Depressed Affect and Dimensions of Religiosity in Family Caregivers of Individuals with Dementia

Religiosity and mood have long been recognized as associated, but some patterns of associations suggest complex relationships. Using a multidimensional measure of religiosity, we explored the possibility that dimensions of religiosity may have (1) different strengths of association and (2) direction...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion and health 2015-08, Vol.54 (4), p.1490-1502
Main Authors: Winter, Laraine, Moriarty, Helene J., Atte, Faith, Gitlin, Laura N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aging
Attitude to Health
Caregivers
Caregivers - psychology
Clinical Psychology
Dementia
Dementia - psychology
Depression - psychology
Families & family life
Female
Humans
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Original Paper
Public Health
Religion
Religion and Psychology
Religious Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Religiosity and mood have long been recognized as associated, but some patterns of associations suggest complex relationships. Using a multidimensional measure of religiosity, we explored the possibility that dimensions of religiosity may have (1) different strengths of association and (2) directions of association with depressed mood. We measured five dimensions of religiosity in 1227 family caregivers of persons with dementia, testing associations of each dimension to caregivers' depressive symptoms. In zero-order associations, higher scores on each religiosity dimension were associated with lower depression. Yet in hierarchical multiple regressions models, adjusting for other religiosity dimensions, different dimensions showed either no independent association, an independent association, or an inverse association with depressed mood. Frequency of prayer reversed directions of association—showing higher depression in caregivers who prayed more. Findings underscore the complex and sometimes bidirectional association between depressed mood and religiosity and argue for recognition of distinct dimensions of religiosity.
ISSN:0022-4197
1573-6571
DOI:10.1007/s10943-015-0033-6