Roth David L, Usher Therri, Clark Eddie M, Holt Cheryl L
Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins University.
Department of Psychology, Saint Louis University.
J Sci Study Relig. 2016 Jun;55(2):417-424. doi: 10.1111/jssr.12269. Epub 2016 Aug 9.
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.
在这项研究中，对290名非裔美国人的全国性样本进行了两次电话访谈，两次访谈间隔约2.5年，分别评估宗教参与度和与健康相关的生活质量。宗教参与度通过一种工具进行评估，该工具既测量个人宗教信仰（例如，与上帝建立个人关系），也测量更公开的宗教行为（例如，参加教堂礼拜）。与健康相关的生活质量采用医学结局研究12项简表第2版（SF - 12v2）进行测量。结构方程模型表明，基线时较高的宗教信仰预示着2.5年后更好的身心健康。基线时较高的宗教行为产生的补充抑制效应较小。基线时SF - 12v2的身心健康指标并不能预测宗教信仰或宗教行为随时间的变化。这些发现表明，对于非裔美国人来说，个人宗教信仰会随着时间推移带来有益的健康影响，而健康方面的个体差异似乎并不能预测宗教参与度的变化。
