Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Religious Identity and Health Inequalities in Canada

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the past few decades, most new immigrants to Canada have originated from non-Christian countries. During the same period, the unaffiliation rates have sharply increased in Canada. This paper investigates whether there are any health inequalities associated with religious identity, including also the individuals who do not identify with organized religion in the analysis. The study uses the Canadian General Social Survey of 2012 (N = 23,093), focused on Caregiving and Care-receiving. Employing multivariate regression analysis and controlling for a large set of characteristics inclusive of the degree of religious commitment, individuals who identify as Protestant are found at a physical and mental health advantage, compared with Roman Catholics and most other groups. On the other hand, individuals who identify as Jehovah’s Witnesses are found at a considerable physical health disadvantage. Among the unaffiliated individuals, those who have retained some ties with organized religion without formally identifying with it are found at a mental health disadvantage compared with all religious groups, as well as the secular individuals who are strictly committed to their nonreligious views. Possible causes and various implications are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

The data source is the Canadian General Social Survey of 2012, collected by Statsistics Canada

Fig. 2

The data source is the Canadian General Social Survey of 2012, collected by Statsistics Canada

Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Eagle DE. Changing patterns of attendance at religious services in Canada, 1986–2008. J. Sci. Study Relig. 2011;50(1):187–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Thiessen J. The Meaning of sunday: the practice of belief in a secular age. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s Press-MQUP, p. 1, 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Dilmaghani M. Civic participation of secular groups in Canada. Rev. Soc. Econ. 2017;7:1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Pew Research Center, Canada’s Changing Religious Landscape, Available at: http://www.pewforum.org/2013/06/27/canadas-changing-religious-landscape/.

  5. Gee EM, Veevers JE. Religiously unaffiliated Canadians: sex, age, and regional variations. Soc. Indicat. Res. 1989;21(6):611–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Beyer P. The future of non-Christian religions in Canada: patterns of religious identification among recent immigrants and their second generation, 1981–2001. Stud. Relig/Sci Relig. 2005;34(2):165–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Connor P. Immigrant faith: patterns of immigrant religion in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. New York: NYU Press, p. 22, 2014 .

    Book  Google Scholar 

  8. Lefebvre S, Beaman LG, editors Religion in the public sphere: Canadian case studies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Wilkins-Laflamme S. Protestant and catholic distinctions in secularization. J. Contemp. Relig. 2016;31(2):165–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. McQuillan K. When does religion influence fertility?. Popul. Develop. Rev. 2004;30(1):25–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Tomes N. Religion and the rate of return on human capital: evidence from Canada. Can. J. Econ. 1983 Feb;1:122 – 38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Meng R, Sentance J. Religion and the determination of earnings: further results. Can. J. Econ. 1984;1:481–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Balakrishnan TR, Chen J. Religiosity, nuptiality and reproduction in Canada. Can. Rev. Sociol./Revue Can. de Sociol. 1990;27(3):316–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Tomes N. Religion and the earnings function. Am. Econ. Rev. 1985;75(2):245–50.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Dilmaghani M. Religiosity, human capital return and earnings in Canada. Int. J. Soc. Econ. 2011;39(1/2):55–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Veenstra G. Racialized identity and health in Canada: results from a nationally representative survey. Soc. Sci. Med. 2009;69(4):538–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Reitz JG, Banerjee R, Phan M, Thompson J. Race, religion, and the social integration of new immigrant minorities in Canada1. Int. Migrat. Rev. 2009;43(4):695–726.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Dilmaghani M. Religiosity and labour earnings in Canadian provinces. J. Lab. Res. 2016;1–8.

  19. Wilkins-Laflamme S. The Changing Religious Cleavage in Canadians’ Voting Behaviour. Can. J. Polit. Sci. 2016;49(3):499–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Wilkins-Laflamme S. Secularization and the wider gap in values and personal religiosity between the religious and nonreligious. J. Sci. Study Relig. 2017;1.

