Religion as a cross-cultural determinant of depression in elderly Europeans: results from the EURODEP collaboration

Abstract

Background. The protective effects of religion against late life depression may depend on the broader sociocultural environment. This paper examines whether the prevailing religious climate is related to cross-cultural differences of depression in elderly Europeans. Methods. Two approaches were employed, using data from the EURODEP collaboration. First, associations were studied between church-attendance, religious denomination and depression at the syndrome level for six EURODEP study centres (five countries, N l 8398). Secondly, ecological associations were computed by multi-level analysis between national estimates of religious climate, derived from the European Value Survey and depressive symptoms, for the pooled dataset of 13 EURODEP study centres (11 countries, N l 17 739). Results. In the first study, depression rates were lower among regular church-attenders, most prominently among Roman Catholics. In the second study, fewer depressive symptoms were found among the female elderly in countries, generally Roman Catholic, with high rates of regular churchattendance. Higher levels of depressive symptoms were found among the male elderly in Protestant countries. Conclusions. Religious practice is associated with less depression in elderly Europeans, both on the individual and the national level. Religious practice, especially when it is embedded within a traditional value-orientation, may facilitate coping with adversity in later life.

Religion and Depression in South Korea: A Comparison between Buddhism, Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism

“…Church attendance is one of the most widely used measures to evaluate the extent of religious involvement (Behere et al 2013). One European study showed that regular church attendance was negatively associated with the prevalence of depression (Braam et al 2001), which was confirmed by another study demonstrating that more frequent participation in public worship services was associated with a lower level of depression (Hayward et al 2012). Using attendance at religious meetings as an indicator of religious involvement or religiosity, no consistent results surfaced in this study.…”

“…Since religion signifies social/emotional support, cognitive schema, and/or spiritual beliefs (Al-Kandari 2011;Seomun 2010), religion can enhance the capacity of an individual to cope with a variety of stresses arising from adverse life events, such as illness, relationship dissolution, and the death of a close relative (Koenig 2009;McFarland 2010;Park et al 2012a). Thus, religious support can reduce levels of depression and increase life satisfaction (Braam et al 2001;Park et al 2012a). A review on the role of religion in mental health reported that two-thirds of 93 observational studies had discovered significantly lower rates or symptoms of depressive disorders among religious people (Koenig 2009).…”

“…A review on the role of religion in mental health reported that two-thirds of 93 observational studies had discovered significantly lower rates or symptoms of depressive disorders among religious people (Koenig 2009). In particular, empirical studies have documented the protective role of religion in the mental health of the geriatric population (Braam et al 2001;Jung et al 2017). For example, studies revealed that religious involvement, faith, and practice showed beneficial effects on psychological well-being among older adults (O'Connor and Vallerand 1990;Levin and Chatters 1998).…”

“…Over the past decade or so, a growing body of evidence for the relationship between religion and mental health has emerged primarily from Western research (Braam et al 2001;Koenig 2009). However, the context of religion in South Korea differs considerably from that of Western societies (Baker 2006); traditional religions including Shamanism, Confucianism, and Taoism have had an impact on modern Korean religious landscape (Kim 2002a;Kim 2008).…”

“…It was reported that public and private religious practices, including praying, confession, forgiveness, and blessings, could help one to maintain better mental health as these religious practices are known to help participants cope with fears, anxiety, frustration, anomie, despondency, and isolation (Behere et al 2013). Such a religious effect has been especially noticeable in the aging population (Braam et al 2001;McFarland 2010;Hayward et al 2012;Park et al 2012a).…”