Religiosity as a Protective Factor of Psychological Well-being among Older Black, White and Asian Christians in the United States

Abstract

Research suggests that older adults in stressful situations are more likely to use spiritual coping resources than other age groups in order to cultivate meaning in their lives in general as well as in difficult life situations. Based on the stress and coping framework, this study examines the role of religiosity in terms of spiritual connectedness as well as church attendance in predicting depressive symptoms among U.S. older Asian, Black, and White Christians in the context of functional limitations. Our findings suggest that older American Christians are not a homogenous group. Specifically, older Asians, when compared with Whites, reported more frequent church attendance but lower levels of spiritual connectedness, and higher levels of functional limitations and depressive symptoms. In the additive model, spiritual connectedness did not independently explain the variance in depressive symptoms for any racial group. In the interaction model, church attendance was found to be a robust factor in accounting for lower levels of depressive symptoms only for Asians, and spiritual connectedness moderated the negative impact of functional limitations on depressive symptoms only for the Black Christian sample. This finding provides support to the argument that although Blacks struggle with health difficulties, they are more likely than Whites to seek solace from religion through a personal sense of spiritual connectedness with a supernatural, omnipotent God. Among the older Asian Christians, this and other literature suggest a rather stable trend of improved depressive symptoms with higher levels of religious involvement among this population.

Appendix

Major Study Measures

Spiritual Connectedness

Now please tell me whether you strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), agree (3), or strongly agree (4) with the following statements:

• I). I have a close, personal relationship with God; II). I feel that God is right here with me in everyday life; III). When I talk to God, I know he listens to me; IV). My faith helps me see the common bond among all people; V). My faith helps me appreciate how much we need each other; VI). My faith helps me recognize the tremendous strength that can come from other people.

Functional Limitations

By yourself, how much difficulty do you have when performing the following activities? [The response options were none (0), a little (1), some (2), a lot (3), or unable to do (4)]

• I). Shopping for personal items, such as toilet items or medicines; II). Using the telephone; III). Bathing yourself; IV). Climbing 2–3 flights of stairs; V). Walking about 1/4 mile; VI). Doing heavy work around the house, such as shoveling snow or washing walls; VII). Taking a train or bus by yourself; VIII). Standing or being on your feet for about 2 h; IX). Stooping, crouching, or kneeling; X). Reaching over your head; XI). Using your fingers to grasp or handle; XII). Lifting or carrying something as heavy as 25 pounds; XIII). Dressing and undressing yourself; XIV). Feeding yourself; XV). Getting in or out of bed.

Depressive Symptomatology

Please tell me how often you have felt this way during the past week. [The response options were rarely or none of the time (1), some or little of the time (2), occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3), or most or all of the time (4)]

• I). I felt I could not shake off the blues, even with the help of my family and friends; II). I felt depressed; III). I had crying spells; IV). I felt sad; V). I did not feel like eating, my appetite was poor; VI). I felt that everything I did was an effort; VII). My sleep was restless; VIII). I could not get going.

Church Attendance - Religious covariate

How often do you attend religious services? [The response options were never (1), less than once a year (2), about once or twice a year (3), several times a year (4), about once a month (5), 2 to 3 times a month (6), nearly every week (7), every week (8), or several times a week (9)].