  21. Safdar S, Dupuis DR, Lewis RJ, El-Geledi S, Bourhis RY. Social axioms and acculturation orientations of English Canadians toward British and Arab Muslim immigrants. Int. J. Intercult. Relat. 2008;32(5):415–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Litchmore RV, Safdar S. Perceptions of discrimination as a marker of integration among Muslim-Canadians: the role of religiosity, ethnic identity, and gender. J. Int. Migrat. Integrat. 2015;16(1):187–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Gillum RF, Ingram DD. Frequency of attendance at religious services, hypertension, and blood pressure: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Psychosom. Med. 2006;68(3):382–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. McCullough ME, Hoyt WT, Larson DB, Koenig HG, Thoresen C. Religious involvement and mortality: a meta-analytic review. Health Psychol. 2000;19(3):211.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Musick MA, House JS, Williams DR. Attendance at religious services and mortality in a national sample. J. Health Soc. Behav. 2004;45(2):198–213.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Ellison CG, Levin JS. The religion-health connection: evidence, theory, and future directions. Health Educ. Behav. 1998;25(6):700–20.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Hackney CH, Sanders GS. Religiosity and mental health: a meta–analysis of recent studies. J. Sci. Study Relig. 2003;42(1):43–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Koenig H, King D, Carson VB. Handbook of religion and health. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2012;1.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Banthia R, Moskowitz JT, Acree M, Folkman S. Socioeconomic differences in the effects of prayer on physical symptoms and quality of life. J Health Psychol. 2007;12(2):249–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Krause N, Hayward RD. Religion, meaning in life, and change in physical functioning during late adulthood. J. Adult Develop. 2012;19(3):158–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Levin JS, Chatters LM. Religion, health, and psychological well-being in older adults findings from three national surveys. J. Aging Health 1998;10(4):504–31.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Gillum RF. Frequency of attendance at religious services and cigarette smoking in American women and men: the Third National Health and nutrition examination survey. Prevent. Med. 2005;41(2):607–13.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Oman D, Thoresen CE. Do religion and spirituality influence health. Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. 2005;435–59.

  34. Hill TD, Ellison CG, Burdette AM, Musick MA. Religious involvement and healthy lifestyles: evidence from the survey of Texas adults. Ann. Behav. Med. 2007;34(2):217–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Powell LH, Shahabi L, Thoresen CE. Religion and spirituality: linkages to physical health. Am. Psychol. 2003;58(1):36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Myers DG, Eid M, Larsen R. Religion and human flourishing. The science of subjective well-being. 2008:pp. 323–43.

  37. Idler EL. Religious involvement and the health of the elderly: some hypotheses and an initial test. Soc. Forces 1987;66(1):226–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Strawbridge WJ, Cohen RD, Shema SJ, Kaplan GA. Frequent attendance at religious services and mortality over 28 years. Am J Public Health. 1997;87(6):957–61.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Krause N. Religion and health: making sense of a disheveled literature. J. Relig. Health 2011;50(1):20–35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Koenig HG. Religion as cognitive schema. Int. J. Psychol. Relig. 1995;5(1):31–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Dilmaghani M. Importance of religion or spirituality and mental health in Canada., J. Relig. Health 2017;1–16

