Braam A W, Beekman A T, van Tilburg T G, Deeg D J, van Tilburg W
Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 1997 Jul;32(5):284-91. doi: 10.1007/BF00789041.
It has been suggested that religiosity helps prevent depression in older people. This study examines the association between religious involvement and depression in older Dutch citizens and focuses on models of the mechanism in which religious involvement has an impact on other factors related to depression. The subjects were 2,817 older adults aged 55-85 years living in the community who participated in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Religious involvement was assessed using items on frequency of church attendance and strength of church affiliation. Further data were collected on physical health, size of social network, social support, sense of mastery and self-esteem. As in North American studies, religious involvement appeared to be inversely associated with depression, both on symptom and syndrome levels. Controlling for sociodemographics, physical impairment and network support did not substantially affect this association, particularly among subjects aged 75-85 years. The inverse association between religious involvement and depression was not selectively more pronounced among older people with physical impairments. However, the association appeared to be most specific for subjects with a small social network and those with a low sense of mastery.
有人认为宗教信仰有助于预防老年人患抑郁症。本研究考察了荷兰老年公民的宗教参与度与抑郁症之间的关联，并着重探讨宗教参与度对其他与抑郁症相关因素产生影响的机制模型。研究对象为2817名年龄在55至85岁之间、居住在社区且参与了阿姆斯特丹纵向老龄化研究的老年人。使用流行病学研究中心抑郁量表（CES-D）评估抑郁症状。通过参加教堂活动的频率和与教会联系的紧密程度等项目评估宗教参与度。还收集了有关身体健康、社交网络规模、社会支持、掌控感和自尊的进一步数据。与北美研究一样，宗教参与度在症状和综合征层面似乎都与抑郁症呈负相关。在控制了社会人口统计学因素、身体损伤和网络支持后，这种关联并未受到实质性影响，尤其是在75至85岁的研究对象中。宗教参与度与抑郁症之间的负相关在身体有损伤的老年人中并非更显著。然而，这种关联似乎对社交网络较小和掌控感较低的研究对象最为明显。
