Purpose of the Study: Studies show that loneliness is a major risk factor for health issues in later life. Although research suggests that religious involvement can protect against loneliness, explanations for this general pattern are underdeveloped and undertested. In this paper, we propose and test a theoretical model, which suggests that social integration and social support are key mechanisms that link religious attendance and loneliness. Design and Methods: To formally test our theoretical model, we use data from the National Social Life Health and Aging Project (2005/2006), a large national probability sample of older adults aged 57–85 years. Results: We find that religious attendance is associated with higher levels of social integration and social support and that social integration and social support are associated with lower levels of loneliness. A series of mediation tests confirm our theoretical model. Implications: Taken together, our results suggest that involvement in religious institutions may protect against loneliness in later life by integrating older adults into larger and more supportive social networks. Future research should test whether these processes are valid across theoretically relevant subgroups.

Religious Attendance and Loneliness in Later Life

Objective: This study explores the role of religious attendance across a wide range of biological markers. Method: The data are drawn from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project to assess continuous and categorical biomarker specifications. Results: Across specifications, higher levels of attendance are associated with lower levels of pulse rate and overall allostatic load. Depending on the specification, higher levels of attendance are also associated with lower levels of body mass, diastolic blood pressure, C-reactive protein, and Epstein–Barr virus. Attendance is unrelated to dehydroepiandrosterone, systolic blood pressure, and glycosylated hemoglobin across specifications. Discussion: The study confirms that religious attendance is associated with healthier biological functioning in later life. Additional research is needed to verify these patterns with other data sources and to test viable mediators of the association between religious attendance and biological risk.

Religious Attendance and Biological Functioning A Multiple Specification Approach

The resurgence of interest in the influence of religion and spirituality on health is examined within the context of the holistic paradigm and historical connection between nursing and spirituality. While nursing and spirituality often intersect with end-of-life considerations, this article presents findings from studies that demonstrate that religious involvement favors health and longevity across the life course. Examples include protective associations with stress, depression, self-rated health, and infant birth weight. Theoretical and empirical explanations for this relationship are offered, such as social and psychological resources and healthy behaviors. The effects of religion on biological functioning, including allostatic load and telomere length, are also discussed, although this area is understudied. Considerations for the "dark-side" of religious involvement are also offered. Suggestions for nurses wishing to protect and promote the health of their patients using a holistic approach include expanding knowledge of research on religion and health and advocating for patients' spiritual needs by conducting a comprehensive spiritual assessment in primary, secondary, and tertiary clinical settings.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0898010118783502

Religiosity and Health: A Holistic Biopsychosocial Perspective

Objective Spirituality is favorably related to depression, quality of life, hospitalizations, and other important outcomes in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients but has not been examined as a predictor of mortality risk in this population. Given the well-known difficulties in managing CHF, we hypothesized that spirituality would be associated with lower mortality risk, controlling for baseline demographics, functional status, health behaviors, and religiousness. Method Participants were 191 CHF patients (64% male; M age = 68.6 years, SD = 10.1) who completed a baseline survey and were then followed for 5 years. Results Nearly 1/3 of the sample (32%) died during the study period. Controlling for demographics and health status, smoking more than doubled the risk of mortality, whereas alcohol consumption was associated with slightly lower risk of mortality. Importantly, adherence to healthy lifestyle recommendations was associated with halved mortality risk. Although both religion and spirituality were associated with better health behaviors at baseline in bivariate analyses, a proportional hazard model showed that only spirituality was significantly associated with reduced mortality risk (by 20%), controlling for demographics, health status, and health behaviors. Conclusions Experiencing spiritual peace, along with adherence to a healthy lifestyle, were better predictors of mortality risk in this sample of CHF patients than were physical health indicators such as functional status and comorbidity. Future research might profitably examine the efficacy of attending to spiritual issues along with standard lifestyle interventions.

Spiritual peace predicts 5-year mortality in congestive heart failure patients.

Dimensions of religious involvement and leukocyte telomere length.

Religious involvement – indicated by observable feelings, beliefs, activities, and experiences in relation to spiritual, divine, or supernatural entities – is a prevalent and powerful force in the lives of older adults. Despite evidence of secularization and the declining significance of religious institutions (Chaves 1994), elderly Americans continue to exhibit high rates of religious involvement. According to national estimates from the 2008 General Social Survey, a large percentage of adults aged 65 and older affiliate with religious groups (93%), characterize their affiliations as strong (56%), attend religious services weekly or more (42%), pray at least once per day (68%), and believe that the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally (37%). These figures are remarkable in their own right. They also inspire countless questions concerning the consequences of religious involvement in late life.

Ellen L. Idler

Papers

Religious Involvement, Health Status, and Mortality Risk