scholarly journals Religion and Disability: Variation in Religious Service Attendance Rates for Children with Chronic Health Conditions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew L Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
Religious Involvement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chronic Health Conditions ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Attendance Rates ◽  
Religious Service ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
Chronic Health ◽  
Worship Services ◽  
Service Attendance

Prior research consistently demonstrates greater religious involvement is associated with improved health outcomes for those with chronic health conditions. Fewer studies focus on how chronic health conditions influence religious service attendance rates and most focus on older Americans. Using three waves of a nationally representative sample of children in the United States, I test whether children with a chronic health condition never attend religious worship services at rates significantly higher than children without a condition. I also investigate variation in attendance rates across a broad range of conditions, something previously overlooked. Children with chronic health conditions are more likely to never attend religious worship services. Specifically, children with chronic health conditions that impede communication and social interaction are most likely to never attend. Despite shifts in prevalence these findings are stable over time. Implications for researchers, religious communities, families with children with chronic health conditions, and healthcare providers are discussed.

scholarly journals Christian Nationalism and Views of Immigrants in the United States: Is the Relationship Stronger for the Religiously Inactive?

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312098511
Author(s):  
Samuel Stroope ◽  
Heather M. Rackin ◽  
Paul Froese
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Nationalism ◽  
Religious Service ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Christian Nationalism ◽  
Service Attendance

Previous research has shown that Christian nationalism is linked to nativism and immigrant animus, while religious service attendance is associated with pro-immigrant views. The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between religious ideologies and practices when considering how religion affects politics. Using a national sample of U.S. adults, we analyze immigrant views by measuring levels of agreement or disagreement that undocumented immigrants from Mexico are “mostly dangerous criminals.” We find that Christian nationalism is inversely related to pro-immigrant views for both the religiously active and inactive. However, strongly pro-immigrant views are less likely and anti-immigrant views are more likely among strong Christian nationalists who are religiously inactive compared with strong Christian nationalists who are religiously active. These results illustrate how religious nationalism can weaken tolerance and heighten intolerance most noticeably when untethered from religious communities.

scholarly journals IS BEING A PREMATURE OR HAVING ABNORMAL BIRTH WEIGHT ASSOCIATED WITH DEPRESSION AMONG 6 - 17 YEARS OLD U.S. CHILDREN?

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. e51-e51
Author(s):  
Abdulaziz Bahassan ◽  
Colin Depp
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Birth Weight ◽  
Low Birth Weight ◽  
Very Low Birth Weight ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chronic Health Conditions ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Chronic Health ◽  
History Of

Abstract BACKGROUND Reports in 2015 showed that premature birth rate in the United States increased when compared to 2014 data, and this was the first increment since 2007. Major complications of prematurity and birth weight abnormalities are well known, but other complications including mental health abnormalities require more investigation to understand their association well. OBJECTIVES We aimed in this study to determine if prematurity and birth weight abnormalities including very low birth weight (VLBW) and low birth weight (LBW) are associated with depression among United States children aged between six and seventeen years old. ​ DESIGN/METHODS This is a cross sectional study using data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) 2011–2012. When we applied our selection criteria, 84,182 children out of the total 95,677 NSCH population were selected. Our exclusion criteria were: age less than six years, child’s history of cerebral palsy, and mental retardation. Multivariable logistic regression was done to control for confounding effects when studying the association of prematurity, birth weight abnormalities and depression. ​ RESULTS Our results reveal that 3.6% of our population had history of depression, 11% were born prematurely, 7.4% had low birth weight, and 1.5% had very low birth weight. Depression was more frequent in children who were born prematurely (prevalence 4.3%) when compared to children born at term. Different models were built to analyze the association between prematurity, birth weight abnormalities and depression. There was no detectable statistically significant association when controlling for demographic data (age, gender, race, family structure) and mental health risk factors (parental poor mental health, chronic health conditions) as well as other factors. Results reveal that children who had chronic health conditions or had adverse family experiences have greater odds of having depression. On the other hand, African-American, male, and younger (6–11 years old) children have lower odds of depression. ​ CONCLUSION Further longitudinal studies are required to establish a causal relationship of behavioral and psychological complications, and to determine the biological mechanisms of brain development that could be associated with depression among premature infants or those who have birth weight abnormalities.

scholarly journals The impact of religious attendance on trust, volunteering, and cooperation: A cross-lagged panel analysis with individual fixed-effects

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozan Aksoy ◽  
Dingeman Wiertz
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Religious Involvement ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Religious Service ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
Reverse Causality ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Service Attendance

Does religious involvement make people more trusting, prosocial, and cooperative? In view of conflicting theories and mixed prior evidence, we subject this question to a stringent test using large-scale, representative panel data from the British Household Panel Survey (1991-2009, N ≈ 26,000) and the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2009-2019, N ≈ 77,000). We employ cross-lagged panel models with individual fixed effects to account for time-invariant confounders and reverse causality as two issues that have haunted earlier research. We find that religious involvement, measured by frequency of religious service attendance, on average has a positive impact on generalized trust, volunteering, and cooperation. Compared with religious attendance, other indicators of religious involvement, such as subjective importance of religion or whether one is religiously affiliated, have weaker effects on trust, volunteering, and cooperation. We also document substantial variation across religious traditions: the effects of religious attendance are strongest for Anglicans and other Protestants, but weaker and mostly statistically insignificant for Catholics, Hindus, and the nonreligious, while for Muslims we observe a negative effect of religious attendance on cooperation. Our findings are robust to the inclusion of potential confounders and a range of alternative model set-ups. Our study thus shows that religious involvement can indeed foster prosocial behaviours and attitudes, although this effect is in the current study context mostly restricted to religious service attendance and majority religions.

