Clinical Psychology Program, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Am J Psychiatry. 2012 Jan;169(1):89-94. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.10121823. Epub 2011 Aug 24.
Previously the authors found that personal importance of religion or spirituality was associated with a lower risk for major depression in a study of adults with and without a history of depression. Here the authors examine the association of personal importance of religion or spirituality with major depression in the adult offspring of the original sample using a 10-year prospective longitudinal design.
Participants were 114 adult offspring of depressed and nondepressed parents, followed longitudinally. The analysis covers the period from the 10-year to the 20-year follow-up assessments. Diagnosis was assessed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Lifetime Version. Religiosity measures included personal importance of religion or spirituality, frequency of attendance at religious services, and denomination (all participants were Catholic or Protestant). In a logistic regression analysis, major depression at 20 years was used as the outcome measure and the three religiosity variables at 10 years as predictors.
Offspring who reported at year 10 that religion or spirituality was highly important to them had about one-fourth the risk of experiencing major depression between years 10 and 20 compared with other participants. Religious attendance and denomination did not significantly predict this outcome. The effect was most pronounced among offspring at high risk for depression by virtue of having a depressed parent; in this group, those who reported a high importance of religion or spirituality had about one-tenth the risk of experiencing major depression between years 10 and 20 compared with those who did not. The protective effect was found primarily against recurrence rather than onset of depression.
A high self-report rating of the importance of religion or spirituality may have a protective effect against recurrence of depression, particularly in adults with a history of parental depression.
作者之前的研究发现，在一项有或无抑郁史的成年人研究中，个人对宗教或精神的重视与患重度抑郁症的风险较低有关。在这里，作者使用 10 年前瞻性纵向设计，研究了原始样本中成年子女的个人对宗教或精神的重视与重度抑郁症之间的关联。
参与者为 114 名有或无抑郁父母的成年子女，进行了纵向随访。分析涵盖了从 10 年到 20 年的随访评估。使用情感障碍和精神分裂症终身版本的时间表评估诊断。宗教信仰措施包括宗教或精神的个人重要性、参加宗教服务的频率和教派（所有参与者均为天主教或新教）。在逻辑回归分析中，20 岁时的重度抑郁症被用作结局测量，10 岁时的三个宗教信仰变量作为预测因素。
在第 10 年报告宗教或精神对他们非常重要的子女在第 10 年至第 20 年之间经历重度抑郁症的风险约为四分之一。宗教出勤率和教派并没有显著预测这一结果。对于由于父母抑郁而处于高抑郁风险的子女，这种影响最为明显；在这群人中，与那些没有报告宗教或精神高度重视的人相比，在第 10 年至第 20 年之间经历重度抑郁症的风险约为十分之一。保护作用主要针对抑郁的复发而不是发病。
自我报告的宗教或精神重要性评分较高可能对抑郁复发具有保护作用，尤其是在有父母抑郁史的成年人中。
