Mitigating depression through spiritual practices: evidence from India's ageing population.
Depression in later life is a growing but often overlooked concern in India. At the same time, religion continues to shape the daily lives of many older adults, offering potential support beyond formal healthcare. This study examines whether spiritual involvement, defined as both belief and regular...
| Published in: | Mental Health, Religion & Culture Vol. 28; no. 8; pp. 752 - 777 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Oct2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195126636&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195126636 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 13674676 36K jtl: Mental Health, Religion & Culture issn: 13674676 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Oct2025 vid: 28 iid: 8 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 195126636 10.1080/13674676.2025.2539219 ppf: 752 ppct: 25 formats: tig: atl: Mitigating depression through spiritual practices: evidence from India's ageing population. aug: au: Debnath, Avijit Paul, Shanku Roy, Dipankar affil: Department of Economics, Assam University, Silchar, India Department of Economics, Government Model Degree College, Borkhola, India su: India Prevention of mental depression Satisfaction Psychological adaptation Spirituality Quality of life Social support Mental depression Social participation Middle age Old age Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Logistic regression analysis Psychology & religion Descriptive statistics Surveys Comparative studies Confidence intervals Data analysis software sug: subj: Prevention of mental depression Satisfaction Psychological adaptation Spirituality Quality of life Social support Mental depression Social participation Middle age Old age India Other Individual and Family Services Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Logistic regression analysis Psychology & religion Descriptive statistics Surveys Comparative studies Confidence intervals Data analysis software keyword: Depression longitudinal ageing study in India propensity score matching religious Depression longitudinal ageing study in India propensity score matching religious ab: Depression in later life is a growing but often overlooked concern in India. At the same time, religion continues to shape the daily lives of many older adults, offering potential support beyond formal healthcare. This study examines whether spiritual involvement, defined as both belief and regular participation, is associated with reduced depressive symptoms among India's ageing population. Using data from the first wave of the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (2017–2018), we focus on individuals identified as "practising believers". To address selection bias, we apply Propensity Score Matching, enabling more credible comparisons between groups. Depression is assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D Scale), adapted for Indian use. The findings indicate that practising believers report significantly fewer depressive symptoms than those with limited or no religious involvement. These results underscore the potential of culturally embedded practices in supporting mental well-being and highlight the relevance of religious institutions in age-sensitive mental health strategies. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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