  42. Dilmaghani M. Religiosity and subjective wellbeing in Canada. J. Happiness Stud. 2017:1–9.

  43. Vernon GM. The religious” nones”: a neglected category. J Sci Study Relig. 1968 Oct 1:pp. 219 – 29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Sherkat DE, Ellison CG. Recent developments and current controversies in the sociology of religion. Ann. Rev. Sociol. 1999;25(1):363–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Whitley R. Atheism and mental health. Harvard Rev. Psychiatry. 2010;18(3):190–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Hout M, Fischer CS. Why more Americans have no religious preference: politics and generations. Am. Sociol. Rev. 2002;1:165–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Hout M, Fischer CS. Explaining why more Americans have no religious preference: Political backlash and generational succession, 1987–2012. Sociol. Sci. 2014;1(9):423–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Bainbridge WS. Atheism. Interdiscip. J. Res. Relig. 2005;1;1.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Edgell P, Gerteis J, Hartmann D. Atheists as “other”: moral boundaries and cultural membership in American society. Am. Sociol. Rev. 2006;71(2):211–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Edgell P, Hartmann D, Stewart E, Gerteis J. Atheists and other cultural outsiders: moral boundaries and the non-religious in the United States. Soc. Forces 2016;95(2):607–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Voas D. The rise and fall of fuzzy fidelity in Europe. Eur. Sociol. Rev. 2009;25(2):155–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Smith C, Cimino R. Atheisms unbound: the role of the new media in the formation of a secularist identity. Secular. Nonrelig. 2012 21;1.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Cimino R, Smith C. Atheist awakening: secular activism and community in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2014.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  54. Wilkins-Laflamme S. How unreligious are the religious nones? Religious dynamics of the unaffiliated in Canada. Can. J. Sociol. (Online). 2015;40(4):477.

    Google Scholar 

  55. Mochon D, Norton MI, Ariely D. Who benefits from religion? Soc. Indic. Res. 2011;101(1):1–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Weber SR, Pargament KI, Kunik ME, Lomax JW II, Stanley MA. Psychological distress among religious nonbelievers: a systematic review. J Relig Health. 2012;51(1):72–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Hayward RD, Krause N, Ironson G, Hill PC, Emmons R. Health and well-being among the non-religious: atheists, agnostics, and no preference compared with religious group members. J. Relig. Health 2016;7:1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  58. Speed D, Fowler K. What’s god got to do with it? How religiosity predicts atheists’ health. J. Relig. Health 2016;55(1):296–308.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Baker JO, Smith B. None too simple: examining issues of religious nonbelief and nonbelonging in the United States. J. Sci. Study Relig. 2009;48(4):719–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Lim C, MacGregor CA, Putnam RD. Secular and liminal: discovering heterogeneity among religious nones. J. Sci. Study Relig. 2010;49(4):596–618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Salsman JM, Brown TL, Brechting EH, Carlson CR. The link between religion and spirituality and psychological adjustment: The mediating role of optimism and social support. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2005;31(4):522–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Stark R, Maier J. Faith and happiness. Rev. Relig. Res. 2008;1:120–5.

    Google Scholar 

  63. Vail KE, Rothschild ZK, Weise DR, Solomon S, Pyszczynski T, Greenberg J. A terror management analysis of the psychological functions of religion. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 2010;14(1):84–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Hogg MA, Adelman JR, Blagg RD. Religion in the face of uncertainty: an uncertainty-identity theory account of religiousness. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 2010;14(1):72–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Vail KE, Arndt J, Abdollahi A. Exploring the existential function of religion and supernatural agent beliefs among Christians, Muslims, Atheists, and agnostics. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2012;38(10):1288–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Baker P, Cruickshank J. I am happy in my faith: the influence of religious affiliation, saliency, and practice on depressive symptoms and treatment preference. Mental Health, Relig. Cult. 2009;12(4):339–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Wilkinson PJ, Coleman PG. Strong beliefs and coping in old age: a case-based comparison of atheism and religious faith. Ageing Soc. 2010;30(02):337–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. James A, Wells A. Death beliefs, superstitious beliefs and health anxiety. Br. J. Clin. Psychol. 2002;41(1):43–53.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Galen LW, Kloet JD. Mental well-being in the religious and the non-religious: Evidence for a curvilinear relationship. Mental Health Relig. Cult. 2011;14(7):673–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. Horning SM, Davis HP, Stirrat M, Cornwell RE. Atheistic, agnostic, and religious older adults on well-being and coping behaviors. J. Aging Stud. 2011;25(2):177–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  71. Norenzayan A, Gervais WM. The origins of religious disbelief. Trends Cognit. Sci. 2013;17(1):20–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  72. Hunter JA. Self-esteem and in-group bias among members of a religious social category. J. Soc. Psychol. 2001;141(3):401–11.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  73. Cragun RT, Kosmin B, Keysar A, Hammer JH, Nielsen M. On the receiving end: discrimination toward the non-religious in the United States. J. Contemp. Relig. 2012;27(1):105–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Gervais WM, Shariff AF, Norenzayan A. Do you believe in atheists? Distrust is central to anti-atheist prejudice. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2011;101(6):1189.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  75. Jenks RJ. Perceptions of two deviant and two nondeviant groups. J. Soc. Psychol. 1986;126(6):783–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  76. Leiken RS. Europe’s angry muslims. For. Aff. 2005;84(4):120–35.

