The purpose of this study was to see if feelings of God-mediated control are associated with change in self-rated health over time. In the process, an effort was made to see if a sense of meaning in life and optimism mediated the relationship between God-mediated control and change in health. The following hypothesized relationships were contained in the conceptual model that was developed to evaluate these issues: (1) people who go to church more often tend to have stronger God-mediated control beliefs than individuals who do not attend worship services as often; (2) people with a strong sense of God-mediated control are more likely to find a sense of meaning in life and be more optimistic than individuals who do not have a strong sense of God-mediated control; (3) people who are optimistic and who have a strong sense of meaning in life will rate their health more favorably over time than individuals who are not optimistic, as well as individuals who have not found a sense of meaning in life. Data from a longitudinal nationwide survey of older adults provided support for each of these hypotheses.

The purpose of this study is to see if the social environment of the church influences the use of religious coping responses over time. The following theoretical relationships were embedded in the conceptual model that was developed to evaluate this issue: (1) people who go to church more often are more likely to feel their congregation is highly cohesive (e.g., share the same values and beliefs); (2) individuals who worship in highly cohesive congregations are more likely to receive spiritual support (i.e., encouragement to adopt religious teachings and principles) from their fellow church members; (3) people who receive more spiritual support will be more likely to adopt religious coping responses. In the process of evaluating this model, tests were performed to examine the influence of racial culture. Data from a nationwide longitudinal survey of older adults provide support for each link in the conceptual model. Pervasive racial cultural differences were also found: Older blacks were more likely to be deeply involved in each facet of religion than older whites.

Three hypotheses are evaluated in this study. The first predicts that feelings of gratitude will offset (i.e., moderate) the deleterious effects of chronic financial strain on depressive symptoms over time. The second hypothesis specifies that people who go to church more often will be more likely to feel grateful. The third hypothesis predicts that individuals with a strong sense of God-mediated control will also feel more grateful. Data from a nationwide longitudinal study of older adults in the United States (N = 818) provide support for all three hypotheses. The data suggest that the effects of ongoing economic difficulty on depressive symptoms are especially pronounced for older people who are less grateful. But in contrast, persistent financial difficulties fail to exert a statistically significant effect on depressive symptoms over time for older individuals who are especially grateful. The results further reveal that more frequent church attendance and stronger God-mediated control beliefs are associated with positive changes in gratitude over time.

The purpose of this study is to see whether prayer helps older people cope more effectively with the adverse effects of lifetime trauma. Data from a nationwide survey of older adults reveal that the size of the relationship between traumatic events and depressive symptoms is reduced for older people who believe that only God knows when it is best to answer a prayer, and when they believe that only God knows the best way to answer it. The findings further reveal that these beliefs about prayer outcomes are especially likely to offset the effects of traumatic events that arose during childhood.

Research in religion and health has spurred new interest in measuring religiousness. Measurement efforts have focused on subjective facets of religiousness such as spirituality and beliefs, and less attention has been paid to congregate aspects, beyond the single item measuring attendance at services. We evaluate some new measures for religious experiences occurring during congregational worship services. Respondents (N=576) were religiously-diverse community-dwelling adults interviewed prior to cardiac surgery. Exploratory factor analysis of the new items with a pool of standard items yielded a readily interpretable solution, involving seven correlated but distinct factors and one index variable, with high levels of internal consistency. We describe religious affiliation and demographic differences in these measures. Attendance at religious services provides multifaceted physical, emotional, social, and spiritual experiences that may promote physical health through multiple pathways.

Science and the Catholic church are both conservative, slow-to-change institutions. However, science has institutionalized procedures that ensure that ample amounts of criticism of currently accepted theories and methodologies will always be present. This arrangement of continuous conjectures and refutation in science ensures often slow but steady change. Because supporters often think of religions as trafficking in timeless truths, criticism of church beliefs and practices (even when intended to stimulate reflection and improvement) is frequently seen as being disloyal to the institution. Because of the growing crises caused by world overpopulation, I argue that the Catholic church's opposition to all artificial methods of birth control now lacks whatever moral force it might have had when originally promulgated. By highlighting theological perspectives that might be appropriate for the ecological realities of the 21st century, I hope the church will see the wisdom of reevaluating many of its positions in the light of rapidly approaching ecological imperatives.

Guided by social identity theory, this study investigated having a closer identification as a member of one's religious group as an explanatory mechanism for linkages between more frequent formal religious participation and better subjective psychological well-being (more positive affect, less negative affect, and more life satisfaction). Multivariate regression models were estimated based on data from 3,032 participants, ages 25 to 74, in the 1995 National Survey of Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS). Results provided support for the mediating effect of religious social identity on the associations between more frequent religious service attendance and all three dimensions of psychological well-being examined. Given the lack of previous empirical attention to social identity within the literature on religiosity and mental health, these findings contribute to our understanding of self, religion, and health, while also pointing to the importance of continuing to draw on well developed social psychological theory in investigations of linkages between religion and health.

