Citation

Krause N, Liang J, Shaw BA, Sugisawa H, Kim HK, Sugihara Y. J. Gerontol. B Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci. 2002; 57(2): S96-S107.

Affiliation

School of Public Health and Institute of Gerontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-2029, USA. nkrause@umich.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Gerontological Society of America, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11867670

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To see whether three dimensions of religion (private religious practices, religious coping, and belief in the afterlife) buffer the effect of the death of a significant other on change in self-reported hypertension over time. METHODS: Interviews were conducted with a nationally representative sample of people aged 60 and older in Japan at two points in time, 1996 and 1999. Complete data were available on 1,723 older Japanese. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their religious beliefs and practices, whether a family member or close friend had died in the past year, and whether they had hypertension. RESULTS: The data suggest that older adults in Japan who experienced the death of a loved one but who believed in a good afterlife were less likely to report they had hypertension at the follow-up interview than elderly people in Japan who lost a close other but did not believe in a good afterlife. DISCUSSION: The results suggest how one overlooked dimension of religion (i.e., religious beliefs) may bolster the health of older people in the face of adversity.

Language: en