{"id":98070,"date":"2022-12-27T20:33:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T03:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=98070"},"modified":"2022-12-27T20:50:49","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T03:50:49","slug":"religiosity-depression-and-life-expectancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/12\/religiosity-depression-and-life-expectancy.html","title":{"rendered":"Religiosity, Depression, and Life Expectancy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Grand<\/a>
The entrance to New York-Presbyterian Hospital
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)
The image is not particularly relevant to this entry, except that . . . well, it\u2019s a photo of a hospital.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, first, these three new items went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:<\/p>\n

Nibley Lectures: Time Vindicates the Prophets<\/em> \u2014 \u201cProphets and Ritual\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Between 7 March 1954 and 17 October 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of thirty weekly lectures on KSL Radio that were also published as pamphlets. The series, which was called \u201cTime Vindicates the Prophets,\u201d was given in answer to those who were challenging the right of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> to call themselves Christians.\u00a0 This particular lecture suggests that religion is not practical for this life but is essential for the next.<\/p>\n

Come, Follow Me<\/em> \u2014 New Testament Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 2, January 2 \u2014 January 8: Matthew 1; Luke 1 \u2014 \u201cBe It unto Me according to Thy Word\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Once again, Jonn Claybaugh provides concise notes for students and teachers of the Church\u2019s \u201cCome, Follow Me\u201d curriculum.<\/p>\n

The New Testament in Context Lesson 2: \u201cBe It unto Me according to Thy Word\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

In the 27 November 2022 Come, Follow Me<\/em> segment of the weekly Interpreter Radio Show, Steve Densley, Mark Johnson, and Matt Bowen discussed New Testament lesson 2, on Matthew 1 and Luke 1.\u00a0 That segment is now available for your listening, at your convenience and at no charge.\u00a0 The other segments of the 27 November 2022 radio show can be accessed at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreter-radio-show-november-27-2022<\/a>.\u00a0 The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard live on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen to it on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Home,<\/a>
I was born in this hospital in southern California. The fact that I was born in a hospital inescapably suggests \u2014 despite suspicions to the contrary based on my advanced age \u2014 that there were hominids before me, since some sort of tool-using organism must have built it prior to my birth.
(Public domain photo from Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, now, on to some appalling links that I\u2019ve retrieved from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u00a9.\u00a0 They should give several of my readers a delicious frisson<\/em> of righteous indignation and deeply satisfying horror:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Corina R. Ronneberg, <\/span>Edward Alan Miller, <\/span><\/span>Elizabeth Dugan, and Frank Porell, <\/span>\u201cThe Protective Effects of Religiosity on\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Depression:\u00a0A 2-Year Prospective Study,\u201d The Gerontologist<\/em> (2014): 1-12.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Purpose of the Study:<\/span><\/div>\n
Approximately 20% of older adults are diagnosed with depression <\/span>in the United States. Extant research suggests that engagement in religious activity, or <\/span>religiosity, may serve as a protective factor against depression. This prospective study <\/span>examines whether religiosity protects against depression and\/or aids in recovery.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Design and Methods:<\/span><\/div>\n
Study data are drawn from the 2006 and 2008 waves of the Health <\/span>and Retirement Study. The sample consists of 1,992 depressed and 5,740 nondepressed <\/span>older adults (mean age = 68.12 years), at baseline (2006), for an overall sample size <\/span>of 7,732. Logistic regressions analyzed the relationship between organizational (service <\/span>attendance), nonorganizational (private prayer), and intrinsic measures of religiosity and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>depression onset (in the baseline nondepressed group) and depression recovery (in the <\/span>baseline depressed group) at follow-up (2008), controlling for other baseline factors.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Results:<\/span><\/div>\n
Religiosity was found to both protect against and help individuals recover from\u00a0<\/span>depression. Individuals not depressed at\u00a0baseline remained nondepressed 2 years later\u00a0<\/span><\/span>if they\u00a0frequently attended religious services, whereas those depressed at baseline were <\/span><\/span>less likely to be depressed at follow-up if they more frequently engaged in private prayer.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Implications:<\/span><\/div>\n
Findings suggest that\u00a0both organizational and nonorganizational forms of <\/span><\/span>religiosity affect depression outcomes in different circumstances (i.e., onset and recov<\/span>ery, respectively). Important strategies to prevent and relieve depression among older <\/span>adults may include improving access and transportation to places of worship among <\/span>those interested in attending services and facilitating discussions about religious activi<\/span>ties and beliefs with clinicians.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

James E. Enstrom and Lester Breslow, \u201cLifestyle and reduced mortality among active California Mormons, 1980-2004,\u201d Preventive Medicine<\/em> 46\/2 (March 2008): 133-136:\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The objective is to measure the relationship of several healthy characteristics of the Mormon lifestyle to mortality. We examined 9815 religiously active California Mormon adults followed for mortality during 1980-2004 and 15,832 representative U.S. white adults enrolled in the 1987 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and followed for mortality during 1988-1997. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated relative to U.S. whites defined to have a SMR of 1.00. Active California Mormons practice a healthy lifestyle advocated by their religion, which emphasizes a strong family life, education and abstention from tobacco and alcohol. Unusually low SMRs occurred among married never smokers who attended church weekly and had at least 12 years of education. For those aged 25-99 years at entry, the SMR for all causes of death was 0.45 (0.42-0.48) for males and 0.55 (0.51-0.59) for females. For those aged 25-64 years at entry, the SMR for all causes of death was 0.36 (0.32-0.41) for males and 0.46 (0.40-0.53) for females. Life expectancy from age 25 was 84 years for males and 86 years for females. These SMRs were largely replicated among similarly defined persons of all religions within the NHIS cohort. Several healthy characteristics of the Mormon lifestyle are associated with substantially reduced death rates and increased life expectancy.<\/span><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, while I\u2019m in the area, here is a quartet of articles that I\u2019ve published over the years on the general subject of religiosity and health.\u00a0 I think that there have been others, but these are the ones that I can recall right off the top of my head.\u00a0 As the saying goes, \u201cread \u2019em and weep\u201d:<\/p>\n

Daniel Peterson (2013), \u201cHow religious faith benefits society\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Daniel Peterson (2017):\u00a0 \u201cIs religious faith a mental illness?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Daniel Peterson (2017):\u00a0 \u201cIs religion good for your health?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

William Hamblin and Daniel Peterson (2019): \u201cIs religious faith a disease to be cured?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

:<\/p>\n

Dang.\u00a0 I can\u2019t help myself.\u00a0 I seem to be on a roll.\u00a0 I just can\u2019t quit.\u00a0 Although it isn\u2019t directly relevant to the question of the health benefits associated with religiosity and religious observance, there\u2019s some really chilling additional Hitchens File<\/em> material in this article and in its embedded videos.\u00a0 You should probably be sitting down:\u00a0 \u201cA Look Back at the Church of Jesus Christ in 2022: How leaders and everyday members ministered around the world in 2022\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 But, first, these three new items went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Nibley Lectures: Time Vindicates the Prophets \u2014 \u201cProphets and Ritual\u201d Between 7 March 1954 and 17 October 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of thirty weekly lectures on KSL Radio that were also published as pamphlets. The 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