Religion and Adult Mortality: Group- and Individual-Level Perspectives

  • Idler E
N/ACitations
Citations of this article
23Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.
Get full text

Abstract

Modern epidemiological studies of religion and all-cause or cause-specific mortality are reviewed to better understand the patterns of association and potential mechanisms by which religion could affect health and survival. Two distinct groups of studies are found: those that compare rates for mortality of a homogeneous religious affiliation group with that of a standard regional, state, or national population (group-level data), and those that assess individual risk related to religious attendance in observational cohort studies (individual-level data). The associations of religion with reductions in all-cause mortality are stronger in the group-level data than in the individual-level data, primarily because individual-level data permit the inclusion of intervening or mediating variables such as smoking and diet. This chapter discusses the importance of the regulating, behavior-constraining effect of religious affiliation, with particular attention to gender differences in religion and health.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Idler, E. L. (2011). Religion and Adult Mortality: Group- and Individual-Level Perspectives (pp. 345–377). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9996-9_17

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free