Pub Date : 2023-11-09DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2023.2278797
Antonius D. Skipper, Andrew H. Rose, Jayla Head, Alex Reeves
ABSTRACTDisparities in relational stressors highlight the need to understand how older African Americans establish enduring romantic relationships. The current study examined the association between religious-based romantic relationships and communal coping among married and cohabiting older African American couples. Participants were 194 African American couples wherein both partners were at least 50 years of age or older. Participants completed measures assessing religion within their relationship and communal coping, and data were evaluated using the Actor Partner Interdependence Model. Men’s religious-based relational views were associated with their own communal coping and the communal coping of their female partner. Higher levels of religious-based views among men contributed to more frequent experiences of communal coping in their romantic relationship. There were no significant effects between women’s religious-based relational views in association with either women’s or men’s communal coping. Results indicate that men who perceive their romantic relationship as having religious-based significance may be more likely to engage in communal coping and more likely to benefit from their partner’s communal coping. These findings can be used to inform efforts designed to improve the relational bonds within romantic older African American relationships.KEYWORDS: African Americancopingdyadic datareligiositysanctification Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Texas Tech University.
{"title":"Better together: religious-based relationships and communal coping among older African American couples","authors":"Antonius D. Skipper, Andrew H. Rose, Jayla Head, Alex Reeves","doi":"10.1080/15528030.2023.2278797","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2023.2278797","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTDisparities in relational stressors highlight the need to understand how older African Americans establish enduring romantic relationships. The current study examined the association between religious-based romantic relationships and communal coping among married and cohabiting older African American couples. Participants were 194 African American couples wherein both partners were at least 50 years of age or older. Participants completed measures assessing religion within their relationship and communal coping, and data were evaluated using the Actor Partner Interdependence Model. Men’s religious-based relational views were associated with their own communal coping and the communal coping of their female partner. Higher levels of religious-based views among men contributed to more frequent experiences of communal coping in their romantic relationship. There were no significant effects between women’s religious-based relational views in association with either women’s or men’s communal coping. Results indicate that men who perceive their romantic relationship as having religious-based significance may be more likely to engage in communal coping and more likely to benefit from their partner’s communal coping. These findings can be used to inform efforts designed to improve the relational bonds within romantic older African American relationships.KEYWORDS: African Americancopingdyadic datareligiositysanctification Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Texas Tech University.","PeriodicalId":44539,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135242863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-28DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2023.2262406
Laura Upenieks, Christopher G. Ellison, Neal M. Krause
ABSTRACTA significant amount of research to date has been done to study the effects of forgiveness on mental health and well-being, but less research has been conducted on divine forgiveness. The main purpose of the current study is to examine the possible moderating role of divine forgiveness. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of 1,500 older adults, regression results suggest that greater divine forgiveness exacerbated the relationship between high religious doubt and greater depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction. We did not document similar moderation patterns between religious doubt and forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness. Understanding the impact of divine forgiveness for those experiencing uncertainty in their faith is crucial to gaining a more complete picture of religion’s “dark side, and we hope future research continues to pursue these objectives.KEYWORDS: Depressiondivine forgivenesslife satisfactionreligious doubt Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe data that were used in this study are available from the first-listed author upon request.Compliance with Ethical Statement consisting Ethical Approval StatementAll procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.Informed consentAll study participants were required to sign an informed consent statement.Additional informationFundingThis research was support by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation and the United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging (Grant RO1 AG009221).
{"title":"“To err is human, to forgive, divine”: religious doubt, psychological well-being and the moderating role of divine forgiveness","authors":"Laura Upenieks, Christopher G. Ellison, Neal M. Krause","doi":"10.1080/15528030.2023.2262406","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2023.2262406","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTA significant amount of research to date has been done to study the effects of forgiveness on mental health and well-being, but less research has been conducted on divine forgiveness. The main purpose of the current study is to examine the possible moderating role of divine forgiveness. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of 1,500 older adults, regression results suggest that greater divine forgiveness exacerbated the relationship between high religious doubt and greater depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction. We did not document similar moderation patterns between religious doubt and forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness. Understanding the impact of divine forgiveness for those experiencing uncertainty in their faith is crucial to gaining a more complete picture of religion’s “dark side, and we hope future research continues to pursue these objectives.KEYWORDS: Depressiondivine forgivenesslife satisfactionreligious doubt Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe data that were used in this study are available from the first-listed author upon request.Compliance with Ethical Statement consisting Ethical Approval StatementAll procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.Informed consentAll study participants were required to sign an informed consent statement.Additional informationFundingThis research was support by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation and the United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging (Grant RO1 AG009221).","PeriodicalId":44539,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135343933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-20DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2023.2259824
Teddy Andrews Jaihind Jothikaran, Agnes Meershoek, Lena Ashok, Anja Krumeich
Objectives To investigate how the older adults in India use spiritual thoughts and practices in their everyday lives to shape intergenerational care relationships and cope with challenges in such relationships.
