The Perceived Prayers of Others,Stress, and Change in Depressive Symptoms Over Time

The purpose of this study was to see if believing that others are praying for them reduces the noxious effect of living in a rundown neighborhood on change in depressive symptoms among older people. Findings from a longitudinal nationwide survey of older adults reveal that the deleterious effect of living in a dilapidated neighborhood on depressive symptoms is significantly reduced for older individuals who believe others often pray for them. Further analyses suggest that the stress-buffering properties of beliefs about being prayed for by others remain virtually unchanged after emotional support from family members and close friends is taken into account. The findings have potentially important implications for studying church-based prayer groups as well as assessing the ways in which individuals might support each other during difficult times.     

Exploring the Relations Between Parent Depressive Symptoms,Family Religious Involvement,and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: A Test of Moderation

Building on previous research, the current study examined the relations between parent depressive symptoms, family religious involvement, and adolescent depressive symptoms in a convenience sample of 74 parent‐adolescent dyads of southern U.S. families. We used hierarchical regression analysis to explore whether family religious involvement moderated the relations between parent depressive symptoms and adolescent depressive symptoms. Results indicated that family religious involvement did not have a significant moderating effect for adolescent and parent depression. Implications for counseling practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

Gratitude to God,Self‐Rated Health,and Depressive Symptoms

This study has three goals. The first is to see whether the opportunity to engage in volunteer work at church fosters friendships with co‐religionists. The second goal is to see whether the support these friends provide bolsters feelings of gratitude to God. The third goal is to see whether feelings of gratitude to God are associated with health and depressive symptoms. The following linkages in our conceptual model elaborate and extend these objectives: (1) people who go to church more often will be more likely to participate in volunteer work through their congregations; (2) individuals who perform volunteer work at church will have more friends among their co‐religionists; (3) people who have more friends where they worship will report receiving more emotional support from fellow congregants; (4) those who receive more support from co‐religionists will feel more grateful to God; and (5) individuals who are more grateful to God will rate their health in a more favorable manner and experience fewer symptoms of depression. Data from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey provide support for each of these relationships.     

Stress, Religious Coping Resources, and Depressive Symptoms in an Urban Adolescent Sample

We surveyed low-income urban adolescents about their total exposure to urban stressors and their use of religious coping resources, specifically in the areas of social support, spiritual support, and community service opportunities provided by their congregations. Additionally, we assessed their current levels of depressive symptomatology. Among females, the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms was moderated by the use of spiritual support and community service opportunities. The moderating relationship was such that at low levels of stress, high usage of these resources protected against the development of depressive symptoms. At high levels of stress, however, the protective relationship was lost. Lastly, when the social support aspects of religious coping were statistically controlled, the moderation effect disappeared, suggesting that within this sample, the social support seeking aspects of the resources, rather than their religious nature, was responsible for the effects.     

Religious Involvement and Health Over Time: Predictive Effects in a National Sample of African Americans

In this study, two telephone interviews that assessed both religious involvement and health‐related quality of life were conducted approximately 2.5 years apart in a national sample of 290 African Americans. Religious involvement was assessed with an instrument that measured both personal religious beliefs (e.g., having a personal relationship with God) and more public religious behaviors (e.g., attending church services). Health‐related quality of life was measured with version 2 of the Medical Outcomes Study 12‐item short form (SF‐12v2). Structural equation models indicated that higher religious beliefs at baseline predicted better physical and mental health 2.5 years later. Higher religious behaviors at baseline contributed smaller, complementary suppression effects. Physical and mental health indicators from the SF‐12v2 at baseline did not predict changes in either religious beliefs or religious behaviors over time. These findings indicate that, for African Americans, personal religious beliefs lead to beneficial health effects over time, whereas individual differences in health do not appear to predict changes in religious involvement.     

Parental Religious Socialization Practices,Connectedness With Others,and Depressive Symptoms in Late Life

This purpose of this study is to examine two constructs that have been largely overlooked in the study of religious involvement among older people: parental religious socialization practices and feelings of connectedness with others. The data are from an ongoing nationwide survey of older people. Findings from a latent variable model that was designed to examine the two focal constructs provide support for the following relationships: (a) older people whose parents encouraged them to become more involved in religion are more likely to attend worship services, (b) older people whose parents promoted religious involvement and older individuals who attend church more often are more likely to report that they see a fundamental connection among all human beings, (c) older adults who feel more closely connected to others will be more likely to forgive people for the things they have done, and (d) older people who are more forgiving are likely to experience fewer symptoms of depression over time.     

