Abstract
This study assessed the cross-sectional associations between organizational religious activity (ORA), intrinsic religiosity (IR), and hypertension in a US nationally representative sample. Data were from Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, collected in 2008. The sample (N = 5115, Mage = 28.96 years, 54% female) was divided into three sexual orientation categories: heterosexual, mostly heterosexual, and sexual minority. Dependent variables were systolic and diastolic blood pressure and binary cut-scores of clinical hypertension. ORA and IR were independent variables, with sexual orientation as the moderator. Multivariable analyses revealed greater ORA was associated with increased blood pressure (BP)/hypertension for the sexual minority group. There was a trend in the heterosexual group where ORA was associated with decreased BP. Generally, ORA was not associated with BP/hypertension in the mostly heterosexual group. There were no significant effects for IR. Future research should continue to examine the complex ways ORA and IR are associated with health based on sexual orientation and use longitudinal methodology to examine how ORA may impact BP/hypertension across the lifespan.
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Acknowledgements
This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.
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The study was deemed exempt, and all procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Add Health participants provided written informed consent for participation in all aspects of Add Health in accordance with the University of North Carolina School of Public Health Institutional Review Board guidelines.
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Lamb, K.M., Vaughn, A.A., Calzo, J.P. et al. The Role of Sexual Orientation in the Associations Between Religiousness and Hypertension. J Relig Health 59, 3141–3156 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01051-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01051-2