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Religious Social Support and Hypertension Among Older North American Seventh-Day Adventists

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Abstract

Seventh-day Adventists have been noted for their unique lifestyle, religious practices and longevity. However, we know little about how religion is directly related to health in this group. Specifically, we know nothing about how religious social support is related to hypertension. Using data from the Biopsychosocial Religion and Health Study, we carried out a cross-sectional study of 9581 and a prospective study of 5720 North American Seventh-day Adventists examining new 534 cases of hypertension occurring up to 4 years later. We used binary logistic regression analyses to examine study hypotheses. Of the religious social support variables, in both the cross-sectional and prospective study only anticipated support significantly predicted hypertension, but the relationship was mediated by BMI. There were no significant race or gender differences. The favorable relationships between anticipated support and hypertension appear to be mediated by BMI and are an indication of how this dimension of religion combined with lifestyle promotes good health, specifically, reduced risk of hypertension.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Leadership in Health Systems, Loma Linda University School of Public Health, 24951 North Circle Dr. Nichol Hall Room 1105, Loma Linda, CA, 92350, USA

    Sherma J. Charlemagne-Badal

  2. Center for Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyle, and Disease Prevention, Loma Linda University School of Public Health, 24951 North Circle Dr. Nichol Hall Room 1313, Loma Linda, CA, 92350, USA

    Jerry W. Lee

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  1. Sherma J. Charlemagne-Badal
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  2. Jerry W. Lee
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Correspondence to Sherma J. Charlemagne-Badal.

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Charlemagne-Badal, S.J., Lee, J.W. Religious Social Support and Hypertension Among Older North American Seventh-Day Adventists. J Relig Health 55, 709–728 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0104-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0104-8

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