Parental Religious Socialization Practices, Connectedness With Others, and Depressive Symptoms in Late Life

This purpose of this study is to examine two constructs that have been largely overlooked in the study of religious involvement among older people: parental religious socialization practices and feelings of connectedness with others. The data are from an ongoing nationwide survey of older people. Findings from a latent variable model that was designed to examine the two focal constructs provides support for the following relationships:(1) older people whose parents encouraged them to become more involved in religion are more likely to attend worship services; (2) older people whose parents promoted religious involvement and older individuals who attend church more often are more likely to report that they see a fundamental connection among all human beings; (3) older adults who feel more closely connected to others will be more likely to forgive people for the things they have done; and (4) older people who are more forgiving are likely to experience fewer symptoms of depression over time.     

Varieties of Religious Experience:Continuity and Change in Religious Involvement

ABSTRACT The intent of the present study was to determine whether the selective aggregation of background data subgroups could be used to identify and control for differences across persons in the meaning of religious involvement. After background data subgroups had been clustered based on similarity in the variables related to religious involvement, two clusters were identified. One cluster contained individuals whose religious involvement was characterized by a functional, instrumental orientation, while the other was composed of individuals whose religious involvement was characterized by an affective, expressive orientation. Subsequently, causal models intended to describe continuity and change in religious involvement were constructed using individuals assigned to each cluster. It was found that different models were required to describe continuity and change in religious involvement in the instrumental and expressive clusters.     

Religious Coping,Coping Resources,and Depressive Symptoms: Test of a Mediation Model

This study examined the relationships between religious coping, coping resources, and depressive symptoms. The authors tested whether coping resources explained the link between religious coping and depressive symptoms in a sample of 349 college students. Results indicated that coping resources partially mediated the relationship between negative religious coping and depressive symptoms, primarily through decreased social ease. The results offered no evidence that coping resources mediated the relationship between positive religious coping and depressive symptoms.     

Longitudinal Relations Between Depressive Symptoms and Life Satisfaction Over 15 Years

The longitudinal relationships between depressive symptoms and life satisfaction were examined using the random intercept cross-lagged panel model. This model allows the study of the relationship between the two variables both at the within-person and between-person levels. Data were obtained from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS). Analyses were conducted at lags of 3 (N = 8,492) and 6 years (N = 4,878), with data collected over a period of approximately 15 years. At the within-person level, the bidirectional associations between the two variables were significant in the 3-year lag analysis, whereas in the 6-year lag analysis, only life satisfaction predicted future depressive symptoms. An implication is that dissatisfaction with life may signal the possibility of developing depressive symptoms in the future. Increasing life satisfaction may act as a preventive measure against future depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms may also be an indicator of future deterioration in subjective well-being.

     

Sexual Harassers: Behaviors, Motives, and Change Over Time

This research was designed to examine the characteristics of sexual harasser behaviors in 118 published arbitration decisions. A qualitative coding process was used to describe behaviors in terms of their severity, type, duration, and frequency. The interrelationships between these characteristics were examined along with the individual’s record of discipline and past aggression. The results indicate that harassers tended to repeat the same types of behavior, and that severity generally increased over time. Although past discipline for sexual harassment appeared to reduce this escalation, it was not very effective in stopping the behaviors. Perpetrators who had engaged in gender harassment were more likely to have a record of aggressive behaviors. Additional comparisons indicate important differences in the behavior of perpetrators as categorized by type of behavior.     

Perfectionism,Shame, and Depressive Symptoms

The authors examined the relationship between depression, maladaptive perfectionism, and shame. Regression analyses were used to replicate a model in which maladaptive perfectionism was negatively associated with self‐esteem and positively associated with symptoms of depression, with self‐esteem mediating the effects of maladaptive perfectionism on depressive symptoms. Additional models showed that the path from maladaptive perfectionism to depression was partially mediated by shame, although these paths differed for men and women.     

Prayer Beliefs and Change in Life Satisfaction Over Time

A considerable number of studies have focused on the relationship between prayer, health, and well-being. But the influence of some types of prayer (e.g., petitionary prayer) has received more attention than others. The purpose of this study is to examine an overlooked aspect of prayer: trust-based prayer beliefs. People with this orientation believe that God knows that best way to answer a prayer and He selects the best time to provide an answer. Three main findings emerge from data that were provided by a nationwide longitudinal survey of older people reveals. First, the results reveal that Conservative Protestants are more likely to endorse trust-based prayer beliefs. Second, the findings suggest that these prayer beliefs tend to be reinforced through prayer groups and informal support from fellow church members. Third, the data indicate that stronger trust-based prayer beliefs are associated with a greater sense of life satisfaction over time.     

