Religious Attendance and Biological Risk: A National Longitudinal Study of Older Adults

Although several studies suggest that religious involvement is associated with healthier biological functioning in later life, most of this work is cross-sectional. We extend previous research by employing a longitudinal design. Our analysis of Health and Retirement Study (2006/2010) data suggests t...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Suh, Hyungjun (Author) ; Hill, Terrence D. (Author) ; Koenig, Harold G. 1951- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V. [2019]
In: Journal of religion and health
Year: 2019, Volume: 58, Issue: 4, Pages: 1188-1202
Further subjects:B Cystatin-C
B religious involvement
B Allostatic load
B Religion
B Biology
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:Although several studies suggest that religious involvement is associated with healthier biological functioning in later life, most of this work is cross-sectional. We extend previous research by employing a longitudinal design. Our analysis of Health and Retirement Study (2006/2010) data suggests that older adults who attended religious services weekly or more in 2006 tend to exhibit fewer high-risk biomarkers in 2010 and greater reductions in allostatic load over the 4-year study period than respondents who attended yearly or not at all. These patterns persisted with adjustments for baseline allostatic load and a range of background variables.
ISSN:1573-6571
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10943-018-0721-0