scholarly journals Housing Insecurity and the Emotional and Physical Health of African Americans

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 335-336
Author(s):  
Aarti Bhat ◽  
August Jenkins ◽  
David Almeida
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chronic Health Conditions ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Chronic Health ◽  
African American Adults ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Housing insecurity—or limited and/or unreliable access to quality housing— is a potent on-going stressor that can adversely impact individual well-being. This study extends previous research by investigating the impact of housing insecurity on both the emotional and physical health of aging African American adults using the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Refresher oversample of African Americans collected from 2012-2013 (N = 508; M age = 43.02; 57% women). Participants reported on their negative affect, number of chronic health conditions experienced in the last year, and experiences of housing insecurity since the 2008 recession (e.g., homelessness, threatened with foreclosure or eviction, lost home). Negative affect and chronic conditions, respectively, were regressed on housing insecurity, and the potential moderating effect of age was tested. Results showed that housing insecurity was associated with more negative affect (B = 0.05, SE = 0.03, p = .002) and chronic health conditions (B = 0.26, SE = 0.03, p < .001). Additionally, the association between housing insecurity and negative affect was moderated by age (B = -0.11, SE = 0.00, p = .019), such that the effect of housing insecurity on negative affect was stronger for younger adults than for older adults. These results suggest that experiences of insecure housing leave African American adults vulnerable to compromised emotional and physical health, however, the negative effects of housing insecurity may attenuate with age.

Aging Societies and the Ethical Challenges of Long Life

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison R. Heid ◽  
Steven H. Zarit
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chronic Health Conditions ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Chronic Health

Individuals are living longer than they ever have before with average life expectancy at birth estimated at 79 years of age in the United States. A greater proportion of individuals are living to advanced ages of 85 or more and the ratio of individuals 65 and over to individuals of younger age groups is shrinking. Disparities in life expectancy across genders and races are pronounced. Financial challenges of sustaining the older population are substantial in most developed and many developing countries. In the United States in particular, employer-based pension programs are diminishing. Furthermore, Social Security will begin taking in less money than it pays out as early as 2023, and the debate over its future in part entails discussions of equitable distribution of resources for the young in need and the old. Living longer is associated with a greater number of chronic health conditions—over two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States have two or more chronic health conditions that require complex self-management regimes partnered with informal and formal care services from family caregivers and institutional long-term services and supports. Caregiver burden and stress is high as are quality care deficiencies in residential long-term care settings. The balance of honoring individuals’ autonomous wishes and providing person-centered care that also addresses the practicalities of safety is an ever-present quandary. Furthermore, complex decisions regarding end-of-life care and treatments plague the medical and social realms, as more money is spent at the end of life than at any other point and individuals’ wishes for less invasive treatment are often not accommodated. Yet, despite these challenges of later life, a large percentage of older individuals are giving financial support, time, and energy to younger generations, who are increasingly strained by economic hardship, the pressures on dual earner parents, and the problems faced by single parenthood. Older individuals’ engagement in society and the help they provide others runs counter to stereotypes that render them helpless and lonely. Overall, the ethical challenges faced by society due to the aging of the population are considerable. Difficult decisions that must be addressed include the sustainability of programs, resources, and social justice in care, as well as how to marshal the resources, talents, and wisdom that older people provide.

scholarly journals Health Care Utilization Among Homeless Veterans in Chicago

2019 ◽  
Vol 185 (3-4) ◽  
pp. e335-e339
Author(s):  
Jason H Raad ◽  
Elizabeth Tarlov ◽  
Abel N Kho ◽  
Dustin D French
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Health Care Utilization ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chronic Health Conditions ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Chronic Health

Abstract Introduction The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the single largest health care system in the United States, provides comprehensive medical and behavioral health services to more than 9 million Veterans. The size and scope of the VA’s system of care allow health care providers, policymakers, and community stakeholders to conduct detailed analyses of health care utilization among Veterans; however, these analyses do not include health care encounters that occur outside VA. Although many Veterans obtain care in non-VA settings, understanding health care utilization among vulnerable populations of Veterans, including those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, is needed to identify potential opportunities to enhance access and reduce fragmentation of care. Materials and Methods VA administrative data were merged with data from the Chicago HealthLNK Data Repository to identify Veterans eligible for VA services who were homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, in the greater Chicago metropolitan area for the years 2010–2012. Results During the 3-year study period, about 208,554 Veterans were registered for care at two VA medical centers located in the City of Chicago and an adjacent suburb. Of those, 13,948 were identified as homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Results suggest that 17% (n = 2,309) of Veterans in this sample received some or all of their care in the community. Much of the care these Veterans received was for chronic health conditions, substance use, and mental health disorders. Conclusions Veterans eligible for VA servicers who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, frequently sought care in the community for a variety of chronic health conditions. Health information exchanges and partner-based registries may represent an important tool for identifying vulnerable Veteran populations while reducing duplication of care.

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