    Google Scholar 

  77. Parekh B. Europe, liberalism and the ‘Muslim question’. Multicult. Muslims and Citizenship 2006;28;179.

    Google Scholar 

  78. Saroglou V, Mathijsen F. Religion, multiple identities, and acculturation: a study of Muslim immigrants in Belgium. Arch. Psychol. Relig. 2007;29(1):177–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  79. Friedman M, Saroglou V. Religiosity, psychological acculturation to the host culture, self-esteem and depressive symptoms among stigmatized and nonstigmatized religious immigrant groups in Western Europe. Basic Appl. Soc. Psychol. 2010;32(2):185–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  80. Ryder AG, Alden LE, Paulhus DL. Is acculturation unidimensional or bidimensional? A head-to-head comparison in the prediction of personality, self-identity, and adjustment. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2000;79(1):49.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  81. Yoon E, Chang CT, Kim S, Clawson A, Cleary SE, Hansen M, Bruner JP, Chan TK, Gomes AM. A meta-analysis of acculturation/enculturation and mental health. J. Couns. Psychol. 2013;60(1):15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  82. Berry JW, Sam DL. Multicultural Societies 5. The Oxford handbook of multicultural identity. 2014;4:97.

  83. Schwartz SJ, Weisskirch RS, Zamboanga BL, Castillo LG, Ham LS, Huynh QL, Park IJ, Donovan R, Kim SY, Vernon M, Davis MJ. Dimensions of acculturation: associations with health risk behaviors among college students from immigrant families. J. Couns. Psychol. 2011;58(1):27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  84. Verkuyten M, Yildiz AA. National (dis) identification and ethnic and religious identity: a study among Turkish-Dutch Muslims. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2007;33(10):1448–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  85. Bisin A, Patacchini E, Verdier T, Zenou Y. Are Muslim immigrants different in terms of cultural integration?. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 2008;6(2-3):445–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  86. Yousif AF. The maintenance of Islamic identity in Canadian society: Religious observance, psychosocial influences, and institutional completeness of the Muslim community in the Canadian National Capital Region. Ottawa: University of Ottawa (Canada); 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  87. Berry JW, Kalin R. Multicultural and ethnic attitudes in Canada: an overview of the 1991 National Survey. Can. J. Behav. Sci. 1995;27(3):301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  88. Zine J. Muslim youth in Canadian schools: education and the politics of religious identity. Anthropol. Educ. Quart. 2001;;32(4):399–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  89. Baker C. Globalization and the cultural safety of an immigrant Muslim community. J. Adv. Nurs. 2007;57(3):296–305.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  90. Rostam H, Haverkamp BE. Iraqi expatriates’ experience of North American media coverage of the Iraq war. Int. J. Adv. Couns. 2009;31(2):100–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  91. Adams M. Muslims in Canada: findings from the 2007 environics survey. Horizons 2009;10(2):19–26.

