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. 2025 Feb;47(2):116-127.
doi: 10.1177/01640275241269949. Epub 2024 Aug 7.

Religious Involvement and Cognitive Function Among White, Black, and Hispanic Older Adults

Madison R Sauerteig-Rolston  1   2 , Lisa L Barnes  3 , Patricia A Thomas  1   2 , Jacqueline L Angel  4 , Kenneth F Ferraro  1   2
Affiliations

Religious Involvement and Cognitive Function Among White, Black, and Hispanic Older Adults

Madison R Sauerteig-Rolston et al. Res Aging. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

We examined whether religious involvement was associated with cognitive function among older adults in the 2006-2020 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Using growth curve analysis, we found the association between religious involvement and cognition varied by facet of religious involvement and race and Hispanic ethnicity. Attending religious services with friends was associated with higher initial levels of cognitive function (b = 0.22, p < .05). For Hispanic older adults, frequent attendance at religious services was associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline (b = 0.16, p < .01). Stratified models by race and Hispanic ethnicity demonstrated that religious salience was associated with lower initial levels of cognitive function among non-Hispanic White adults (b = -0.19, p < .01). We found no association between religious involvement and cognitive function among non-Hispanic Black respondents. In sum, elements of religious involvement are positively or negatively related to cognitive function in later life and vary by race and ethnicity.

Keywords: cognition; ethnicity; older adults; race; religion.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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