Religious attendance is a protective factor against all-cause mortality in numerous studies of middle-aged and older populations. Multilevel studies have shown that the protectiveness of religious participation is greater in more religious contexts. These studies appear against a decades-long backdrop of declining religious attendance, with each successive cohort showing lower levels of participation. Is the protective effect of religious participation similar for different US cohorts? Or will younger cohorts show a lessened level of protective effect compared with earlier generations. Data come from the Health and Retirement Study, a representative sample of the noninstitutionalized US population (N=20,091), ages 24–107. We examined the odds of mortality during the period 2004–2014 for four levels of religious attendance, stratified by five age groups, 24–49, 50–64, 65–74, 75–89, 90+. Attending religious services has an age-graded pattern; each older cohort has a higher level of religiosity than the one following it, with the exception of those 90+. The association of attendance with mortality shows the expected pattern, with stronger protective effects for each older cohort even when demographics and SES are adjusted. However, when 2004 health status is adjusted, the differences largely disappear, making the effect of religious attendance roughly equivalent for those of all ages (AORs = .45 - .56), suggesting a reverse causal effect of poor health at baseline that diminishes participation. Significant protective effects appear to be robust for all age groups (except 90+), but the lower levels of participation in younger cohorts implies a smaller proportion covered by the protective effect.
展开▼
