Neighborhood Deterioration, Religious Coping, and Changes in Health During Late Life

“Of the 37 methodologically most rigorous studies, 21 (57%) reported significant positive relationships between R/S and SRH [503, 508–527], whereas three (8%) found the opposite [528–530].”

“ligious coping that reflect a secure relationship with God have been tied to better self-rated health (Krause, 1998) and better psychological adjustment among people facing a variety of major life stressors, including transplant surgery (Tix & Frazier, 1998), medical illness (Koenig, Pargament, & Nielsen, 1998), and n…”

“Krause (1998) focused on a national sample of older people over a 4-year period and found that religious coping successfully buffered the negative effects of living in a deteriorated neighborhood on self-rated physical health status.”

“Religious orientations and strategies are an especially prominent and robust component of the coping repertoires of African Americans who are more likely than their Whites to report their use in response to a variety of problems and contexts including health issues, caregiving burdens, chronic poverty, poor neighborho…”

“More specifically, my earlier research (Krause 1998) suggests that religious coping responses offset the deleterious effects of living in rundown neighborhoods on the health of older people.”

“…Larson, & Blazer, 1998a; Livingston, Levine, & Moore, 1991), boosted immune function (Koenig, Cohen, George, Hays, & Blazer, 1997), enhanced physical functioning (Idler & Kasl, 1992, 1997), and better subjective health (Drevenstedt, 1998; Krause, 1998, 2002; Levin & Markides, 1985; Musick, 1996).”

“Krause (1998a) reported a dramatic improvement in self-rated health among residents of deteriorating neighborhoods who reported use of positive religious coping.”

“…fi nding that older adults who reside in physically deteriorated neighborhoods perceive that social support is less available to them ( Thompson & Krause, 1998 ) and have worse health ( Krause, 1996 , 1998 ) than do elders who reside in better-maintained neighborhoods suggests that low social…”

“Coping skills, social learning, and attitudinal differences influence how an individual tolerates pain.(19,27,37,42,52,60) It is, however, unknown whether there are differences in the way black and white Americans cope with chronic pain and, if so, how this may influence their health.”

“…on religion and health in the elderly have examined a broad range of physical health outcomes, including overall mortality (Koenig et al., 1999; Krause, 1998; Rogers, 1996), cerebrovascular disease (Colantino, Kasl, & Ostfeld, 1992), blood pressure (Koenig, Hays, Larson, Cohen, & Blazer,…”

“Religion and Hypertension In their comprehensive review of the literature, Levin and Vanderpool (1989) made a compelling case for why religion may be associated with hypertension.”

“Three additional covariates were included in these regressions based on the prior literature and relevance: gender and marital status (Galea, Tracy, Norris, & Coffee, 2008), and official membership in the church (Krause, 1998).”

“Functional Limitations and Religious Attendance Many researchers have reported that the practice of religion has salutary effects on health for individuals (Ainlay et al., 1992; Chatters, 2000; Hummer, Rogers, Nam, & Ellison, 1999; Idler, 1987; Krause, 1998; Levin, 1996; Levin & Chatters, 1998; Levin & Vanderpool, 199…”

“…belief is one of the important factors that can impact on the depression: research results report that religious belief could help elderly reduce depressive symptoms significantly, counter negative sentiment effectively, and promote physical rehabilitation (Krause, 1998; Larson and Koenig, 2000).”

“E-mail: k.s.bhui@qmul.ac.uk ISSN 0963-8237 print/ISSN 1360-0567 online Shadowfax Publishing and Informa UK Ltd. DOI: 10.1080/09638230701498408 on physical and mental health (Krause, 1998; Matthews et al., 1998; Smith, McCullough, & Poll, 2003; Steffen, Hinderliter, Blumenthal, & Sherwood, 2001).”

“The survey team ‘‘objectively’’ assessed the external appearance of the block face (neighborhood) where the respondent lived during the earlier process of household enumeration by using a previously published assessment tool (38).”

