ABSTRACT

Although numerous studies suggest that religious involvement is associated with better health and longer life expectancies, it is unclear whether these general patterns extend to cellular aging. The mechanisms linking indicators of religious involvement with indicators of cellular aging are also undefined. We employed longitudinal data from the 2004 and 2008 Health and Retirement Study, a national probability sample of Americans aged 50 and older, to test whether average telomere length varied according to level of religious attendance. We also tested several potential mechanisms. Our results showed that respondents who attended religious services more frequently in 2004 also exhibited fewer stressful events, lower rates of smoking, fewer symptoms of depression, and lower levels of C-reactive protein in 2008. Respondents who increased their level of attendance from 2004 to 2008 also exhibited lower rates of smoking in 2008. Although religious attendance was not directly associated with telomere length, our mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects through depression and smoking, but not stressful events or C-reactive protein. We conclude that religious attendance may promote telomere length indirectly by reducing symptoms of depression and the risk of smoking. There was no evidence to support stressful events or C-reactive protein as mechanisms of religious attendance.

抽象的

尽管大量研究表明，宗教参与与更好的健康状况和更长的预期寿命相关，但尚不清楚这些一般模式是否会扩展到细胞衰老。将宗教参与指标与细胞衰老指标联系起来的机制也不确定。我们采用了2004年和2008年的《健康与退休研究》（美国50岁及以上美国人的全国性概率样本）的纵向数据，来检验端粒的平均长度是否随宗教出席水平的变化而变化。我们还测试了几种潜在的机制。我们的结果表明，在2008年参加宗教仪式的受访者在2008年的压力事件减少，吸烟率降低，抑郁症状减少，C反应蛋白水平降低。从2004年到2008年，出席率提高的受访者在2008年的吸烟率也较低。尽管宗教出席率与端粒长度没有直接关系，但我们的中介分析显示，抑郁症和吸烟会产生显着的间接影响，但压力事件或C-反应蛋白。我们得出的结论是，参加宗教活动可以通过减少抑郁症的症状和吸烟的风险来间接提高端粒的长度。没有证据支持紧张事件或C反应蛋白作为宗教出席的机制。但不是压力事件或C反应蛋白。我们得出的结论是，参加宗教活动可以通过减少抑郁症的症状和吸烟的风险来间接提高端粒的长度。没有证据支持紧张事件或C反应蛋白作为宗教出席的机制。但不是压力事件或C反应蛋白。我们得出的结论是，参加宗教活动可以通过减少抑郁症的症状和吸烟的风险来间接提高端粒的长度。没有证据支持紧张事件或C反应蛋白作为宗教出席的机制。