Research report
Religious attendance and social adjustment as protective against depression: A 10-year prospective study

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Abstract

Background

Previous research has identified elevated social adjustment and frequent religious attendance as protective against depression. The present study aims to examine the association of frequency of religious services attendance with subsequent depression, while accounting for the effects of social adjustment.

Method

Participants were 173 adult offspring of depressed and nondepressed parents, followed longitudinally over 25 years. Diagnosis was assessed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia—Lifetime Version. The Social Adjustment Scale—Self Report (SAS—SR) was used to assess social adjustment and frequency of religious services attendance was self-reported. In a logistic regression analysis, major depression at 20 years was used as the outcome measure and the frequency of religious services attendance and social adjustment variables at 10 years as predictors.

Results

Frequent religious services attendance was found to protect against subsequent depression at a trend level. High functioning social adjustment was found to protect against subsequent depression, especially within the immediate and extended family. Adults without a depressed parent who reported attending religious services atleast once a month had a lower likelihood of subsequent depression. Among adults with a depressed parent, those with high functioning social adjustment had a lower likelihood of subsequent depression.

Limitations

Measurement of social adjustment was non-specific to religious services.

Conclusions

Frequent religious attendance may protect against major depression, independent from the effects of social adjustment. This protective quality may be attenuated in adults with a depressed parent. High functioning social adjustment may be protective only among offspring of depressed parents.

Introduction

Research examining protective factors against major depression has identified frequency of religious services attendance (Hayward et al., 2012a, Koenig, 2007, Maselko et al., 2009, Norton et al., 2008, Sternthal et al., 2010) and social support (Bruce and Hoff, 1994, De Leeuw et al., 2000, Peirce et al., 2000; Stice et al., 2004; Symister and Friend, 2003; Paykel et al., 1971) as inversely associated with subsequent major depression. The protective contribution of frequent religious services attendance has in part been attributed to the social support that may be present (Hayward et al., 2012b, Koenig et al., 1992, Strawbridge et al., 1997), but its association with depression independent from various social factors has received little investigation. Indeed, it is possible that attending religious services may be closely linked with positive social contact with acquaintances, friends, coworkers, and immediate and extended family members. To date, there is yet to be a longitudinal study to examine the protective effects of frequent religious services attendance against depression, while accounting for the influence of adjustment within these social domains.

Adult offspring of depressed as compared with nondepressed parents are at elevated lifetime risk for major depression (MDD), and show differential risk and protective factors against MDD as compared with adult offspring of nondepressed parents (Weissman et al., 2006). Using data from a longitudinal multi-generation study, we had the opportunity to examine the independent effects of frequent religious services attendance and social adjustment on depression by familial risk for depression, in a series of exploratory analyses.

We predict (1) that a high frequency of religious services attendance will protect against subsequent depression, independent of the impact of high social adjustment, and (2) that a family history of depression will attenuate the protective effects of frequent religious services attendance against depression due to an elevated risk for depression.

Section snippets

Method

The data for this study comes from the 10- (Time 10) and 20- (Time 20) year follow-up phases of a multi-wave longitudinal study of women at high and low risk for depression (G1), their offspring (G2), and grandchildren (G3). A full description of the present study has been published elsewhere (Weissman et al., 2006).

The current study focused upon the offspring (G2), because the original probands (G1) were not interviewed at 20-year follow-up, and the grandchildren (G3) were too young at 10-year

Sample characteristics

Table 1 shows the demographic and clinical variables of the 173 participants, by high and low risk group and the overall sample. χ2 tests conducted on differences in demographic characteristics and study variables between risk groups showed differences in Time 10 rates of major depression, frequency of religious services attendance, and social adjustment. The rate of major depression prior to Time 10 was four times greater in the high-risk group than the low-risk group (28.2% [34/118] compared

Discussion

The findings of this 10-year longitudinal study suggest that there may be long-term and independent protective effects of both frequent religious services attendance and high functioning social adjustment against major depression. When examined by familial risk for depression, exploratory analyses suggested that frequent attendance was protective against depression in adults with no parental history of depression, while high functioning social adjustment was protective against depression in

Role of funding source

The funding sources had no involvement in the study design, in collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in writing the report, and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Conflict of interest

All other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Financial disclosure

In the past 2 years Dr. Miller received funding from the John Templeton Foundation, the Klingenstein Fund and the Pritchard Foundation; and received payment from Oxford University Press. Dr. Weissman received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), the Sackler Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation and the Interstitial Cystitis Association; and receives royalties from the Oxford University

Acknowledgment

The analyses were funded by the John Templeton Foundation. The data collection was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (2 R01 MH36197).

References (20)

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