Research: “Religiosity” and Depression

Harold Koening, Linda George and Bercedis Peterson’s article “Religiosity and Remission of Depression in Medically Ill older patients” published in the American Journal of Psychiatry (155.4, 1998) was one of the first studies that used religiosity to predict outcome in depressive illness. Their abstract follows:

Objective: The effects of religious belief and activity on remission of depression were examined in medically ill hospitalized older patients. Method: Consecutive patients aged 60 years or over who had been admitted to medical inpatient services at a university medical center were screened for depressive symptoms. Of 111 patients scoring 16 or higher on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, 94 were diagnosed with depressive disorder (DSM-III major depression or subsyndromal depression) by a psychiatrist using a structured psychiatric interview. After hospital discharge, depressed patients were followed up by telephone at 12-week intervals four times. At each follow-up contact, criterion symptoms were reassessed, and changes in each symptom over the interval since last contact were determined. The median follow-up time for 87 depressed patients was 47 weeks. Religious variables were examined as predictors of time to remission by means of a multivariate Cox model, with controls for demographic, physical health, psychosocial, and treatment factors. Results: During the follow-up period, 47 patients (54.0%) had remissions; the median time to remission was 30 weeks. Intrinsic religiosity was significantly and independently related to time to remission, but church attendance and private religious activities were not. Depressed patients with higher intrinsic religiosity scores had more rapid remissions than patients with lower scores. Conclusions: In this study, greater intrinsic religiosity independently predicted shorter time to remission. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report in which religiosity has been examined as a predictor of outcome of depressive disorder.

The problem here is the exact definition of “Religiosity”. The mechanism they use meets statistical testing,  but “intrinsic religiosity” is measured using 10-question proforma about religious beliefs, activities and experiences. Christian and Jewish minister were asked to select what responses they thought an intrinsically religious person would hold. I’m not entirely comfortable with this means of assessing religiosity/spirituality, nor am I comfortable with subjecting religious belief to quantiative analysis, although I can see it’s necessary.

However, unsurprisingly, Intrinsic religiosity (i.e. some spiritual life, belief and activities) was linked to good outcomes for depressive illness. Perhaps more surprisingly, Church attendance wasn’t.

Historic Article: St Paul on Depression

Back in 1967 Mark Altschule reflected in the British Journal of Psychiatry on St Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians 7:10 in relation to the classification of depression.

His article is available online here, part of it for free.

Interesting Forthcoming Research: Psalms and Death and Dying

Dr Daniel R Driver, sometime postgraduate student of St Mary’s College St Andrews and currently Assistant Professor of Religion Studies at Tyndale University College, has some interesting research planned:

Biblical scholars have long noted the disconnect between the finality of death in the Hebrew Bible and traditional Jewish and Christian doctrines of an afterlife. Developmental explanations have won broad support. A neglected aspect of the problem, however, is the way in which the Hebrew Scriptures themselves supported later belief in life’s triumph over death. By tracing the reception history (Wirkungsgeschichte) of a series of key psalms—for the Psalter is where we find the most extreme statements of death’s overwhelming power (e.g., Psalms 6, 18, 22, 30, 88, 116)—this monograph-length study will contribute to an understanding of how a late biblical idea was retrospectively transferred to, or read from, older language. 

Aside from being extremely interesting of itself, I am convinced Dr Drivers’ research will be useful to ministers engaged in care of the dying and the bereaved who seek to employ the Psalter, and for the pastoral care of nurses and other healthcare professionals, who are confronted with the reality of death and dying in their daily work.