  92. Model S, Lin L. The cost of not being christian: Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in Britain and Canada. Int. Migrat. Rev. 2002;36(4):1061–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  93. Newbold KB, Danforth J. Health status and Canada’s immigrant population. Soc. Sci. Med. 2003;57(10):1981–95.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  94. Veenstra G. Race, gender, class, sexuality (RGCS) and hypertension. Soc. Sci. Med. 2013;89:16–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  95. Veenstra G, Patterson AC. Black–White health inequalities in Canada. J. Immig. Minor. Health 2016;18(1):51–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  96. Ramraj C, Shahidi FV, Darity W, Kawachi I, Zuberi D, Siddiqi A. Equally inequitable? A cross-national comparative study of racial health inequalities in the United States and Canada. Soc. Sci. Med. 2016.

  97. McDonald JT, Kennedy S. Insights into the ‘healthy immigrant effect’: health status and health service use of immigrants to Canada. Soc. Sci. Med. 2004;59(8):1613–27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  98. McDonald JT, Kennedy S. Cervical cancer screening by immigrant and minority women in Canada. J. Immig. Minor. Health 2007;9(4):323–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  99. Siddiqi A, Zuberi D, Nguyen QC. The role of health insurance in explaining immigrant versus non-immigrant disparities in access to health care: comparing the United States to Canada. Soc. Sci. Med. 2009;69(10):1452–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  100. Magalhaes L, Carrasco C, Gastaldo D. Undocumented migrants in Canada: a scope literature review on health, access to services, and working conditions. J. Immig. Minor. Health 2010;12(1):132–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  101. Kwak K. An evaluation of the healthy immigrant effect with adolescents in Canada: Examinations of gender and length of residence. Soc. Sci. Med. 2016;157:87–95.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  102. Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, Caregiving and Care Receiving, Guide, 2013,Available at: http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4502.

  103. Statistics, Canada. General Social Survey: An Overview, Available at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89f0115x/89f0115x2013001-eng.htm.

  104. McAndrew S, Voas D. Measuring religiosity using surveys. Survey Question Bank: Topic Overview. 2011 Feb;4(2). Available at: https://tinyurl.com/hcc6wv9.

  105. Clayton RR, Gladden JW. The five dimensions of religiosity: Toward demythologizing a sacred artifact. J. Sci. Study Relig. 1974:135–43.

  106. Idler EL, Musick MA, Ellison CG, George LK, Krause N, Ory MG, Pargament KI, Powell LH, Underwood LG, Williams DR. Measuring multiple dimensions of religion and spirituality for health research: Conceptual background and findings from the 1998 General Social Survey. Research on Aging. 2003; 25(4):pp. 327 – 65.

  107. Saroglou V. Believing, bonding, behaving, and belonging: The big four religious dimensions and cultural variation. J Cross Cult Psychol. 2011;42(8):1320–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  108. Bibby RW, Grenville A. What the Polls Do Show: Toward Enhanced Survey Readings of Religion in Canada. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie. 2016;53(1):123–36.

  109. Clark W, Schellenberg G. (2006), “Who is religious?.”, Can. Soc. Trends (18) (Statistics Canada-Catalogue No. 11-008: 1-8).

  110. Clarke B, Macdonald S. How are Canada’s Five Largest Protestant Denominations Faring? A Look at the 2001 Census. Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses. 2011;10:0008429811418776.

  111. Zikmund-Fisher BJ, Smith DM, Ubel PA, Fagerlin A. Validation of the Subjective Numeracy Scale: effects of low numeracy on comprehension of risk communications and utility elicitations. Med. Decis. Making 2007;27(5):663–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  112. Jaeger SR, Jørgensen AS, Aaslyng MD, Bredie WL. Best–worst scaling: An introduction and initial comparison with monadic rating for preference elicitation with food products. Food Qual. Preference 2008;19(6):579–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  113. Giergiczny M, Hess S, Dekker T, Chintakayala PK. Testing the consistency (or lack thereof) between choices in best-worst surveys. third international choice modelling conference, Sydney 2013 Jul.

