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Religion and Adult Mortality: Group- and Individual-Level Perspectives

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International Handbook of Adult Mortality

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 2))

Abstract

Modern epidemiological studies of religion and all-cause or cause-specific mortality are reviewed to better understand the patterns of association and potential mechanisms by which religion could affect health and survival. Two distinct groups of studies are found: those that compare rates for mortality of a homogeneous religious affiliation group with that of a standard regional, state, or national population (group-level data), and those that assess individual risk related to religious attendance in observational cohort studies (individual-level data). The associations of religion with reductions in all-cause mortality are stronger in the group-level data than in the individual-level data, primarily because individual-level data permit the inclusion of intervening or mediating variables such as smoking and diet. This chapter discusses the importance of the regulating, behavior-constraining effect of religious affiliation, with particular attention to gender differences in religion and health.

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Acknowledgment

The author thanks Allan Horwitz, Richard Contrada, and Kirsten Song for their comments on the chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Ellen L. Idler

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Sociology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, 80309-0327, Colorado, USA

    Richard G. Rogers

  2. Davis School of Gerontology, Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, McClintock Ave. 3715, Los Angeles, 90089-0191, California, USA

    Eileen M. Crimmins

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Idler, E.L. (2011). Religion and Adult Mortality: Group- and Individual-Level Perspectives. In: Rogers, R., Crimmins, E. (eds) International Handbook of Adult Mortality. International Handbooks of Population, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9996-9_17

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