“Physical Health With regard to physical health, the beneficial effects of religious involvement extend to self-rated health (Idler et al., 2009; Krause, 1998, 2006a; Musick, 1996), physical functioning (Hill, Burdette, Taylor, & Angel, 2016; Idler, 1987; Roth, Usher, Clark, & Holt, 2016), and…”

“), air quality, condition of the streets, and condition of the yards and sidewalks in front of homes (5 = excellent, 20= poor; Andresen et al., 2006; Krause, 1998).”

“…as to the benefits of religion have focused on the roles of social integration, social support, and coping that are hypothesized to be facilitated through relationships provided from formal religious participation (Idler & George, 1998; Krause, 1999; Pargament, Smith, Koenig, & Perez, 1998).”

“Spiritual health may also constitute elements of older adults’ self-rated health [19, 20, 39].”

“…(Hill, Burdette, Ellison, & Music, 2006; Reyes-Ortiz et al., 2008; Van Ness & Kasl, 2003), self-rated health (Idler, McLaughlin, & Kasl, 2009; Krause, 1998, 2006), functional status (Benjamins, 2004; Hill et al., 2016a; Idler, 1987; Idler & Kasl, 1997b; Park et al., 2008), and stroke…”

“…Gardner, Sangorn, & Slattery, 1995; Idler & Kasl, 1997; Koenig et al., 1997; Krause, 1993; Pargament et al., 1992; Strawbridge, Shema, Cohen, Roberts, & Kaplan, 1998; Williams, Larson, Buckler, Heckmann, & Pyle, 1991) or on changes during late life (Krause, 1998; Markides, Levin, & Ray, 1987).”

“In addition, neighborhood problems (e.g., traffic, noise, crime, inadequate lighting, and lack of public transportation) have been associated with increased risk for loss of physical functioning (Balfour and Kaplan 2002; Krause 1998).”

“…Psychiatry and Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA 3 Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Krause 1998, 2006), physical functioning (Benjamins 2004; Hill et al. 2016a; Idler 1987; Idler and Kasl 1997b; Park et al. 2008), and stroke…”

“…effects of social support for mental health may be particularly important in residents of low-SES neighborhoods, where it may serve to buffer the effects of neighborhood poverty and related environmental stressors such as crime, vandalism, and noise pollution (cf. Krause, 1998; Ostir et al., 2003).”

“Participants completed a religiosity questionnaire with four modules, which was developed for this study and modeled after Krause (1998).”

“…for neighborliness, from “we do not bother each other” to “we have keys to each other’s houses”, (2) social distance between “other” people impede a sense of connection, (3) ethnic differences in living arrangements affect activities and activity locations, (4) people try to stay busy, (5)…”

“In older adults, such neighborhood strain has been linked to reports of more physical health problems, as well as poorer mental health functioning (Krause, 1998), and is a potentially powerful predictor of overall perceptions of stress.”

“…and caregiving burdens (Bryant-Davis et al., 2012; Bryant-Davis & Wong, 2013; Chatters, Taylor, Jackson, & Lincoln, 2008; DilworthAnderson, Williams, & Gibson, 2002; Dunn & Horgas, 2000; Ellison & Taylor, 1996; Hunter & Lewis-Coles, 2004; Krause, 1998; Spencer, Fegley, & Harpalani, 2003).”

“…functioning (Hill, Burdette, Angel, & Angel, 2006; Reyes-Ortiz et al., 2008; Van Ness & Kasl, 2003), self-rated health (Idler, McLaughlin, & Kasl, 2009; Krause, 1998, 2006), functional status (Benjamins, 2004; Idler, 1987; Idler & Kasl, 1997b; Park et al., 2008), and stroke (Wolinsky et al., 2009).”

“…vacancy and physical deterioration (Ellaway and Macintyre, 1998; Kruase, 1998; O’Brien et al., 1999); residential noise levels and overcrowding (Krause, 1998); ambient pollution (Jerrett et al., 2001); incivilities such as criminal activities (Sooman and Macintyre, 1995; Kweon, 1998); open…”

“Several previous studies reporting on general religious coping strategies have shown them to be a common response to stressful life events, and to be associated with preservation of psychological well-being.(34,35) In contrast, one study among Catholics facing severe, chronic illness demonstrated an association betwee…”

“Finally, the links between religious resources and well-being are particularly stronger among individuals experiencing more stressful situations that push them beyond the capacity of their immediate resources (e.g., death, terminal illness; Krause, 1998; Wink & Dillon, 2001).”

