholders to consider a wider range of outcomes beyond academic performance in decision-making.

Religiosity and Mental Wellbeing Among Members of Majority and Minority Religions: Findings From Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study.

It is unclear whether links between religiosity and mental health are found in contexts outside the United States or are causal. We examined differences in mental wellbeing and associations between mental wellbeing and religiosity among the religiously unaffiliated, White and non-White Christians, Muslims of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and other ethnicities, and other minority ethnoreligious groups. We used 4 waves of Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2009–2013; n = 50,922). We adjusted for potential confounders (including socioeconomic factors and personality) and for household fixed effects to account for household-level unobserved confounding factors. Compared with those with no religious affiliation, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslims and members of other minority religions had worse wellbeing (as measured using the Shortened Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and General Health Questionnaire). Higher subjective importance of religion was associated with lower wellbeing according to the General Health Questionnaire; associations were not found with the Shortened Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. More frequent religious service attendance was associated with higher wellbeing; effect sizes were larger for those with religious affiliations. These associations were only partially attenuated by adjustment for potential confounding factors, including household fixed effects. Religious service attendance and/or its secular alternatives may have a role in improving population-wide mental wellbeing.

Is Religion Really the Enemy of Human Rights? A Reply to Cingranelli and Kalmick

Scholars debate whether religious beliefs and practices promote or hinder human rights. In an article recently published in HRQ, Cingranelli and Kalmick present evidence suggesting that religion is an "enemy" of human rights. They conduct regression analyses showing that frequent religious service attendance and Muslim-majority status are associated with worse human rights practices. This reply challenges their core theoretical arguments and empirical findings. Our attempts to replicate their analyses produced little evidence that religion is detrimental to human rights. Additionally, our findings revealed that the negative Muslim-majority effect is largely localized to Middle Eastern countries.

Abstract P355: Religious Attendance, Educational Attainment, and Hypertension. The Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil)

Introduction: The relationship between the level of religiosity and health-adverse outcomes has been controversial. One reason should be that how "religiosity" is measured or by a self-declaration (meaning more a cultural variable than a manifestation of the spirituality) of by regular religious practices attendance. Several studies pointed out that educational attainment has a close relationship with the practice of religion. In Brazil, the non-practice religious persors have a higher level of formal education than the general population. Therefore, researchers have focused on risk factors, such as hypertension, studying the effect of religious service attendance, besides other religious dimensions, on blood pressure. Hypothesis: This study has a premise that attending to religious ceremonies are associated with hypertension according to levels of education. Methods: At baseline of the ELSA-Brasil study (15105 adults aged 35-74years old), we asked about the frequency of attendance to religious services. Hypertension was defined as systolic or diastolic blood pressures higher than 140/90 mm Hg or under antihypertensive drugs. Educational attainment was categorized as less or more than high school.Logistic regression models were used to obtain odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) for the association between frequency of attendance and hypertension adjusted for age, sex, race, income, physical activity and salt consumption (estimated by 12-hour urinary sodium excretion). Further, we added variables that are potential mediators of the religion-hypertension association as smoking, alcohol consumption and body-mass index, depending on the level of education. Results: Three-quarters (76.9%) of the participants reported to be religious (mean age of 51.6 years, 58.7% women; 51.8% white), and 49.8% of them declared religious attendance at least weekly. For those with a higher educational level, no association was found an inverse association between frequent religious service attendance and the presence of hypertension, also concerning sociodemographic variables, and between religious practice attendance and hypertension after adjusting for covariates (OR = 1.10, 95% CI 0.98-1.23). However, for subjects with lower educational attainment, religious attendance was inversely associated with hypertension (OR = 0.71, 95%CI 0.53-0.96), after adjusting for covariates. We did not find differences in each educational attainment strata related to association religious attendance and hypertension when stratified by gender, race, family income, and to be Roman Catholic and non-Roman Catholic. Conclusion: The effects of religious involvement on hypertension seem to diverge according to socioeconomic status, represented here by educational attainment.

The Relationship Between Religious and Psychospiritual Measures and an Inflammation Marker (CRP) in Older Adults Experiencing Life Event Stress.