Holocaust Survival Stories: Change Over Time

Those Holocaust survivors who have found it impossible to discuss their experiences often face a bleak old age (Krystal, 1990). Some of those who have reached an audience, however, have been changed by the experience of writing. This paper analyzes the differences between those writers whose stories remain static, like Jerzy Kosinski, and others like Elie Wiesel, Gerda Weissmann Klein, and Aharon Appelfeld, whose accounts have become more complex as they aged.     

Implications of Religious Identity Salience,Religious Involvement,and Religious Commitment on Aggression

Social identity can affect perceptions of external threats and the type of response elicited to those threats. Religion is a social identity with eternal group membership and revered beliefs and values; thus, religious identity salience, religious commitment, and religious involvement may have implications for aggressive responses to perceived threats to a person’s religious identity. In a sample of 176 Christians, Muslims, and Jews, we investigated whether people respond aggressively to collective threat as a function of religious identity salience, religious commitment, and religious involvement. Religious commitment was positively related to anger only when religious identity was salient. Religious involvement was negatively related to anger and hostility only when religious identity was salient. Religious identity salience appears to act as a moderator by either enhancing perceptions of threat or by activating internal religious beliefs and values.     

Choices Chance and Change: Luck Egalitarianism Over Time

The family of theories dubbed ‘luck egalitarianism’ represent an attempt to infuse egalitarian thinking with a concern for personal responsibility, arguing that inequalities are just when they result from, or the extent to which they result from, choice, but are unjust when they result from, or the extent to which they result from, luck. In this essay I argue that luck egalitarians should sometimes seek to limit inequalities, even when they have a fully choice-based pedigree (i.e., result only from the choices of agents). I grant that the broad approach is correct but argue that the temporal standpoint from which we judge whether the person can be held responsible, or the extent to which they can be held responsible, should be radically altered. Instead of asking, as Standard (or Static) Luck Egalitarianism seems to, whether or not, or to what extent, a person was responsible for the choice at the time of choosing, and asking the question of responsibility only once, we should ask whether, or to what extent, they are responsible for the choice at the point at which we are seeking to discover whether, or to what extent, the inequality is just, and so the question of responsibility is not settled but constantly under review. Such an approach will differ from Standard Luck Egalitarianism only if responsibility for a choice is not set in stone—if responsibility can weaken then we should not see the boundary between luck and responsibility within a particular action as static. Drawing on Derek Parfit’s illuminating discussions of personal identity, and contemporary literature on moral responsibility, I suggest there are good reasons to think that responsibility can weaken—that we are not necessarily fully responsible for a choice for ever, even if we were fully responsible at the time of choosing. I call the variant of luck egalitarianism that recognises this shift in temporal standpoint and that responsibility can weaken Dynamic Luck Egalitarianism (DLE). In conclusion I offer a preliminary discussion of what kind of policies DLE would support.     

General Belongingness,Workplace Belongingness,and Depressive Symptoms

Research has shown that a strong relationship exists between belongingness and depressive symptoms; however, the contribution of specific types of belongingness remains unknown. Participants (N=369) completed the sense of belonging instrument, psychological sense of organizational membership, and the depression scale of the depression anxiety stress scales. Factor analysis demonstrated that workplace and general belongingness are distinct constructs. When regressed onto depressive symptoms, these belongingness types made independent contributions, together accounting for 45% of variance, with no moderation effects evident. Hence, general belongingness and specific workplace belongingness appear to have strong additive links to depressive symptoms. These results add support to the belongingness hypothesis and sociometer theory and have significant implication for depression prevention and treatment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Religious Involvement, Psychosocial Resourcefulness, and Health

A stratified randomized sample of 525 middle age (35?C64?years old) men was used to study the relationships between self-reported level of church attendance (CA), self-reported religious faith (SRRF), religious well-being (RWB), existential well-being (EWB), self-actualization (SA), health, lifestyle, and participation in physical activity (PA). Religious measures (RWB, CA, and SRRF) were found to be dependent on psychosocial variables in terms of their relationships with PA, lifestyle, and health. On the other hand, psychosocial resourcefulness (SA, EWB, social support, and stress management) showed independent relationships with lifestyle, PA, and health. These findings indicate that the positive associations of psychological and sociological constructs with health are not related to or dependent upon ego syntonic religious identity.     

Alexithymia,Gender, and Responses to Depressive Symptoms

Sex Roles - Difficulty in labeling and communicating emotions (commonly known as alexithymia) may play a role in how women and men respond to a depressed mood. In the current study, we hypothesized...