TY - JOUR T1 - Is Secularization an Age-Related Process? JF - The International Journal of Aging and Human Development Y1 - 2022 A1 - Idler, Ellen KW - Religion KW - secularization KW - Social Support AB -

Secularization has been studied for decades by sociologists of religion. Long-running surveys in the United States and Europe show steady generational decline in religious affiliation and participation, and yet this trend has largely been ignored by gerontologists and life course researchers. We examined data from the Health and Retirement Study, hypothesizing between-cohort declines in religious participation. Based on data from a sample stratified by 10-year birth cohorts, we identified variation in patterns of religious involvement from 2004 to 2016. Measures of attending religious services, feeling religion is very important, and having good friends in the congregation show age-graded patterns; older cohorts have a higher level of religiosity than those following them, with only minor exceptions. For all three measures, differences by cohort within waves of data are statistically significant. We confirm, with longitudinal data, the findings of repeated cross-sectional surveys in the United States showing a generational pattern of decline in religiousness. The consequences of this loss of a common social tie for future older cohorts are unknown, since current older cohorts still maintain a high level of religious participation. However, future generations of older adults are likely to be less familiar with social support from religious institutions, and those institutions may be less available to provide such support as the apparently inexorable processes of secularization continue.

VL - 94 IS - 1 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34459225?dopt=Abstract ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Equal Protection? Differential Effects of Religious Attendance on Black-White Older Adult Mortality JF - Innovation in Aging Y1 - 2020 A1 - Idler, Ellen KW - Blacks KW - Mortality KW - Religion AB - Social determinants of later life population health are “the circumstances in which we are born, grow up, live, work, and age” usually identified as power and status determinants: income, wealth, and education. Although rarely considered a social determinant of health, religious social ties are a familiar “circumstance” for many older persons, and there is considerable evidence linking religious attendance to all-cause mortality. There are race differences in both religiosity and mortality patterns: Black Americans show higher levels of both religious attendance and mortality compared with white Americans. This raises the question of equal protection of religious attendance: Is the protective effect of religious attendance on mortality weaker, stronger, or the same for whites and African Americans? The analysis employs 10-year longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study, 2004-2014 (N=18,346). In stratified models, after adjustment for sociodemographic factors and health, African Americans have a hazard ratio (HR) for frequent attendance at services that is more protective than for whites: .48 (95%CI: .35, .67) compared with .61 (95%CI: .53, .70). Health behaviors mediate 19% of the effect for blacks and 26% for whites; other social ties mediate 12.5% of the effect for blacks and 7% for whites. An interaction test shows a more protective effect of frequent attendance for blacks compared with whites (p<.000). Religious attendance may be more beneficial for African Americans who are multiply disadvantaged with respect to other social determinants of health. The mediation patterns also suggest that the mechanisms of effect for blacks and whites may differ. VL - 4 SN - 2399-5300 IS - Suppl 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Religion and Aging in a Context of Secularization JF - Innovation in Aging Y1 - 2020 A1 - Idler, Ellen KW - Aging KW - Religion KW - secularization AB - Religion and aging has been a persistent topic of interest to gerontologists, notably Vern Bengtson over his long career. It is increasingly obvious that this research has taken place against a decades-long backdrop of declining religious attendance, with each successive cohort showing lower levels of participation. 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 patterns of religious involvement during the period 2004-2014 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. Patterns for other measures of religious involvement are less dramatic but similar in direction. Lower levels of religious participation in younger cohorts imply a smaller proportion for whom these protective social ties are available. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Religion, Spirituality and Aging Interest Group. VL - 4 SN - 2399-5300 IS - Suppl 1 ER - TY - CHAP T1 - Religion and health in the US context of secularization and aging T2 - New Dimensions in Spirituality, Religion, and Aging Y1 - 2018 A1 - Vern L. Bengtson A1 - Idler, Ellen KW - Cognition & Reasoning KW - Health Conditions and Status KW - Religion AB - Trends in US religious observance increasingly show lower levels of religious affiliation and participation among younger Americans. Although older persons may have higher levels of religiosity, they also experience health problems that may limit participation. In this chapter, I analyze data from the Health and Retirement Study, which shows the expected pattern of increasing importance of religion by age group, a dimension of religious participation that would not be affected by poor health. Attendance at services weekly is also lowest for those aged 24-49 and highest for those aged 75-89, while just slightly less for those aged 90+. Further, I find that age is positively associated with both attendance and the importance of religion even when an extensive number of health status measures are controlled. Older persons with poor physical health do not show lower levels of attendance but attendance is strongly associated with poor mental health. The implications of the argument in this chapter are that increasing secularization of younger cohorts of Americans may deprive them of a social resource that is more widely available to current churchgoers. JF - New Dimensions in Spirituality, Religion, and Aging PB - Routledge CY - Abington UR - https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429463891 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Religion, a social determinant of mortality? A 10-year follow-up of the Health and Retirement Study JF - PLOS ONE Y1 - 2017 A1 - Idler, Ellen A1 - Blevins, John A1 - Kiser, Mimi A1 - Hogue, Carol ED - Anglewicz, Philip KW - Gender Differences KW - Mortality KW - Racial/ethnic differences KW - Religion AB - The social determinants of health framework has brought a recognition of the primary importance of social forces in determining population health. Research using this framework to understand the health and mortality impact of social, economic, and political conditions, however, has rarely included religious institutions and ties. We investigate a well-measured set of social and economic determinants along with several measures of religious participation as predictors of adult mortality. Respondents (N = 18,370) aged 50 and older to the Health and Retirement Study were interviewed in 2004 and followed for all-cause mortality to 2014. Exposure variables were religious attendance, importance, and affiliation. Other social determinants of health included gender, race/ethnicity, education, household income, and net worth measured at baseline. Confounders included physical and mental health. Health behaviors and social ties were included as potential explanatory variables. Cox proportional hazards regressions were adjusted for complex sample design. After adjustment for confounders, attendance at religious services had a dose-response relationship with mortality, such that respondents who attended frequently had a 40% lower hazard of mortality (HR = 0.60, 95% CI 0.53–0.68) compared with those who never attended. Those for whom religion was “very important” had a 4% higher hazard (HR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.07); religious affiliation was not associated with risk of mortality. Higher income and net worth were associated with a reduced hazard of mortality as were female gender, Latino ethnicity, and native birth. Religious participation is multi-faceted and shows both lower and higher hazards of mortality in an adult US sample in the context of a comprehensive set of other social and economic determinants of health. VL - 12 IS - 12 JO - PLoS ONE ER -