Inflammation, often measured by C-reactive protein (CRP), is thought to be related to a number of debilitating illnesses as we age, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Stress has also been implicated in these processes. This study examines potential protective effects of spirituality and religion in older adults who have experienced stressful life events. As part of the nationwide Landmark Study of Spirituality and Health, a subsample of 643 middle-aged and older adults (age ≥ 50) who were at or above the median in number of life stressors (≥ 2) was included in this analysis. Psychospiritual and religious (PS/R) variables included: religious service attendance, prayer, religious meaning, religious hope, general meaning, general hope and sense of peace. Control variables included: age, gender, education, BMI, smoking, alcohol use, social support. Only church attendance predicted significantly lower CRP after controlling for covariates, even above the other PS/R variables (standardized β = - 0.14, t = - 3.23 p = 0.001). Those with frequent religious service attendance were 38% less likely to have clinically elevated CRP than those who attend rarely or never. Religious service attendance may confer protection in older adults experiencing stressful events as it was significantly associated with lower CRP, an inflammatory marker associated with illness.

An examination of the prospective association between religious service attendance and suicide: Explanatory factors and period effects

BackgroundWe addressed two unanswered questions from prior research, demonstrating a prospective association between frequent religious service attendance and decreased risk for suicide. First, we assessed whether religious service attendance conferred protection from suicide even after accounting for strength of religious affiliation. Second, we evaluated whether the relationship between religious service attendance and suicide was subject to period effects. MethodsData were drawn from the 1978–2010 General Social Survey, a nationally representative study of 30,650 non-institutionalized, English-speaking American residents age 18 or older. Data were linked with the National Death Index through the end of 2014. We analyzed these data using moderated Cox proportional hazard analyses. ResultsReligious affiliation had no relationship with suicide. Religious service attendance only had a protective effect against suicide death among those in later (2000–2010) rather than earlier (1998 and earlier) data collection periods. LimitationsSecondary analysis of data limited the types of variables that were available. ConclusionsThe protective nature of religion is due more to participating in religious activities, such as attending religious services, than to having a strong religious affiliation, and this effect exists primarily in more recent data collection periods.

Association Between Religious Service Attendance and Lower Suicide Rates Among US Women.

Previous studies have linked suicide risk with religious participation, but the majority have used ecologic, cross-sectional, or case-control data. To examine the longitudinal association between religious service attendance and suicide and the joint associations of suicide with service attendance and religious affiliation. We evaluated associations between religious service attendance and suicide from 1996 through June 2010 in a large, long-term prospective cohort, the Nurses' Health Study, in an analysis that included 89 708 women. Religious service attendance was self-reported in 1992 and 1996. Data analysis was conducted from 1996 through 2010. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the association between religious service attendance and suicide, adjusting for demographic covariates, lifestyle factors, medical history, depressive symptoms, and social integration measures. We performed sensitivity analyses to examine the influence of unmeasured confounding. Among 89 708 women aged 30 to 55 years who participated in the Nurses' Health Study, attendance at religious services once per week or more was associated with an approximately 5-fold lower rate of suicide compared with never attending religious services (hazard ratio, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.06-0.46). Service attendance once or more per week vs less frequent attendance was associated with a hazard ratio of 0.05 (95% CI, 0.006-0.48) for Catholics but only 0.34 (95% CI, 0.10-1.10) for Protestants (P = .05 for heterogeneity). Results were robust in sensitivity analysis and to exclusions of persons who were previously depressed or had a history of cancer or cardiovascular disease. There was evidence that social integration, depressive symptoms, and alcohol consumption partially mediated the association among those occasionally attending services, but not for those attending frequently. In this cohort of US women, frequent religious service attendance was associated with a significantly lower rate of suicide.

Sociocultural factors that reduce risks of homicide in Dar es Salaam: a case control study

ObjectivesThis study was performed to examine the potential contributions of sociocultural activities to reduce risks of death by homicide.MethodsThis study was designed as a case control study. Relatives of 90...

