Abstract
While religiosity tends to be favorably associated with physical health, further research is needed to assess the causal directions between religiosity and health. This study examined reciprocal pathways between them with a three-wave panel dataset (General Social Survey, 2006–2010). Among Christians (N = 585), religious activities were associated with improved self-rated health, while conservative religious beliefs were associated with worsened health over time. Additionally, worse health was associated with increased engagement in religious activities and greater endorsement of conservative religious beliefs over time. Results highlight the need for additional research and theory to map the complexity of the religion–health connection.
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Notes
Two logistic regression models were estimated to assess predictors of sample attrition. The first model predicting participation in wave 2 indicated that marital status (OR 1.56, p = .01) and education (OR 1.07, p = .03) were positive predictors of survey participation. Married respondents and those with greater years of education were more likely to participate in wave 2 compared to unmarried respondents and those with fewer years of education. The second model predicting participation in wave 3 indicated that marital status (OR 1.55, p = .01) and education (OR 1.08, p = .01) were again positive predictors of participation. Additionally, Catholics were more likely to drop out of the survey between waves 1 and 3 compared to other Protestants (OR .71, p = .05), while respondents who engaged in more religious activities were more likely to participate in wave 3 relative to those who engaged in fewer activities (OR 1.27, p = .02).
We tested whether the three religious categories of Catholics, conservative Protestants, and other Protestants differed on standardized scales of religious beliefs and activities at wave 1. We expected conservative Protestants to score significantly higher on conservative religious beliefs and religious activities than both other Protestants and Catholics. A one-way between-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that there were significant group differences for conservative religious beliefs, F(2, 583) = 34.97, p < .001, and religious activities, F(2, 583) = 16.58, p < .001. Post hoc tests using Bonferroni correction revealed that conservative Protestants scored significantly higher on conservative religious beliefs (M = .46, SD = .49) compared to both other Protestants (M = .04, SD = .70, p < .001) and Catholics (M = −.23, SD = .49, p < .001). Further, other Protestants scored significantly higher on conservative religious beliefs compared to Catholics (p < .001). Conservative Protestants also scored significantly higher on religious activities (M = .43, SD = .76) compared to other Protestants (M = .02, SD = .82, p < .001) and Catholics (M = −.19, SD = .73, p < .001). Additionally, other Protestants scored significantly higher on religious activities compared to Catholics (p < .05).
Significant predictors of religious activities at wave 1 included education (β = .22, p < .001), being employed versus other employment statuses (β = −.10, p = .04), number of children (β = .15, p < .001), being female versus male (β = .16, p < .001), and being Catholic (β = −.14, p = .01) or conservative Protestant (β = .17, p = .01) versus other Protestant. Significant predictors of religious beliefs at wave 1 included education (β = −.19, p < .001), social class (β = −.18, p < .001), being black versus white (β = .25, p < .001), and being Catholic (β = −.21, p < .001) or conservative Protestant versus being other Protestant (β = .22, p < .001). Significant predictors of self-rated health at wave 1 included age (β = −.17, p < .001), education (β = .18, p < .001), being employed versus other employment statuses (β = .13, p = .01), and social class (β = .11, p = .01). The only significant predictor of religious activities at wave 2 was being black versus white (β = .07, p = .01), and the only significant predictor of self-rated health at wave 2 was age (β = −.13, p < .001). The only significant predictor of religious activities at wave 3 was social class (β = .09, p = .04), and significant predictors of self-rated health at wave 3 included being married versus other marital statuses (β = .10, p = .01) and being of another race as compared to being white (β = −.07, p < .05).
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Data used in this study are freely available and may be obtained for the purposes of replication from the General Social Survey (http://www3.norc.org/GSS+Website/).
Order of authorship is alphabetical; contributions to this work were equal and shared.
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Doane, M.J., Elliott, M. Religiosity and Self-Rated Health: A Longitudinal Examination of Their Reciprocal Effects. J Relig Health 55, 844–855 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0056-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0056-z