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Death Anxiety, Religious Doubt, and Depressive Symptoms across Race in Older Adults

Author

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  • Kelcie D. Willis

    (Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 West Franklin Street Box 842018, Richmond, VA 23284, USA)

  • Tamara Nelson

    (Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI 02906, USA)

  • Oswaldo Moreno

    (Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 West Franklin Street Box 842018, Richmond, VA 23284, USA)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the direct and indirect relationships among death anxiety, religious doubt, and depressive symptoms in older adults. This study also investigates race as a moderator for these relationships. This study used data from the Religion, Aging, and Health Survey. Participants identified as Christian, identified as Black or White, lived in a non-institutionalized household within the U.S., were retired, and spoke English. Using PROCESS, results revealed that religious doubt partially mediated the relationship between death anxiety and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, moderated mediation models revealed that race moderated the relationship between religious doubt and depressive symptoms. Specifically, there was significant, positive relationship between religious doubt and depressive symptoms for participants who identified as Black but not White. Results highlight how religious doubt can influence depressive outcomes among the geriatric communities of color. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Kelcie D. Willis & Tamara Nelson & Oswaldo Moreno, 2019. "Death Anxiety, Religious Doubt, and Depressive Symptoms across Race in Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-14, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:19:p:3645-:d:271727
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Victor G. Cicirelli, 2002. "Fear of Death in Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(4), pages 358-366.
    2. Neal Krause, 2003. "Religious Meaning and Subjective Well-Being in Late Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(3), pages 160-170.
    3. Jahanvash Karim & Robert Weisz & Zainab Bibi & Shafiq Ur Rehman, 2015. "Validation of the Eight-Item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) Among Older Adults," Post-Print hal-01796436, HAL.
    4. Neal Krause, 2006. "Exploring the Stress-Buffering Effects of Church-Based and Secular Social Support on Self-Rated Health in Late Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(1), pages 35-43.
    5. Ferraro, Kenneth F. & Kim, Seoyoun, 2014. "Health benefits of religion among Black and White older adults? Race, religiosity, and C-reactive protein," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 92-99.
    6. Neal Krause, 2002. "A Comprehensive Strategy for Developing Closed-Ended Survey Items for Use in Studies of Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(5), pages 263-274.
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    Cited by:

    1. Xin Gao & Tieying Feng, 2020. "Public Pension, Labor Force Participation, and Depressive Symptoms across Gender among Older Adults in Rural China: A Moderated Mediation Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-13, May.

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