Religious involvement and obsessive compulsive disorder among African Americans and Black Caribbeans

Prior research is equivocal concerning the relationships between religious involvement and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The literature indicates limited evidence of denomination differences in prevalence of OCD whereas findings regarding OCD and degree of religiosity are equivocal. This study builds on prior research by examining OCD in relation to diverse measures of religious involvement within the National Survey of American Life, a nationally representative sample of African American and Black Caribbean adults.Bivariate and multivariate analyses (logistic regression) examine the relationship between lifetime prevalence of OCD and religious denomination, service attendance, non-organizational religiosity (e.g., prayer, religious media) subjective religiosity, and religious coping. Frequent religious service attendance was negatively associated with OCD, whereas Catholic affiliation (as compared to Baptist) and religious coping (prayer when dealing with stressful situations) were both positively associated with OCD. With regard to demographic factors, persons of older age and higher education levels were significantly less likely to have OCD.

The relationship between religion and cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality in the women's health initiative observational study

Some studies suggest that religiosity may be related to health outcomes. The current investigation, involving 92,395 Women's Health Initiative Observational Study participants, examined the prospective association of religious affiliation, religious service attendance, and strength and comfort from religion with subsequent cardiovascular outcomes and death. Baseline characteristics and responses to religiosity questions were collected at enrollment. Women were followed for an average of 7.7 years and outcomes were judged by physician adjudicators. Cox proportional regression models were run to obtain hazard ratios (HR) of religiosity variables and coronary heart disease (CHD) and death. After controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and prior health variables, self-report of religious affiliation, frequent religious service attendance, and religious strength and comfort were associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality [HR for religious affiliation = 0.84; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75–0.93] [HR for service attendance = 0.80; CI: 0.73–0.87] [HR for strength and comfort = 0.89; CI: 0.82–0.98]. However, these religion-related variables were not associated with reduced risk of CHD morbidity and mortality. In fact, self-report of religiosity was associated with increased risk of this outcome in some models. In conclusion, although self-report measures of religiosity were not associated with reduced risk of CHD morbidity and mortality, these measures were associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality.

Religiousness and Longitudinal Trajectories in Elders' Functional Status

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of religiousness on the trajectories of difficulties with activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs (IADLs) in community-dwelling older adults over a three-year period. Seven waves of data from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging were analyzed using a hierarchical linear modeling method. The study was based on the 784 participants who completed interviews every six months between December 1999 and February 2004. Frequent religious service attendance was associated with fewer ADL difficulties and IADL difficulties at baseline. Furthermore, religious service attendance predicted slower increases for frequent churchgoers and steeper increases for less frequent churchgoers in IADL difficulties, controlling for variables related to demographics and resources. Religious service attendance was independently associated with ADL and IADL difficulties cross-sectionally. However, significant protective effects of religious service attendance were identified longitudinally only for the IADL trajectory.

Religious Social Identity as an Explanatory Factor for Associations Between More Frequent Formal Religious Participation and Psychological Well-Being

Guided by social identity theory, this study investigated having a closer identification as a member of one's religious group as an explanatory mechanism for linkages between more frequent formal religious participation and better subjective psychological well-being (more positive affect, less negative affect, and more life satisfaction). Multivariate regression models were estimated based on data from 3,032 respondents, ages 25 to 74, in the 1995 National Survey of Midlife in the U.S. Results provided support for the hypothesis that religious social identity would mediate the associations between more frequent religious service attendance and all three dimensions of subjective psychological well-being examined. These findings contribute to understandings of self, religion, and health while indicating the continued importance of drawing on well-developed social psychological theory in investigations of linkages between religion and mental health.

Binge Drinking in Jewish and Non-Jewish White College Students

Background In the United States, religious commitment, as measured by service attendance, has an inverse relationship with alcohol consumption, heavy use, and problem use. This association, however, has not been found consistently in Jewish Americans. The present study examined the relationship between religious variables and binge drinking in Jewish and non-Jewish white college students. In addition, the association among genetic, cultural, and religious variables and binge drinking was examined in the Jewish sample alone. Methods Participants were 132 Jewish and 147 non-Jewish white college students. All participants completed the Time-Line Follow-Back, had blood drawn for genotyping at the alcohol dehydrogenase locus ADH2, and reported their religious affiliation and the number of religious services attended in the past year. Jewish subjects also completed the Jewish Identity Scale. Results As hypothesized, more frequent religious service attendance related to lower rates of binge drinking in non-Jews but was not related to binge drinking in Jews. Within the Jewish sample, individuals who were religiously affiliated had approximately one third the risk of binge drinking as those who were secularly affiliated, but identification with Jewish culture was not related to binge drinking. In the total sample, individuals who possessed a variant alcohol dehydrogenase allele ADH2*2 were approximately half as likely to binge drink as those who did not possess this allele. Conclusions These results are consistent with previous studies that find an inverse relationship between religious service attendance and heavy alcohol use in Christian but not Jewish college students. Findings within the Jewish sample support theories that suggest religious, not just cultural, Jewish affiliation relates to lower levels of alcohol behavior. More research is needed to identify additional factors, including other religious, cultural, genetic, and biological influences, that protect Jewish Americans from heavy drinking.

