Religious Attendance, Psychological Well‐Being, and Mental Health Issues Among Older Adults: A Seven‐Year Longitudinal Study in the United States

OBJECTIVES: Although studies have reported an association between attending religious services and diminished mental health issues, the underlying mechanisms have not been thoroughly explored. Additionally, longitudinal evidence supporting this association is limited. This study aimed to examine whether psychological well-being mediates the longitudinal association between religious attendance and mental health issues. METHODS: A total of 2767 older adults (baseline mean age = 75.02 years, 57.9% female) from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) were included in the analysis. Respondents' religious attendance, psychological well-being, and depressive and anxiety symptoms were measured annually across 7 years. Based on descriptive statistics, a longitudinal mediation analysis within a Bayesian framework was conducted. RESULTS: Results indicated that, controlling for sociodemographic variables and autoregressive effects, attending religious services was significantly and longitudinally associated with improved psychological well-being (β = 0.13, 95% CI: [0.10, 0.17]), which, in turn, significantly predicted subsequent reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms (β = -0.30, 95% CI: [-0.33, -0.28]). On average, psychological well-being accounted for 26.7% of the total effect of religious attendance on mental health issues. CONCLUSIONS: Hence, supporting older adults who wish to attend religious services may be linked to better psychological well-being and mental health.