The Association of Public and Private Religious Involvement With Severity of Depression and Hopelessness in Older Adults Treated for Major Depression

Objective: The authors assessed the association between public and private religious participation and depression as well as hopelessness in older depressed, adults treated in mental health settings. Methods: Data from 130 participants from a posttreatment longitudinal follow-up study of late-life depression were analyzed. Multiple regression analyses were performed to assess the association between public (frequency of church attendance) and private (frequency of prayer/meditation) forms of religious participation and depression as well as hopelessness severity when demographic and health indicators were controlled. Results: Multivariate analyses found significant negative associations between frequency of prayer/meditation and depression (OR = 0.56 [0.36-0.89], Wald chi(2) = 5.93, df = 1) as well as hopelessness (OR = 0.58 [0.36-0.94], Wald chi(2) = 4.97, df = 1) severity. Conclusion: This study supports significant, direct relationships between prayer/meditation and depression as well as hopelessness severity in older adults treated for depression in mental health settings. Prospective studies are needed to further illuminate these relationships. (Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2009; 17:503-507)