Binge Drinking in Jewish and Non‐Jewish White College Students

Background In the United States, religious commitment, as measured by service attendance, has an inverse relationship with alcohol consumption, heavy use, and problem use. This association, however, has not been found consistently in Jewish Americans. The present study examined the relationship between religious variables and binge drinking in Jewish and non‐Jewish white college students. In addition, the association among genetic, cultural, and religious variables and binge drinking was examined in the Jewish sample alone.Methods Participants were 132 Jewish and 147 non‐Jewish white college students. All participants completed the Time‐Line Follow‐Back, had blood drawn for genotyping at the alcohol dehydrogenase locus ADH2, and reported their religious affiliation and the number of religious services attended in the past year. Jewish subjects also completed the Jewish Identity Scale.Results As hypothesized, more frequent religious service attendance related to lower rates of binge drinking in non‐Jews but was not related to binge drinking in Jews. Within the Jewish sample, individuals who were religiously affiliated had approximately one third the risk of binge drinking as those who were secularly affiliated, but identification with Jewish culture was not related to binge drinking. In the total sample, individuals who possessed a variant alcohol dehydrogenase allele ADH2*2 were approximately half as likely to binge drink as those who did not possess this allele.Conclusions These results are consistent with previous studies that find an inverse relationship between religious service attendance and heavy alcohol use in Christian but not Jewish college students. Findings within the Jewish sample support theories that suggest religious, not just cultural, Jewish affiliation relates to lower levels of alcohol behavior. More research is needed to identify additional factors, including other religious, cultural, genetic, and biological influences, that protect Jewish Americans from heavy drinking.

Functional limitations and religious service attendance in later life: barrier and/or benefit mechanism?

Why do some studies report a negative relationship between religious service attendance and functional limitations? Two possible mechanisms, the health benefit mechanism and the functional barrier mechanism, were systematically examined. With 2 waves of a national probability sample of adults aged 60 years and older, this research used structural equation models to estimate the influence of these 2 mechanisms. Results indicated that functional limitations were associated with less frequent religious service attendance at the same wave, largely because of the barrier mechanism; no support was found for the benefit mechanism. Neither mechanism was significant over time. Findings suggest that there is a temporal and salient decline in social activities such as religious service attendance when lower body functional limitations are highest. However, long-term engagement in religious service attendance is not predicted by baseline functional limitations, indicating that there are not long-term declines in attendance because of higher levels of functional limitations.

Religion and mental health among women veterans with sexual assault experience.

Religion has been shown to have a positive impact on well-being and to play an important role in coping with stressful life events. However, the buffering effect of religiosity on mental health, after a particularly stressful life event such as sexual assault, has not been studied. In this study we examined the buffering effect of religion on mental health and depression for women who report experiencing sexual assault while in the military. The sample includes a nationally representative sample of 3,543 women veterans who use VA ambulatory care. Two dimensions of religiosity were used: organizational (frequency of religious service attendance) and subjective (the extent religious beliefs are a source of strength/comfort). Mental health was measured by the mental component summary (MCS) from the SF36 and depressive symptoms were measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. Women veterans who reported experiencing sexual assault while in the military had lower mental health scores and higher levels of depression. Linear regression analysis indicated that these negative impacts diminished with increased frequency of religious service attendance, supporting the buffering effect of organizational religiosity on mental health and depression. Although the buffering effect of subjective religiosity was not evident, subjective religiosity was shown to be positively associated with better mental health in both groups of women with and without sexual assault experience in the military. Frequent religious service attendance buffers the negative impacts of sexual assault on mental health and depression of women veterans. The potential of integrating religiosity in designing interventions is discussed.