Religious Attendance and Cognitive Functioning Among Older Mexican Americans
Abstract
Research shows that social engagement reduces the probability of cognitive decline in late life. The purpose of this study was to test whether religious attendance, a major source of social engagement for many older individuals, is associated with slower rates of cognitive decline among older Mexican Americans. Using four waves of data collected from a sample of 3,050 older Mexican-origin individuals, we estimated a series of linear growth curve models to assess the effects of religious attendance on cognitive functioning trajectories. We used the Mini-Mental State Examination to measure cognitive functioning. Our central finding is that religious attendance is associated with slower rates of cognitive decline among older Mexican Americans. Specifically, respondents who attend church monthly, weekly, and more than weekly tend to exhibit slower rates of cognitive decline than those who do not attend church.
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Measures described as assessing one particular social concept may contain elements that assess other distinct social concepts.
“Indeed, measures described as assessing one particular concept may contain elements that assess other distinct social concepts.”
From Social Isolation and Cognitive Function in Later Life: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [35]
One study reported significantly more carotid artery thickening, placing R/S individuals at higher risk for stroke.
“One study, however, reported significantly more carotid artery thickening, placing R/S individuals at higher risk for stroke [418].”
From Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications (2012) · cites this paper as [418]
The Measurement of Chronic Disease section discusses self-reported histories of stroke, and the Main Analysis examines church attendance and cognitive decline. Neither section reports carotid artery thickening or an increased stroke risk among religious or spiritual individuals. Searches for carotid artery thickening and intima-media thickness found no supporting passage in our copy; page numbers were not supplied. (LLM, conf=0.78)
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- Authors
- Hill, T. D., Burdette, A. M., Angel, J. L., & Angel, R. J.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hill, T. D.
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2006-01-01
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- P3-P9
- ISSN
- 1079-5014 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5368
- OpenAlex
- W2107415459
- Cited by
- 173
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 6.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG010939)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- religious service attendance, cognitive decline, cognitive function, older Mexican Americans, social engagement, church attendance, cognitive aging, Mini-Mental State Examination, growth curve models
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cognition, Female, Humans, Male, Psychological Tests, Religion and Medicine, Mexican Americans
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