Religious Attendance and Physical Health in Later Life: A Life Course Approach

Abstract

Existing research on the life course origins of adult health has extensively examined the influence of childhood socioeconomic conditions, family structure, and exposure to trauma. Left unexplored are the potential long-term health effects of sociocultural exposures, such as religiosity at earlier phases of the life course. Integrating life course models of health with literature on the health-protective effects of adult religiosity, we consider how adolescent and midlife religiosity combine to structure the physical health profiles of adults past age 50. Using more than 35 years of representative data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 (NLSY79), we found that the stability of frequent religious practice over time was associated with better health composite scores and lower disease burden. Causal mediation analyses revealed that part of this association is driven by a lower risk of smoking for consistent, frequent attenders. Adulthood religiosity also mediated the relationship between frequent early-life religious attendance and health.

Changes in Religiosity and Reliance on God during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Protective Role under Conditions of Financial Strain?

“…Nevertheless, this framework of religious change as a stress coping mechanism set forth in the current study could be profitably employed in more religiously diverse samples in countries beyond the United States. Recent work has consistently found a cumulative effect of religion, where stable religiosity over long periods of the life course associates with the most optimal health outcomes (Upenieks and Schafer 2020 ; Upenieks and Thomas 2021 ), so the assessment of religious change as we emerge from this period of crisis will be crucial to consider moving forward.…”

Psychological Resilience After Cancer via Religion/Spirituality: Spiritual Capital Through a Life Course Lens

“…Based on the limited available evidence, studies have generally shown that consistent religiosity over time may be associated with the best outcomes. For instance, stable religious importance from childhood to adulthood and stable weekly attendance over the same period was associated with a lower mortality risk (Upenieks, Schafer, and Mogosanu 2021) and a lower likelihood of reporting chronic conditions (Upenieks and Schafer 2020). Although these studies did not consider the stress-buffering potential of religion, the ability for religion to buffer the stress associated with a cancer diagnosis may be contingent on consistent, continued religious belief and importance.…”

“…Several studies, albeit unspecific to religion, have shown that childhood is a sensitive period for biological, psychological, and social development (Ben-Shlomo and Kuh 2002). However, the seeds of religiosity are planted and begin to take shape during early life socialization experiences (Petts 2014;Uecker, Regnerus, and Vaaler 2007;Upenieks, Schafer, and Mogosanu 2021;Upenieks and Schafer 2020). Recent research has shown that children raised in households that place a high degree of importance on religion are likely to maintain religiosity as a priority in their lives in adulthood (Upenieks, Schafer, and Mogosanu 2021;Upenieks and Schafer 2020).…”

“…First, drawing from the life course perspective, we assess how stability or change in religious importance from childhood into adulthood structure individual's emotional reactions to cancer. Some scholars have posited an accumulation mechanism to be at work, through which stable, frequent attendance might allow religious/spiritual capital, defined as "the familiarity with a religion's doctrines, rituals, traditions, and members that enhances the satisfaction one receives from participation in that religion" (Iannaccone 1990:229; see also Upenieks and Schafer 2020). Assessing religiosity from childhood into adulthood will afford greater purchase on when the stress-buffering effects of religiosity emerge in the life course (Jung 2018) and what "dosage" of religion might be more or less beneficial for dealing with the aftermath of a cancer diagnosis.…”

Matters of the Heart: Childhood Maltreatment, Religious Transitions, and Cardiovascular-Related Problems over the Life Course

“…A number of studies have found that consistently high attendance from childhood to adulthood was associated with better physical and mental well-being at midlife compared to consistent non-attendance (Chen & VanderWeele, 2018; Upenieks & Schafer, 2020; Upenieks & Thomas, 2021). Consistent religious involvement also tends to favor healthier lifestyles, such as lower levels of smoking and drinking (Upenieks & Schafer, 2020) and abuse of drugs (Jang et al, 2008; Ulmer et al, 2012), better mental health (Upenieks & Thomas, 2021) and better biological functioning, observed through lower allostatic load, and longer telomeres (Hill et al, 2016; Hill et al, 2017; Maselko et al, 2007). Some research in neuropsychology suggests that the emotionally charged dynamics of religious rituals can have positive neuropsychological and immune system effects (Sosis & Alcorta, 2003).…”