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

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.