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The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences Advance Access originally published online on August 12, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2009 64A(12):1283-1289; doi:10.1093/gerona/glp116
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Religious Attendance Reduces Cognitive Decline Among Older Women With High Levels of Depressive Symptoms

Elizabeth A. Corsentino1, Nicole Collins1, Natalie Sachs-Ericsson1 and Dan G. Blazer2

1 Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee
2 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

Address correspondence to Natalie Sachs-Ericsson, PhD, Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306. Email: sachs{at}psy.fsu.edu


  Abstract

Background: There is growing evidence that regular attendance at religious functions is associated with less cognitive decline (CD). However, little research has investigated factors that may moderate the religious attendance–CD relationship. The present study examined the effects of gender and depressive symptoms on the relationship between religious attendance and CD.

Methods: Data were drawn from waves 1 and 2 of the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly, which were 3 years apart. Participants consisted of a sample of community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older (N = 2,938). Linear regression analyses were conducted controlling for important demographic-, socioeconomic-, and health-related variables. Cognitive functioning was assessed at both waves to examine change in errors over time.

Results: Greater religious attendance was related to less CD. In addition, there was a three-way interaction between religious attendance, gender, and depressive symptoms in predicting CD. Among women with higher levels of depressive symptoms, those who less frequently attended religious services experienced greater CD than those who more frequently attended religious services. The interaction between attendance and depressive symptoms in men did not reach significance.

Conclusions: Religious attendance may offer mental stimulation that helps to maintain cognitive functioning in later life, particularly among older depressed women. Given the possible benefits religious attendance may have on cognitive functioning, it may be appropriate in certain instances for clinicians to recommend that clients reengage in religious activities they may have given up as a result of their depression.

Keywords Religion; Depression; Aged; Cognitive decline

Received: May 21, 2009; Accepted: July 11, 2009

Decision Editor: Luigi Ferrucci, MD, PhD


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