“1996), greater social support (Koenig, Weiner et al, 1997), better physical health (Krause, 1998), and lower alcohol use (Musick, Blazer, & Hays, 2000).”

“96) of interviewer-assessed housing conditions [37] ranged from 5 (best) to 20 (worst) and tapped the cleanliness, physical condition, furnishings, and exterior of the place of residence as well as an overall assessment at the time of the baseline interview.”

“…evidence for the stress-buffering nature of religion in coping with stressful life events, including living in a deteriorated neighborhood (Krause, 1998), lack of sexual gratification (Wallin and Clark, 1964), substance use and abuse (Kendler et al. , 1997), and loss of a child or…”

“According to the Cognitive Theory of Stress and Coping, individuals may utilize meaning-focused coping (Lazarus, 1966) to generate positive intrinsic emotions by drawing on their beliefs or values to self-motivate and maintain well-being in difficult times.”

“Although there are studies that show perceived neighborhood problems are linked to poorer self-rated health (e.g., Bowling, Barber, Morris, & Ebrahaim, 2006; Krause, 1998), after a comprehensive review of the literature, Yen and colleagues concluded that there is only modest evidence to suggest that neighborhood condi…”

“Other writers and researchers have supported these findings, especially for African-Americans (Lincoln & Mamiya, 1990; Proctor, 1995).”

“Both variables have adequate reliability (Krause, 1998).”

“In addition, research reveals that religion may help older adults cope effectively with living in dilapidated neighborhoods (Krause, 1998).”

“…(Krause, 1995), less depressive symptoms (Fehring, Miller, & Shaw, 1997), good perceived social support (Koenig, Weiner, Peterson, Meador, & Keefe, 1997) as well as better health physical conditions (Krause, 1998), and more adequate adaptation to eventual sickness or disabilities (Koenig, 1999).”

“Neighborhood characteristics linked with perceived safety include neighborhood deterioration (Krause, 1998), unattended dogs (King et al.”

“Contextualising the human-environment relationship is of importance in the built environment, since the space affects users’ activities of daily living [26,27].”

“Observer ratings of neighborhoods have been used successfully in analyses of health outcomes (e.g., Andresen et al. / OBSERVER RATINGS OF NEIGHBORHOODS 35 Cohen et al., 2000; Krause, 1998), but we are unaware of any other direct tests of the reliability and validity of these methods.”

“Krause (1998) also compiled questions to differentiate between these two aspects.”

“These exploratory findings extend existing findings in both the religious coping and spiritual struggles literature (Krause, 1998; Pargament et al., 1998; Tix and Frazier, 1998; Bryant and Astin, 2008; Laurin et al., 2014; Jeppsen et al., 2015; Trevino et al., 2019; Wilt et al., 2019; Zarzycka…”

“…effects of traumatic life events (DeAngelis and Ellison 2017; Ellison 1991), noxious neighborhood environments (Acevedo, Ellison, and Xu 2014; Krause 1998), financial hardship (Acevedo, Ellison, and Xu 2014; Bradshaw and Ellison 2010; Krause 2003), discrimination experiences (Ellison,…”

“Over the last few years, several longitudinal studies have been conducted in which religious coping has emerged as a significant predictor of changes in mental health (e.g., Ai, Dunkle, Peterson, & Bolling, 1998; Alferi, Culver, Carver, Arena, & Antoni, 1999; Krause, 1998; Tix & Frazier, 1998).”

“However, other studies, in representative national samples of older adults, reported no association between attendance and disability (Kelley-Moore & Ferraro, 2001; Krause, 1998).”

“Some persons who lived under these adverse circumstances may have developed coping mechanisms or a social network that buffered the hypothesized association.(26,39) Another hypothesis is that antiinflammatory medication use may have been higher among those living under adverse neighborhood and housing conditions.”