Religious Service Attendance and Lower Depression Among Women-a Prospective Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Previous studies on the association between religious service attendance and depression have been mostly cross-sectional, subject to reverse causation, and did not account for the potential feedback between religious service attendance and depression. We prospectively evaluated evidence whether religious service attendance decreased risk of subsequent risk of depression and whether depression increased subsequent cessation of service attendance, while explicitly accounting for feedback with potential effects in both directions.

Method

We included a total of 48,984 US nurses who were participants of the Nurses' Health Study with mean age 58 years and who were followed up from 1996 to 2008. Religious service attendance was self-reported in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004.

SUBMITTER: Li S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5127763 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature