School of Social Welfare, University at Albany, State University of New York, 135 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12222, USA.
Gerontologist. 2012 Oct;52(5):641-9. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnr103. Epub 2011 Oct 19.
The present study tested Smith's (2003. Theorizing religious effects among American adolescents. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 42, 17-30. doi:10.1111/1468-5906.t01-1-00158) theory of religious effects to explore the relationship of religiosity, social support, and life satisfaction among elderly Korean immigrants. The study investigated the mediating role of social support to the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction.
We hypothesized that religiosity would be positively associated with life satisfaction and that the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction would be mediated by social support. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses with a sample of 200 Korean immigrant older adults in New York City (mean age = 72.5, range = 65-89).
We found that greater religiosity was related to greater life satisfaction and that social support partially explained the positive relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction.
Results indicated that religious engagement and social support could be significant factors to improve the quality of life among elderly Korean immigrants. Social services that facilitate religiosity and social support may be beneficial for Korean elders' life satisfaction. Future studies are invited to replicate this study for diverse ethnic groups of elderly immigrants.
本研究旨在检验史密斯（2003 年。美国青少年宗教影响的理论化。宗教科学研究杂志，42，17-30。doi:10.1111/1468-5906.t01-1-00158）的宗教影响理论，探索宗教信仰、社会支持与老年韩国移民生活满意度之间的关系。本研究探讨了社会支持对宗教信仰与生活满意度之间关系的中介作用。
我们假设宗教信仰与生活满意度呈正相关，宗教信仰与生活满意度之间的关系受社会支持的中介作用。采用结构方程模型对来自纽约市的 200 名韩国老年移民（平均年龄=72.5，范围=65-89）进行样本测试。
我们发现，更高的宗教信仰与更高的生活满意度有关，社会支持部分解释了宗教信仰与生活满意度之间的正相关关系。
结果表明，宗教参与和社会支持可能是提高老年韩国移民生活质量的重要因素。促进宗教信仰和社会支持的社会服务可能对韩国老年人的生活满意度有益。邀请未来的研究对不同族裔的老年移民进行这项研究的复制。