目的调查印度老年人如何在日常生活中运用精神思想和实践来塑造代际护理关系,并应对这种关系中的挑战。
{"title":"Role of spiritual experiences in shaping the quality of intergenerational relationships - exploring views of older adults in South India","authors":"Teddy Andrews Jaihind Jothikaran, Agnes Meershoek, Lena Ashok, Anja Krumeich","doi":"10.1080/15528030.2023.2259824","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2023.2259824","url":null,"abstract":"Objectives To investigate how the older adults in India use spiritual thoughts and practices in their everyday lives to shape intergenerational care relationships and cope with challenges in such relationships.","PeriodicalId":44539,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136308904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-13DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2023.2254612
James W. Ellor
{"title":"A word from the editor: teaching religion, spirituality and aging","authors":"James W. Ellor","doi":"10.1080/15528030.2023.2254612","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2023.2254612","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44539,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135734556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-09DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2023.2255981
Mushira Mohsin Khan, Sheetal Shah
{"title":"“We are all spiritual beings on a human journey”: gerotranscendence and generativity in the stories of South Asian American older adults","authors":"Mushira Mohsin Khan, Sheetal Shah","doi":"10.1080/15528030.2023.2255981","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2023.2255981","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44539,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136191881","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-09DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2023.2216634
W. Achenbaum
I led symposia on spirituality and aging last summer at Houston’s Hope and Healing Center and Institute (HHCI), where health professionals deliver mental-health lectures and psycho-social outreach to older persons. Unlike most of the scientific research on late-life wisdom and ripening, I wanted to encourage participants to catch gut feelings that integrated mindfulness, animated heartfelt emotions, and stirred contemplative action in the here and now. Gerontologists, I knew, blazed scientific paths by generating evidence-based reports in the context of positive and productive aging, and/or healthful, successful Saging. As I engaged with HHCI program directors and various audiences of older individuals, however, I discerned that many insights and shadows ascribed to conscious and spiritual aging spiraled into a third component of individuation: with advancing years arose an uncharted, albeit growing and deepening sense of soulful aging along with increasing frailty and intimations of finitude. I wondered whether mapping out the borders and boundaries of “soulful aging” merited further reflections – but not mine alone. Investigating the topic required collaborative assessments by peers willing to risk expressing conscious, inward reflections. I proposed to Jim Ellor, the general editor of the Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Aging, that we design a special issue on the topic. Three colleagues – Tom Cole, Heike Hartung, and Roberta Maierhofer – helped generate a list of three dozen possible contributors. What follows in this special issue is the first wave of responses.
{"title":"A word from the guest editor: A special issue on soulful aging","authors":"W. Achenbaum","doi":"10.1080/15528030.2023.2216634","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2023.2216634","url":null,"abstract":"I led symposia on spirituality and aging last summer at Houston’s Hope and Healing Center and Institute (HHCI), where health professionals deliver mental-health lectures and psycho-social outreach to older persons. Unlike most of the scientific research on late-life wisdom and ripening, I wanted to encourage participants to catch gut feelings that integrated mindfulness, animated heartfelt emotions, and stirred contemplative action in the here and now. Gerontologists, I knew, blazed scientific paths by generating evidence-based reports in the context of positive and productive aging, and/or healthful, successful Saging. As I engaged with HHCI program directors and various audiences of older individuals, however, I discerned that many insights and shadows ascribed to conscious and spiritual aging spiraled into a third component of individuation: with advancing years arose an uncharted, albeit growing and deepening sense of soulful aging along with increasing frailty and intimations of finitude. I wondered whether mapping out the borders and boundaries of “soulful aging” merited further reflections – but not mine alone. Investigating the topic required collaborative assessments by peers willing to risk expressing conscious, inward reflections. I proposed to Jim Ellor, the general editor of the Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Aging, that we design a special issue on the topic. Three colleagues – Tom Cole, Heike Hartung, and Roberta Maierhofer – helped generate a list of three dozen possible contributors. What follows in this special issue is the first wave of responses.","PeriodicalId":44539,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80097053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-09DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2023.2216633
J. Ellor
Soulful Aging offers an opportunity to explore philosophy/theology’s perspectives the way we grow older. This issue is different from many of those found in this journal for two reasons. First, many of the authors in this issue are themselves older, thus they are speaking with an aging heart of their own. Second, this is philosophy/theology, it is not evidence based. This volume reflects older professionals speaking from the heart. I commend this to your reading.
