Department of Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA.
Ann Behav Med. 2018 Oct 22;52(11):930-940. doi: 10.1093/abm/kax066.
Hypertension is a major public health concern, given prevalence and morbidity. Among the general population, greater religious attendance is associated with lower blood pressure (BP). However, no known studies have examined the association between religious attendance and BP among sexual minorities.
To examine the association between BP/hypertension and organizational religious activity as a function of sexual orientation.
Data were utilized from Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a publicly available, U.S. nationally representative data set. Of the 4,874 individuals included in analyses, 366 participants were identified as a sexual minority. An organizational religious activity variable was created by summing responses of two separate items. BP was measured as systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Increasing levels of clinical severity of hypertension were also examined. Relevant covariates were controlled for in two separate models. Significant interactions between religious attendance and sexual orientation were explored in simple slope analyses.
Overall, results indicated that sexual orientation moderated the association between organizational religious activity, and BP/hypertension. Crossover interactions were present for the dependent variables SBP, DBP, and prehypertension and higher (prehypertension, and hypertension 1 and 2). Generally, a negative association between organizational religious activity and hypertension was revealed among the heterosexual group, whereas a positive association was found among the sexual minority group.
Organizational religious activity is differentially associated with BP/hypertension among sexual minority versus heterosexual individuals. Organizational religious activity may represent a risk factor for hypertension among sexual minority individuals.
高血压是一个主要的公共卫生关注点，因为它的普遍性和发病率。在一般人群中，更多的宗教参与与较低的血压（BP）有关。然而，目前还没有研究调查宗教参与与性少数群体的血压之间的关系。
研究组织宗教活动与血压/高血压之间的关系，以及性取向的作用。
数据来自国家青少年成人健康纵向研究的第四波（Add Health），这是一个公开的、美国全国代表性的数据集。在包括在分析中的 4874 个人中，有 366 人被确定为性少数群体。组织宗教活动变量是通过对两个单独项目的回答进行求和而创建的。血压测量为收缩压（SBP）和舒张压（DBP）。还检查了高血压临床严重程度的增加水平。在两个单独的模型中控制了相关的协变量。在简单斜率分析中探索了宗教参与与性取向之间的显著交互作用。
总的来说，结果表明性取向调节了组织宗教活动与 BP/高血压之间的关系。对于 SBP、DBP 和前期高血压以及更高水平的高血压（前期高血压、高血压 1 和 2），存在交叉交互作用。一般来说，在异性恋群体中，组织宗教活动与高血压之间呈负相关，而在性少数群体中则呈正相关。
组织宗教活动与性少数群体与异性恋个体的 BP/高血压之间存在差异相关。组织宗教活动可能是性少数群体高血压的一个风险因素。
