Mental Health, Religiosity, and Older Adults (HERO)

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cross-sectional evidence of a positive relationship between religiosity (i.e., religious attendance, beliefs, behaviors, and spiritual feelings) and mental health has been well documented in the literature to date. Although a variety of mechanisms have been discussed, few empirical evaluations of these relationships exist. Moreover, the research literature to date suffers from methodological shortcomings. Previous research has implicated social cognitive factors (i.e., social support and perceptions of control or self-efficacy) as potential mediators of a relationship between religiosity and mental health. Much of our work in recent years has supported a social cognitive model of the relationship between physical activity and well-being, and religiosity is hypothesized to affect mental health and global quality of life along similar pathways. In the course of my dissertation research, I hope to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms underlying a relationship between multidimensional religiosity and mental health outcomes by conducing a large-scale cross-sectional study of these constructs among older adults. This will involve employing a latent variable framework to test these relationships using structural equation modeling procedures. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]