{"title":"A Word from the Editor","authors":"J. Ellor","doi":"10.1080/15528030.2023.2216633","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2023.2216633","url":null,"abstract":"Soulful Aging offers an opportunity to explore philosophy/theology’s perspectives the way we grow older. This issue is different from many of those found in this journal for two reasons. First, many of the authors in this issue are themselves older, thus they are speaking with an aging heart of their own. Second, this is philosophy/theology, it is not evidence based. This volume reflects older professionals speaking from the heart. I commend this to your reading.","PeriodicalId":44539,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76962878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-02DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2023.2219907
Jon G. Allen
ABSTRACT The author protests lofty criteria for soulful aging, basing his argument on the centrality of hope, defined as maintaining the balance between presumption and despair. Lofty criteria are presumptuous and a sense of failure to meet them can promote despair. Hope is predicated on reasonable expectations, and challenges inherent in aging call for discerning expectations. One might hope for a “good-enough” life of aging, a criterion that provides ample latitude.
{"title":"I am not aging soulfully","authors":"Jon G. Allen","doi":"10.1080/15528030.2023.2219907","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2023.2219907","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The author protests lofty criteria for soulful aging, basing his argument on the centrality of hope, defined as maintaining the balance between presumption and despair. Lofty criteria are presumptuous and a sense of failure to meet them can promote despair. Hope is predicated on reasonable expectations, and challenges inherent in aging call for discerning expectations. One might hope for a “good-enough” life of aging, a criterion that provides ample latitude.","PeriodicalId":44539,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91078839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-30DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2023.2216157
Giuliana Casanova, Idalina Machado, Sara Melo
ABSTRACTThis study explores the relationship between spirituality and successful aging in older adults in Portugal. The sample includes 58 participants aged 65 to 89. The findings reveal high levels of spirituality and psychological well-being. There is a significant correlation between spiritual beliefs and hope/optimism, indicating the positive influence of spirituality on emotional well-being. Additionally, spirituality is positively associated with autonomy, highlighting its role in fostering independence in later life. The thematic analysis identifies key themes, including participants´ connection to a higher power, personal well-being, and the lifelong importance of spirituality. These findings emphasize spirituality as a coping mechanism and a source of purpose and meaning in the later stages of life.KEYWORDS: Agingolder adultsreligiosityspiritualitysubjective well-being AcknowledgmentsThis article draws from the work conducted by the first author within a master thesis in Social Gerontology at the Higher Institute of Social Service of PortoDisclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
{"title":"The role of spirituality in later life: a study of older adult university students in Portugal","authors":"Giuliana Casanova, Idalina Machado, Sara Melo","doi":"10.1080/15528030.2023.2216157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2023.2216157","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTThis study explores the relationship between spirituality and successful aging in older adults in Portugal. The sample includes 58 participants aged 65 to 89. The findings reveal high levels of spirituality and psychological well-being. There is a significant correlation between spiritual beliefs and hope/optimism, indicating the positive influence of spirituality on emotional well-being. Additionally, spirituality is positively associated with autonomy, highlighting its role in fostering independence in later life. The thematic analysis identifies key themes, including participants´ connection to a higher power, personal well-being, and the lifelong importance of spirituality. These findings emphasize spirituality as a coping mechanism and a source of purpose and meaning in the later stages of life.KEYWORDS: Agingolder adultsreligiosityspiritualitysubjective well-being AcknowledgmentsThis article draws from the work conducted by the first author within a master thesis in Social Gerontology at the Higher Institute of Social Service of PortoDisclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).","PeriodicalId":44539,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135643722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-04DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2023.2206677
Sarah Robinson Flick
ABSTRACT This essay explores the impact of inevitable uncertainty during the aging process and explores the effects of uncertainty on our spiritual experience during our elder years. It offers the role of touchstones as reminders of all that we have loved and posits that as long as we have breath, our deepest desires enfold us in our own spiritual growth. By deepening and broadening our understanding of desire, we can experience our individual spiritual growth as the product of love and compassion.
{"title":"In the twinkling of an eye","authors":"Sarah Robinson Flick","doi":"10.1080/15528030.2023.2206677","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2023.2206677","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This essay explores the impact of inevitable uncertainty during the aging process and explores the effects of uncertainty on our spiritual experience during our elder years. It offers the role of touchstones as reminders of all that we have loved and posits that as long as we have breath, our deepest desires enfold us in our own spiritual growth. By deepening and broadening our understanding of desire, we can experience our individual spiritual growth as the product of love and compassion.","PeriodicalId":44539,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87439383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}