Association Between Religious Service Attendance and Depression, Anxiety Among Older Amdo Tibetans

IF 2.8 3区医学 Q2 GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Pub Date : 2025-04-14 DOI:10.1002/gps.70076

Liqiong Zhou, Aijie Zhang, Qi Liu, Qianqian Ji, Meijie Ye, Yue Xu, Yasi Zhang, Yaxian Meng, Zhao Hu, Yiqiang Zhan

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Abstract

Objectives

Religious service attendance has previously been associated with greater levels of well-being, as well as milder symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, few studies have explored this association within the Amdo Tibetan population. This study aims to estimate the association between religious service attendance and psychiatric symptoms among older Amdo Tibetans.

Methods

A cross-sectional face-to-face field survey was conducted in the Tibetan Plateau of China, focusing on older Amdo Tibetans from May 21 to July 26, 2023. The study utilized self-reported data on religious service attendance (never, < 1/week, ≥ 1/week) alongside validated scales, including Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression-8 (CESD-8) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), to assess depressive and anxiety symptoms. These instruments demonstrated robust psychometric validity. Generalized linear mixed models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of depression and anxiety associated with religious service attendance, adjusting for potential confounders including sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and medical history.

Results

This study included 538 older Amdo Tibetans, among whom the prevalence of depressive (scores ≥ 3) and anxiety symptoms (scores ≥ 5) was 46.10% and 24.91%, respectively. In the fully adjusted models, compared with those who never attended religious services, participants who attended services at least once per week showed significantly less severe symptoms of depression (OR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.96) and anxiety (OR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.75). Moreover, ≥ 1/week attendees (vs. never-attendees) also had lower levels of depression (OR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.43, 0.96).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that religious service attendance was associated with lower risks of depression and anxiety among older Amdo Tibetans. This highlights the importance of considering religious and spiritual practices as potential factors in promoting mental well-being, particularly within unique cultural and ethnic contexts such as the Amdo Tibetan community.

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安多藏族老年人参加宗教礼拜与抑郁、焦虑的关系

以前，参加宗教仪式与更高水平的幸福感以及较轻的抑郁和焦虑症状有关。然而，很少有研究在安多藏族人口中探索这种联系。本研究旨在评估安多藏族老年人参加宗教服务与精神症状之间的关系。方法于2023年5月21日至7月26日在青藏高原以安多藏族老年人为研究对象，进行横断面面对面实地调查。该研究利用了宗教服务出席情况的自我报告数据(从未，<；1/周，≥1/周)以及有效的量表，包括流行病学研究中心抑郁-8 （csd -8）和广泛性焦虑障碍-7 (GAD-7)，以评估抑郁和焦虑症状。这些工具显示出强大的心理测量效度。使用广义线性混合模型来估计与参加宗教礼拜相关的抑郁和焦虑的比值比（OR），调整潜在的混杂因素，包括社会人口特征、生活方式因素和病史。结果538名安多藏族老年人抑郁（≥3分）和焦虑（≥5分）患病率分别为46.10%和24.91%。在完全调整后的模型中，与从不参加宗教仪式的受试者相比，每周至少参加一次宗教仪式的受试者表现出明显较轻的抑郁（OR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.96）和焦虑（OR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.75）症状。此外，≥1次/周的参与者（与从不参与者相比）也有较低的抑郁水平（OR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.43, 0.96）。结论：我们的研究结果表明，参加宗教礼拜与安多藏族老年人抑郁和焦虑的风险较低有关。这突出了将宗教和精神实践视为促进心理健康的潜在因素的重要性，特别是在安多藏族社区等独特的文化和民族背景下。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

6.10

自引率

2.50%

发文量

168

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： The rapidly increasing world population of aged people has led to a growing need to focus attention on the problems of mental disorder in late life. The aim of the Journal is to communicate the results of original research in the causes, treatment and care of all forms of mental disorder which affect the elderly. The Journal is of interest to psychiatrists, psychologists, social scientists, nurses and others engaged in therapeutic professions, together with general neurobiological researchers. The Journal provides an international perspective on the important issue of geriatric psychiatry, and contributions are published from countries throughout the world. Topics covered include epidemiology of mental disorders in old age, clinical aetiological research, post-mortem pathological and neurochemical studies, treatment trials and evaluation of geriatric psychiatry services.