  114. STATA Corp. Version 15. More information available at: http://www.stata.com/new-in-stata/.

  115. Putnam RD. Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. J. Democ. 1995;6(1):65–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  116. Helliwell JF. Well-Being, social capital and public policy: What’s new?. Econ. J. 2006;116(510):C34–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  117. DiPasquale D, Glaeser EL. Incentives and social capital: are homeowners better citizens? J. Urb Econ. 1999;45(2):354–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  118. Glaeser EL, Laibson D, Sacerdote B. An economic approach to social capital. Econ. J. 2002;112(483):F437–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  119. Brisson D, Usher CL. The effects of informal neighborhood bonding social capital and neighborhood context on homeownership for families living in poverty. J. Urb. Aff. 2007;29(1):65–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  120. Doane MJ, Elliott M. Religiosity, Self-Rated Health. A longitudinal examination of their reciprocal effects. J. Relig. Health 2016;55(3):844–55.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  121. Park CL. Religion as a meaning-making framework in coping with life stress. J. Soc. Iss. 2005;61(4):707–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  122. McGregor I, Haji R, Nash KA, Teper R. Religious zeal and the uncertain self. Basic Appl. Soc. Psychol. 2008;30(2):183–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  123. Penton MJ. Apocalypse delayed: the story of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Montreal: University of Toronto Press; 2015.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  124. Kaplan W. State and salvation: the Jehovah’s Witnesses and their fight for civil rights. Montreal: University of Toronto Press; 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  125. Yaffee B. “Witnesses Seek Apology for Wartime Persecution”. The Globe in Mail: p. 4; 9 September 1984.

  126. Sallot, Jeff, Yaffe Barbara. “Secret Files Reveal Bigotry, Suppression”. The Globe and Mail. 4 September 1984.

  127. Rajtar M. Bioethics and religious bodies: Refusal of blood transfusions in Germany. Soc. Sci. Med. 2013;31;98:271–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  128. Rajtar M. Health care reform and diagnosis related groups in Germany: the mediating role of hospital liaison committees for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Soc. Sci. Med. 2016;166:57–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  129. Richardson JT. Managing religion and the judicialization of religious freedom. J. Sci. Study Relig. 2015;54(1):1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  130. Hirschl R. The judicialization of mega-politics and the rise of political courts. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci. 2008;11:93–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  131. Biehl J. The judicialization of biopolitics: claiming the right to pharmaceuticals in Brazilian courts. Am. Ethnol. 2013;40(3):419 – 36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  132. Penton MJ. Jehovah’s Witnesses in Canada: Champions of freedom of speech and worship. Montreal: Maclean-Hunter Press; 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  133. Côté P, Richardson JT. Disciplined litigation, vigilant litigation, and deformation: Dramatic organization change in Jehovah’s Witnesses. J. Sci. Study Relig. 2001;1:11–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  134. Kitchens CS. Are transfusions overrated? Surgical outcome of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Am. J. Med. 1993;94(2):117–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  135. Berend K, Levi M. Management of adult Jehovah’s Witness patients with acute bleeding. Am. J. Med. 2009;122(12):1071–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  136. Hubbard R, Waters JH, Yazer MH. Heterogeneity in blood product acceptance among antenatal patients of the Jehovah’s Witness Faith. Obstet. Gynecol. 2015;126(5): 974–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  137. Wheeler R. Why do we treat the children of Jehovah’s Witnesses differently from their adult parents?. Arch. Dis. Childhood 2015;100(7):606–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  138. McCartney S, Guinn N, Roberson R, Broomer B, White W, Hill S. Jehovah’s Witnesses and cardiac surgery: a single institution’s experience. Transfusion 2014;54(10pt2):2745–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  139. Vasques F, Kinnunen EM, Pol M, Mariscalco G, Onorati F, Biancari F. Outcome of Jehovah’s Witnesses after adult cardiac surgery: systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative studies. Transfusion 2016;56(8):2146–53.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  140. Spencer J. The mental health of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Br. J. Psychiatry 1975;126(6):556–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  141. Friedson ML. Psychotherapy and the fundamentalist client: the aims and challenges of treating Jehovah’s Witnesses. J. Relig. Health 2015;54(2):693–712.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  142. Ranck JG. Religious conservatism-liberalism and mental health. Pastoral Psychol. 1961;12(2):34–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  143. Pargament KI, Echemendia RJ, Johnson S, Cook P, McGath C, Myers JG, Brannick M. The conservative church: Psychosocial advantages and disadvantages. Am. J. Community. Psychol. 1987; 15(3):269–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  144. Tix AP, Dik BJ, Johnson ME, Steger MF. Religious commitment and subjective well-being across Christian traditions. J. Psychol. Christianity. 2013;32(1):20–30.