Drawing broadly on insights from attachment theory, the present study outlines a series of theoretical arguments linking styles of attachment to God, perceptions of the nature of God (i.e., God imagery), and stressful life events with psychological distress. Main effects and potential stress-moderator effects are then evaluated using data from a nationwide sample of elders and rank-and-file members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Key findings indicate that secure attachment to God is inversely associated with distress, whereas both anxious attachment to God and stressful life events are positively related to distress. Once variations in patterns of attachment to God are controlled, there are no net effects of God imagery on levels of distress. There is only modest support for the hypothesis that God images moderate the effects of stressful life events on psychological distress, but no stress-moderator effects were found for attachment to God. Study limitations are identified, and findings are discussed in terms of their implications for religion-health research, as well as recent extensions of attachment theory.

As a social identity, religion is unique because it contains a spectrum of choice. In some religious communities, individuals are considered members by virtue of having parents of that background, and religion, culture, and ethnicity are closely intertwined. Other faith communities actively invite people of other backgrounds to join, expecting individuals to choose the religion that best fits their personal beliefs. These various methods of identification influence beliefs about the essentialist nature of religious identity. Essentialism is when social groups are considered to have deep, immutable, and inherent defining properties. In this study, college students (N=55) provided ratings of essentialism for eight religious identities: Atheist, Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, and Spiritual-but-not-religious. Significant differences in essentialism were found between the target groups. Results and implications for intergroup relations are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to see whether differences emerge between older whites, older blacks, and older Mexican Americans in 12 measures of prayer. These measures assess four dimensions of prayer: The social context of prayer, interpersonal aspects of prayer, beliefs about how prayer operates, and the content or focus of prayers. Data from two nationwide surveys of older adults suggest that with respect to all four dimensions, the prayer lives of older whites appear be less developed than the prayer lives of older blacks and older Mexican Americans. In contrast, relatively few differences were found in the prayer lives of older African Americans and older Mexican Americans. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

This purpose of this study is to examine two constructs that have been largely overlooked in the study of religious involvement among older people: parental religious socialization practices and feelings of connectedness with others. The data are from an ongoing nationwide survey of older people. Findings from a latent variable model that was designed to examine the two focal constructs provides support for the following relationships:(1) older people whose parents encouraged them to become more involved in religion are more likely to attend worship services; (2) older people whose parents promoted religious involvement and older individuals who attend church more often are more likely to report that they see a fundamental connection among all human beings; (3) older adults who feel more closely connected to others will be more likely to forgive people for the things they have done; and (4) older people who are more forgiving are likely to experience fewer symptoms of depression over time.

People have a strong motivation to maintain a self-concept that is coherent and consistent over time. Religion is an central source of social identity for many people, but its importance is prone to dramatic change across the life course. To maintain a consistent perception of self, recollections of one's own past religiousness may shift to better fit with the present. This study examined changes between early and middle adulthood in retrospective perceptions of religious behavior and identity in childhood. Data from a population-based birth cohort sample were matched with data from individuals who participated in at least two of three adult follow-up studies, at intervals of approximately 10 years. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association of final recollections of childhood behavior and identity with previous recollections and current religious characteristics. Consistent with the predictions of temporal self-appraisal theory, participants' perception of their religious identity as children tended to change over time to match their adult religious identity. Recollections of childhood religious behavior were more stable than recollections of religious identity, and change was unrelated to adult behavior. These results have implications for studying religious characteristics using retrospective measures, regarding their accuracy and their independence from contemporary measures.

Listening to religious music is often an important part of religious life. Yet there has been little empirical research on it. The purpose of this study is to test a conceptual model that specifies one way in which religious music may be associated with change in health over time. This model contains the following core relationships: (1) people who attend worship services more often will have stronger emotional reactions to religious music; (2) individuals who are more emotionally involved in religious music will be more likely to feel a close sense of connectedness with other people; (3) people who feel more closely connected with others will be more hopeful about the future; and (4) individuals who feel more hopeful will be more likely to rate their health in a favorably over time. The data provide support for each of these relationships. Significant variations by race were also observed in the findings.

Theory and literature suggests that the reason religiously-involved people tend to have good health outcomes is because they have healthy lifestyles and behaviors in accord with religious beliefs. Other literature suggests that religious involvement may play a negative role in health outcomes due to beliefs about illness originating as punishment for sins. These ideas were tested as part of a theoretical model of the religion-health connection, in a national sample of African Americans. Outcomes included a variety of health-related behaviors. Study participants (N=2,370) randomly selected from a US national call list completed a telephone survey assessing religious involvement, health behaviors, and demographic characteristics. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze study data. Findings indicate that perceived religious influence on health behavior mediated the relationship between religious beliefs and behaviors and higher fruit consumption, and lower alcohol use and smoking. Belief that illness is the result of punishment for sin mediated the relationship between 1) religious beliefs and higher vegetable consumption and lower binge drinking; and 2) religious behaviors and lower vegetable consumption and higher binge drinking. These findings could be applied to health education activities conducted in African American faith-based organizations such as health ministries, in the effort to eliminate health disparities.

The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Spanish versions of the Perceived Religious Influence on Health Behavior scale and the Illness as Punishment for Sin scale in a sample of churchgoing Latina women (= 404). For the Perceived Religious Influence on Health Behavior scale, confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the expected one- factor model, internal consistency reliability was good, and there was evidence of convergent validity. For the Illness as Punishment for Sin scale, confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the expected one-factor model, but on a revised, seven-item version of the measure. Internal consistency reliability and convergent validity for this revised version were good. It is recommended that future studies use the Perceived Religious Influence on Health Behavior scale and the revised Illness as Punishment for Sin scale when examining these constructs among Latina women.