39 research outputs found

    Religiosity And Major Depression In Adults At High Risk: A Ten-year Prospective Study

    Get PDF
    Objective: Previously the authors found that personal importance of religion or spirituality was associated with a lower risk for major depression in a study of adults with and without a history of depression. Here the authors examine the association of personal importance of religion or spirituality with major depression in the adult offspring of the original sample using a 10-year prospective longitudinal design. Method: Participants were 114 adult offspring of depressed and nondepressed parents, followed longitudinally. The analysis covers the period from the 10-year to the 20-year follow-up assessments. Diagnosis was assessed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia–Lifetime Version. Religiosity measures included personal importance of religion or spirituality, frequency of attendance at religious services, and denomination (all participants were Catholic or Protestant). In a logistic regression analysis, major depression at 20 years was used as the outcome measure and the three religiosity variables at 10 years as predictors. Results: Offspring who reported at year 10 that religion or spirituality was highly important to them had about one-fourth the risk of experiencing major depression between years 10 and 20 compared with other participants. Religious attendance and denomination did not significantly predict this outcome. The effect was most pronounced among offspring at high risk for depression by virtue of having a depressed parent; in this group, those who reported a high importance of religion or spirituality had about one-tenth the risk of experiencing major depression between years 10 and 20 compared with those who did not. The protective effect was found primarily against recurrence rather than onset of depression. Conclusions: A high self-report rating of the importance of religion or spirituality may have a protective effect against recurrence of depression, particularly in adults with a history of parental depression

    Psychiatric Treatment Needs Among the Medically Underserved: A Study of Black and White Primary Care Patients Residing in a Racial Minority Neighborhood

    Get PDF
    Method: A systematic sample of black (n = 345) and white (n = 57) patients from a primary care clinic in a racial minority neighborhood in northern Manhattan, New York, was analyzed. Logistic regression models were utilized to assess the effect of race on psychiatric treatment. The study was conducted during 1998-1999 and 2001-2003. Results: Blacks were less likely than whites to have a lifetime psychiatric disorder (OR = 0.17; 95% Cl, 0.06—0.53). Among patients with a current psychiatric disorder, there were no significant black-white differences in psychiatric treatment (OR = 0.72; 95% Cl, 0.21-2.49). Yet, there were significant and substantial differences among patients without a current psychiatric disorder, with blacks less likely to receive psychiatric treatment than whites (OR = 0.09; 95% Cl, 0.04-0.21). Conclusions: The study findings suggest that neighborhood residence moderates the relationship between race and psychiatric treatment. Black and white primary care patients with a current disorder residing in this racial minority neighborhood had similar rates of psychiatric treatment. Yet, whites, who were the minority in the clinic and the neighborhood from which the clinic draws patients, appear to have more chronic psychiatric problems for which they are receiving treatment. Primary care clinics can serve as a vital tool in addressing the persistent disparities in psychiatric treatment and the psychiatric conditions among whites residing in racial minority neighborhoods

    A Comparison of Three Scales for Assessing Social Functioning in Primary Care

    No full text
    Objective: Assessment of functional status is increasingly important in clinical trials and outcome research. Although several scales for assessing functioning are widely used, they vary in coverage, and direct comparisons among them are rare. Comparative information is useful in guiding selection of appropriate scales for research applications. Method: Results from three scales that measure functioning - the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey, the Social Adjustment Scale Self-Report, and the Social Adaptation Self-Evaluation Scale - were compared in a consecutively selected sample of 211 patients coming to primary care. Patients also received psychiatric assessments. Results: All three scales were acceptable to patients, showed few significant correlations with demographic variables, and were able to differentiate psychiatrically ill and well patients. Correlations among scales, even among scale items that assessed similar domains of functioning, were modest. Conclusions: Although all three scales are presumed to assess functional status, their item content and coverage differ. Selection of a scale requires a review of the scale items and consideration of research priorities and the characteristics of the study group. If functional status is a critical outcome measure, use of more than one scale may be necessary

    Contribution of Religion/spirituality and Major Depressive Disorder to Altruism

    No full text
    Background. In most studies, religiosity and spirituality (R/S) are positively associated with altruism, whereas depression is negatively associated. However, the cross-sectional designs of these studies limit their epidemiological value. We examine the association of R/S and major depressive disorder (MDD) with altruism in a five year longitudinal study nested in a larger prospective study. Methods. Depressed and non-depressed individuals and their first- and second-generation offspring were assessed over several decades. At Year30 after baseline, R/S was measured using participants’ self-report; MDD, by clinical interview. At Year35, participants completed a measure of altruism. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were calculated using multivariate logistic regression; statistical significance, set at p<.05. two-tailed. Results. In the overall sample, both R/S and MDD were significantly associated with altruism, AOR 2.52 (95% CI 1.15-5.49) and AOR 2.43 (95% CI 1.05-5.64), respectively; in the High Risk group alone, the corresponding AORs were 4.69 (95% CI 1.39-15.84) and 4.74 (95% CI 1.92-11.72). Among highly R/S people in the High Risk group, the AOR for MDD with altruism was 22.55 (95% CI 1.23-414.60) p<.04; among the remainder, it was 3.12 (95% CI 0.63-15.30), a substantial but non-significant difference. Limitations. Altruism is based on self-report, not observation, hence, vulnerable to bias. Conclusions. MDD’s positive association with elevated altruism concurs with studies of posttraumatic growth in finding developmental growth from adversity. The conditions that foster MDD’s positive association with altruism and the contribution of R/S to this process requires further study

    Understanding Self-reported Importance Of Religion/spirituality In A North American Sample Of Individuals At Risk For Familial Depression: A Principal Component Analysis

    No full text
    Several studies have shown protective effects between health outcomes and subjective reports of religious/spiritual (R/S) importance, as measured by a single self-report item. In a 3-generation study of individuals at high or low familial risk for depression, R/S importance was found to be protective against depression, as indicated by clinical and neurobiological outcomes. The psychological components underlying these protective effects, however, remain little understood. Hence, to clarify the meaning of answering the R/S importance item, we employed a comprehensive set of validated scales assessing religious beliefs and experiences and exploratory factor analysis to uncover latent R/S constructs that strongly and independently correlated with the single-item measure of R/S importance. A Varimax-rotated principal component analysis (PCA) resulted in a 23-factor solution (Eigenvalue > 1; 71.5% explained variance) with 8 factors that, respectively, accounted for at least 3% of the total variance. The first factor (15.8%) was directly related to the R/S importance item (r = .819), as well as personal relationship with the Divine, forgiveness by God, religious activities, and religious coping, while precluding gratitude, altruism, and social support, among other survey subscales. The corresponding factor scores were greater in older individuals and those at low familial risk. Moreover, Spearman rank-order correlations between the R/S importance item and other subscales revealed relative consistency across generations and risk groups. Taken together, the single R/S importance item constituted a robust measure of what may be generally conceived of as “religious importance,” ranking highest among a diverse latent factor structure of R/S. As this suggests adequate single-item construct validity, it may be adequate for use in health studies lacking the resources for more extensive measures. Nonetheless, given that this single item accounted for only a small fraction of the total survey variance, results based on the item should be interpreted and applied with caution
    corecore