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. 2009 Jun;17(6):503-7.
doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e31819d37a9.

The association of public and private religious involvement with severity of depression and hopelessness in older adults treated for major depression

Mario Cruz  1 , Richard Schulz, Harold A Pincus, Patricia R Houck, Salem Bensasi, Charles F Reynolds 3rd
Affiliations

The association of public and private religious involvement with severity of depression and hopelessness in older adults treated for major depression

Mario Cruz et al. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2009 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: The authors assessed the association between public and private religious participation and depression as well as hopelessness in older depressed, adults treated in mental health settings.

Methods: Data from 130 participants from a posttreatment longitudinal follow-up study of late-life depression were analyzed. Multiple regression analyses were performed to assess the association between public (frequency of church attendance) and private (frequency of prayer/meditation) forms of religious participation and depression as well as hopelessness severity when demographic and health indicators were controlled.

Results: Multivariate analyses found significant negative associations between frequency of prayer/meditation and depression (OR = 0.56 [0.36-0.89], Wald chi2 = 5.93, df = 1) as well as hopelessness (OR = 0.58 [0.36-0.94], Wald chi2 = 4.97, df = 1) severity.

Conclusion: This study supports significant, direct relationships between prayer/meditation and depression as well as hopelessness severity in older adults treated for depression in mental health settings. Prospective studies are needed to further illuminate these relationships.

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