| Sumario: | Drawing on nationally representative data from the National Health Interview Survey–Multiple Cause of Death linked file, a study was conducted to model the association of religious attendance and sociodemographic, health, and behavioral correlates with overall and cause-specific mortality. Findings revealed that religious attendance is associated with adult mortality in the U.S. in a graded manner: People who never attend church or religious services showed 1.87 times the risk of death in a follow-up period compared with people who attend more than once a week. This translated into a seven-year difference in life expectancy at age 20 between those who never attend and those who attend more than once a week. It was observed that a portion of the religious attendance effect is due to health selectivity—those not attending are more likely to be unhealthy and, consequently, to die. However, it was found that religious attendance also works through increased social ties and behavioral factors to reduce the risks of death. The direction of the association between attendance and mortality was consistent across causes of death.
|
|---|