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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Church attendance mediates the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive functioning among older Mexican Americans | | Author(s) | Carlos A Reyes-Ortiz, Ivonne M Berges, Mukaila A Raji |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 63A, no 5, May 2008 |
| Pages | pp 480-486 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Ethnic groups ; Mexico ; Spiritual characteristics [elderly] ; Church services ; Participation ; Depression ; Symptoms ; Mental health [elderly] ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | The objective of this study was to examine how the effect of depressive symptoms on cognitive function is modified by church attendance. The study used a sample of 2759 older Mexican Americans. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at baseline, 2, 5, 7, and 11 years of follow-up. Church attendance was dichotomised as frequent attendance (e.g. going to church at least once a month) versus infrequent attendance (e.g. never or a few times a year). Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; score 16 vs <16). General linear mixed models with time-dependent covariates were used to explore cognitive change at follow-up. In unadjusted models, infrequent church attendees had a greater decline in MMSE scores (drop of 0.151 points more each year, standard error [SE] = 0.02, p <.001) compared to frequent church attendees; participants having CES-D scores 16 also had greater declines in MMSE scores (drop of 0.132 points more each year, SE = 0.03, p <.001), compared to participants with CES-D score <16 at follow-up. In fully adjusted models, a significant Church attendance x CES-D x Time interaction (p =.001) indicated that, among participants with CES-D scores of 16 or more, infrequent church attendees had greater decline in MMSE scores (drop of 0.236 points more each year, SE = 0.05, p <.001) compared to frequent church attendees at follow-up. Church attendance appears to be beneficial for maintaining older people's cognitive function. Church attendance moderates the impact of clinically relevant depressive symptoms on subsequent cognitive function. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-091214206 A |
| Classmark | TK: 7TY: EX: OWM: TMB: ENR: CT: D: 3J: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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