title: The efficacy of religious service attendance in reducing depressive symptoms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether religiosity may help people ward off depression, we investigated the association between religious service attendance and depressive symptom scores in a community-based 30-year follow-up longitudinal study.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used data on 754 subjects followed over 30 years and evaluated at four time points. Linear mixed effects models were used to assess the association between religious service attendance and depressive symptoms development; frequency of attendance and age also were used as predictors. Demographic factors, life-time trauma, family socioeconomic status, and recent negative events were considered as control variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Depressive symptom scores were reduced by an average of 0.518 units (95 % CI from -0.855 to -0.180, p < 0.005) each year in subjects who attended religious services as compared with subjects who did not. The more frequent the religious service attendance, the stronger the influence on depressive symptoms when compared with non-attendance. Yearly, monthly, and weekly religious service attendance reduced depression scores by 0.474 (95 % CI from -0.841 to -0.106, p < 0.01), 0.495 (95 % CI from -0.933 to -0.057, p < 0.05) and 0.634 (95 % CI from -1.056 to -0.212, p < 0.005) units on average, respectively, when compared with non-attendance after controlling for other covariates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Religious service attendance may reduce depressive symptoms significantly, with more frequent attendance having an increasingly greater impact on symptom reduction in this 30-year community-based longitudinal study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., MDC 56, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA.
authors.forename: Jianxiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Yangxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Lizmarie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maldonado
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasen
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Henian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001519:Behavior; D002648:Child; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D055815:Young Adult