The purpose of this study is to see if social support that is exchanged in religious institutions moderates the relationship between stressful life events and cholesterol. The data come from a nationwide survey of adults of all ages (N = 816). Based on data from blood samples, cholesterol was measured by subtracting high-density lipoprotein from total cholesterol. Questions were administered to assess how often study participants provide and receive spiritual support from fellow church members. Spiritual support is assistance that is exchanged with the explicit purpose of increasing the religious beliefs and behaviors of the recipient. Controls were established in the analyses for a number of health behaviors (e.g., exercise), other types of religious involvement (e.g., church attendance), and demographic characteristics (e.g., age, sex, education). The study variables were assessed with ordinary least squares regression procedures. The data suggest that providing spiritual support tends to reduce the magnitude of the relationship between stress and cholesterol. In contrast, similar stress-buffering effects were not observed with the measure of receiving spiritual support at church. The findings contribute to mounting evidence on the relationship between religion and health because they are based on biological measures.

中文翻译：

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压力、宗教参与和胆固醇：给予比接受更好吗？

本研究的目的是看看宗教机构中交换的社会支持是否会调节压力性生活事件与胆固醇之间的关系。数据来自对所有年龄段成年人的全国调查（N = 816）。根据血液样本的数据，通过从总胆固醇中减去高密度脂蛋白来测量胆固醇。问题是用来评估研究参与者提供和接受其他教会成员精神支持的频率。精神上的支持是为了增加接受者的宗教信仰和行为的明确目的而交换的帮助。在分析中建立了对许多健康行为（例如锻炼）、其他类型的宗教参与（例如，教堂出席）和人口统计学特征（例如，年龄、性别、教育）。研究变量用普通最小二乘回归程序进行评估。数据表明，提供精神支持往往会降低压力与胆固醇之间关系的程度。相比之下，在教会接受精神支持的措施中没有观察到类似的压力缓冲效果。这些发现有助于增加关于宗教与健康之间关系的证据，因为它们是基于生物学测量的。