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Religious Service Attendance in Adolescents is associated with lower levels of C-Reactive Protein, a marker of inflammation

Year: 2022

Type: preprint

Abstract: Meta-analysis in older adults has shown that religious service attendance is associated with lower mortality rates. Elevated systemic inflammation, as denoted by biomarkers such as C-Reactive Protein (CRP), appears to be a potential contributor to this effect. Such health effects appear to be particularly robust in racial and ethnic minority groups. However, comparatively little research has addressed this topic in adolescents. Therefore, we examined the relationship between CRP and measures of religiosity in a group of adolescents (n=231) that were racially diverse (51% Black adolescents). Self-reported religiosity measures were taken during an in-home visit and blood samples were taken during a laboratory visit. Religious service attendance was associated with decreased levels of CRP, an effect that held after adjusting for demographic, health, and medication covariates. There was an association between religious importance and CRP that weakened when adjusting for these same covariates. There was no evidence that these associations were different for different racial groups. In conclusion, despite the changing religious landscape amongst adolescents in the United States, in so far as CRP is a reliable health biomarker, there appear to be health benefits associated with religious service attendance for adolescents

DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/pnza3

Authors: Angela Xie, Bethany Boettner, Kendra Lynn Wilson, Ping Bai, Christopher Browning, Jodi Ford, Baldwin Way

Institution: The Ohio State University

Language: English

Topic: Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Funders: John Templeton Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, Ohio State University, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

Awards: G106402742, G1593252116, The effects of exposure to violence on risk for substance abuse: neural mechanisms and community level moderators, G4422926658, G564367650, G6176340785, G6547808655, Main and stress buffering effects of adolescent religious involvement on longitudinal changes in cortisol: classic and novel religiosity measures, G6949740279, G715451306, G7820408181

OpenAlex ID: W4289109124

Cites: 52

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Related to: 10