    Google Scholar 

  145. Blanchard TC, Bartkowski JP, Matthews TL, Kerley KR. Faith, morality and mortality: the ecological impact of religion on population health. Soc. Forces 2008;86(4):1591–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  146. Green M, Elliott M. Religion, health, and psychological well-being. J. Relig. Health 2010;49(2):149 – 63.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  147. Ellison CG, Burdette AM. Religion and the Sense of Control among US Adults. Sociology of Religion. 2012;73(1):1–22.

  148. Mirowsky J, Ross CE. Education, cumulative advantage, and health. Ageing Int. 2005;30(1):27–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  149. Pargament KI, Kennell J, Hathaway W, Grevengoed N, Newman J, Jones W. Religion and the problem-solving process: three styles of coping. J. Sci. Study of Relig. 1988 1:90–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  150. Zanchetta MS, Poureslami IM. Health literacy within the reality of immigrants’ culture and language. Can J. Pub. Health/Revue Can. de Sante’e Pub. 2006;1:S26-30.

    Google Scholar 

  151. Wilkinson RG. Class mortality differentials, income distribution and trends in poverty 1921–1981. Journal of social policy 1989 Jul 1;18(03):307 – 35.

  152. Wilkinson RG. The epidemiological transition: from material scarcity to social disadvantage?. Daedalus. Oct. 1994;1:61–77.

    Google Scholar 

  153. McEwen BS. Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England journal of medicine 1998 Jan 15;338(3):171–9.

  154. Cohen S. Social status and susceptibility to respiratory infections. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1999 Dec 1;896(1):pp. 246 – 53.

  155. Krieger N. Discrimination and health inequities. International Journal of Health Services 2014 Oct 1;44(4):643–710.

  156. Richardson JT. In defense of religious rights: Jehovah’s witness legal cases around the world. Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity 2015 Mar 27 (pp. 285–307). Brill.

  157. Diener E, Suh EM, Smith H, Shao L. National differences in reported subjective well-being: Why do they occur?. Social indicators research. 1995 Jan 1;34(1):pp. 7–32.

  158. Eid M, Diener E. Norms for experiencing emotions in different cultures: inter-and intranational differences. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2001 Nov;81(5):869.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  159. Canadian House of Common, Motion 103, “House of Commons passes anti-Islamophobia motion”. CBC News March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2017.

  160. Liedgren P. Minorities with different values at school–the case of Jehovah’s witnesses. Br. J. Relig. Educ. 2016;1–13.

  161. Krause N, Wulff KM. Religious doubt and health: exploring the potential dark side of religion. Soc. Relig. 2004;65(1):35–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  162. Galek K, Krause N, Ellison CG, Kudler T, Flannelly KJ. Religious doubt and mental health across the lifespan. J. Adult Develop. 2007;14(1–2):16–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This study was not funded.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, 923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 3C3, Canada

    Maryam Dilmaghani

Authors
  1. Maryam Dilmaghani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maryam Dilmaghani.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals, performed by any of the authors. The study underwent a preliminary review by the Research Ethics Board and received an exemption.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dilmaghani, M. Religious Identity and Health Inequalities in Canada. J Immigrant Minority Health 20, 1060–1074 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0640-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0640-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation