Aging, Religion, and Health

Presented by Michał Oleksowicz and Emiko Nishii

Development Workshop20.01.2011

Outline

Overview (‘Aging, Religion, Health’ theories) Data (Gallup World Poll)

Results Drawbacks Extension (determinants of health of the children)

Background /Religion, Age, Gender, Health/

Secularization hypothesis [John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Sigmund Freud]Religious belief and practice will decline over time with economic development, particularly with rising levels of income and education

– Religious belief is a superstition that is dispelled by education– As people become better-off in this life they substitute current

for future utility (promise of eternal life)– State provision of social welfare and social insurance is a

substitute for provision by organized religion

Background /Religion, Age, Gender, Health/

Religious beliefs should change with age– Secularization hypothesis

Women should be more religious then man – The decision not to belief is a risk-taking behavior ,risk is more common among mean– Traditionally women have a responsibility of passing beliefs

from one generation to other

Religious people should have healthier life– regulative, integrative, interpretative mechanisms

Data

The Gallup World Poll– Three waves 2006,2007,2008– Sample around 1000 individuals aged over 15– 144 countries = 351 250 observations, China is excluded– Identical questionnaire in all countries

Sample Questions: „Is religion an important part of your daily life?” „Have you attended a place of worship or religious service within the last 7

days?” „Are you satisfied or dissatisfied wit your personal health?” „Did you have enough energy to get things done yesterday?” “Did you smoke yesterday?”

Estimation Results

Estimation Results

Estimation Results Religiosity and age by sex and income group

Estimation Results Religiosity and age by sex and major religion

Religion and Health (results)

Averaged over countries, religious people report that they have more energy, and are more likely to be satisfied with their personal health (especially in LICs).

For men, the benefits of religion are significant and likely to be universal across countries for marriage, for being treated with respect, for smoking, and for trusting the healthcare system. (these benefits are non-existent for women)

No health benefits for religiosity for women in pain– religious women are more likely to report disability.

Religion and Health (results)

The effects of religiosity on disability, marriage, having a friend in time of need, time spent with friends, and trust in the healthcare or medical system are similar by different age and income group.

No effects of interactions between religiosity and age are found.

Aging, Religion and Health conclusions

Women are more religious than men, elderly are more religious then the young

Religious people do better on a number of health indicators

Diversity of the results speaks against any universal account of secularization

(coefficient was positive for about half of the countries)

No support for passing beliefs hypothesis

Risk-theories are consistent with some of the global evidence

Potential Drawbacks

Weakness of the data (e.g. smoking);

the construction of questionnaire

International heterogeneity (i.e. cross-country analysis makes it difficult to observe independent effects of religion on health)

The direct link between religion and health (religion cause people to be healthier) is still unclear. (i.e. personality, genetic influences, or other uncontrolled factors can be responsible for these associations)

Issues

We can almost never point out & say what exactly contributed to your health status today – every little thing you do influences your health status.

How can we minimize the risk of ‘other things’ influencing one’s health status to assess the religion-health relationship better?

>> maybe investigating the religion-child health relationship may be helpful…

“Religion and Child Health” Chiswick et al (2010)

Aim: to expand the literature on the relation between religion and religiosity to the overall health and psychological health of children and adolescents in the United States

Better child health results in better adult health. If there is a strong association between religiosity and child health, religion may be a cause of better adult health…..

“Religion and Child Health” Chiswick et al (2010)

Hypothesis (positive):

Involvement in religious activities among youth reduces engagement in unhealthy behavior (i.e. alcohol and drug use)

Religion can improve psychological health through increased self-esteem, deliverance from anxiety about after life, and finding meaning in life

“Religion and Child Health” Chiswick et al (2010)

Hypothesis (negative):

Some religions discourage blood transfusions, vaccinations, contraception, and abortions, the avoidance of which may have adverse health consequences.

religion can also increase feelings of guilt and fear

“Religion and Child Health” Chiswick et al (2010)

Data: Child Development Supplements (CDS) conducted in 1997 and

2002. The 2003 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID).

** The CDS interviewed PSID families with children ages 0-12 in 1997 and followed up in 2002/2003 when the children were ages 5-19.

Sample: 2,604 children ages 6 to 19, who were biological, step, adoptive

or foster children or grandchildren of the household head

“Religion and Child Health” Chiswick et al (2010)

Dependent Variables:

Religious affiliation Frequency of attending religious services Importance of religion

** *For children younger than 12 years of age, affiliation was proxied by the religious affiliation of the child’s mother, or father.

“Religion and Child Health” Chiswick et al (2010)

Independent Variables:

Child overall physical health. (1=excellent or very good health, 0=good, fair, or poor).

Child’s psychological health Child’s birth weight (benchmark=5.5 pounds) Whether the child was breastfed Family Income Marital status Mother’s years of schooling Working Mother Gender, race/ethnicity

“Religion and Child Health” Chiswick et al (2010)

Affiliation with a religion for youths 6-19 years old makes them 6.7 percentage points more likely to be in better overall health.

For psychological health, the effect of religious affiliation is statistically significant and positive only for youths ages 12 to 15. The magnitude of the marginal effect is about half that of the favorable effect of living with both parents.

Reported psychological health is greater for girls, Blacks and Hispanics (as compared to Whites), if the child has a religious affiliation.

“Religion and Child Health” Chiswick et al (2010)

The importance of religion variable (vs. not important), is positive and highly significant for overall health for ages 6 to 19 and ages 12 to 15. The same pattern holds for psychological health.

By age group, the strongest effect of religion and religiosity is found among those ages 12 to 15.

Potential Drawbacks & Remarks

Overall are youths at the age between 6 and 19 in the U.S. more likely to be physically healthy anyway?

Remaining Issues: Beyond family characteristics and initial health, does

religion have any additional explanetory power?

If so, how can we quantitatively asess them?