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Ng HKY, Chen SX, Lam BCP. Does Religious Worldview Benefit Life Satisfaction? Examination of the Incremental Predictive Power, Underlying Mechanism, and Temporal Relationship in Hong Kong and the USA. JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND HEALTH 2023:10.1007/s10943-023-01934-0. [PMID: 37917242 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-023-01934-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
The benefits of religion have predominantly focused on personal religious identities and experiences, while the broader context of religious worldviews remains understudied. Across two quantitative studies, we showed the incremental predictive power of religious worldview and its mechanism among young adults in two societies-the USA (N = 179) and Hong Kong (N = 164). The mediation mechanism with social connectedness was further inferred from a 12-month study among Hong Kong Chinese (N = 133). This research has laid important groundwork for a deeper understanding of how religion shapes our perception of the world and its impact on our well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary K Y Ng
- School of Education and Languages, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong.
| | - Sylvia Xiaohua Chen
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong
| | - Ben C P Lam
- Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
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Chen Y, Zhao L, Xie B. Living Arrangements and Subjective Well-Being of Elderly Chinese Tibetan People: The Mediating Role of Religion. JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND HEALTH 2023; 62:3158-3174. [PMID: 36759414 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-023-01753-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
While previous studies have found that living arrangements and religiosity can influence the subjective well-being (SWB) of older adults, they have tended to investigate each of these aspects separately. Engaging with this gap, the current study examines the relationship between living arrangements, religious attendance, and the SWB of older adults, as well as the mediating effect of religious attendance on the relationship between the other two factors. A total of 875 older adults from 40 villages or communities in a Tibetan area in China (Gannan) were surveyed. An ordinary least square regression was used to evaluate the relationship between SWB and living arrangements and/or religious attendance. A structural equation model was then used to test the mediating role played by religious attendance in the association between living arrangements and SWB. The results showed that older adults in the selected study areas who were co-residing with their children and/or spouse had a higher level of SWB compared to those living alone. While religious attendance was positively associated with older adults' SWB, the findings showed that living with their spouse or children decreased their frequency of attendance at religious activities. In contrast, it was found that living alone directly decreased older adults' SWB, but increased the frequency of their participation in religious events, thus indirectly promoting their SWB. A key implication of this study is its confirmation that religious attendance plays an important mediating role in the relationship between living arrangements and SWB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Chen
- Tourism College, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China
- Center of Minority Studies in Northwest China, College of History and Culture, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China
| | - Lisheng Zhao
- Center of Minority Studies in Northwest China, College of History and Culture, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China.
| | - Bingxue Xie
- Center of Minority Studies in Northwest China, College of History and Culture, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China
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Kobosko J, Jedrzejczak WW, Rostkowska J, Porembska DB, Fludra M, Skarżyński H. Satisfaction with life in a sample of prelingually deaf cochlear implant users with a good command of spoken Polish as the primary language. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2023; 105:106370. [PMID: 37683553 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2023.106370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION This study investigated the level of satisfaction with life (SWL) in a group of cochlear implant (CI) users who had been prelingually deaf but were orally educated. They had received one or two CIs (as a child, adolescent, or adult) and were highly competent Polish speakers. This study looked at three factors that may affect SWL - psychosocial, deafness/hearing and communication related, and sociodemographic. METHODS The participants were prelingually deaf CI users who had learned highly competent spoken Polish as their primary language. They had been educated in mainstream or integrated schools (not schools for the deaf), and had no other disability or severe illness. Measurements were done with 5 questionnaires: the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the I-Others Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Deaf Identity Development Scale (DIDS), and the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ). RESULTS The SWL level of the group was similar to that of the standard Polish population. SWL was positively related to positive self-perception, acceptance of oneself as a deaf person, and to perceiving the benefits of having a CI (as measured by three NCIQ domains: self-esteem, activity limitations, and social interactions). On the other hand, negative self-perception, marginal deaf identity, and depressive symptoms were negatively related to SWL. There was no relationship between SWL and knowledge of sign language. Lower depressive symptoms and greater hearing loss were both significant predictors of SWL, although those who used two CIs generally had a lower SWL. CONCLUSIONS Prelingually deaf CI users with low SWL require psychological support in many spheres, including working through problems of deaf identity, self-acceptance, and depression. Additional research should involve diverse DHH CI users, including those with limited spoken Polish competency or sign language skills, as well as members of the Polish Deaf community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Kobosko
- Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, ul. M. Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, Poland; World Hearing Center, ul. Mokra 17, Kajetany 05-830 Nadarzyn, Poland; Maria Grzegorzewska University, ul. Szczęśliwicka 40, 02-353 Warsaw, Poland
| | - W Wiktor Jedrzejczak
- Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, ul. M. Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, Poland; World Hearing Center, ul. Mokra 17, Kajetany 05-830 Nadarzyn, Poland.
| | - Joanna Rostkowska
- Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, ul. M. Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, Poland; World Hearing Center, ul. Mokra 17, Kajetany 05-830 Nadarzyn, Poland
| | - D Beata Porembska
- Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, ul. M. Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, Poland; World Hearing Center, ul. Mokra 17, Kajetany 05-830 Nadarzyn, Poland; Maria Grzegorzewska University, ul. Szczęśliwicka 40, 02-353 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Małgorzata Fludra
- Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, ul. M. Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, Poland; World Hearing Center, ul. Mokra 17, Kajetany 05-830 Nadarzyn, Poland
| | - Henryk Skarżyński
- Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, ul. M. Mochnackiego 10, 02-042 Warsaw, Poland; World Hearing Center, ul. Mokra 17, Kajetany 05-830 Nadarzyn, Poland
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Speed D. Throw BABE Out With the Bathwater? Canadian Atheists are No Less Healthy than the Religious. JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND HEALTH 2022; 61:4608-4634. [PMID: 35437695 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-022-01558-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The belief-as-benefit effect (BABE) is a broad term for the positive association between religion/spirituality (R/S) and health outcomes. Functionally, religious variables and religious identities predict greater wellness, which implies that atheists should report worse health relative to religious groups. Using Cycle 29 of the cross-sectional General Social Survey from Statistics Canada (N > 15,900), I explored health differences in stress, life satisfaction, subjective physical wellbeing, and subjective mental wellbeing across R/S identities (atheists, agnostics, Nones, Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Religions). Results indicated that (1). religious attendance, prayer, and religiosity were generally unrelated to all health outcomes for all R/S identities, (2). averagely religious atheists reported health parity with averagely religious members of all other R/S identities, and (3). when comparing a maximally nonreligious atheist group against several maximally religiously affiliated groups, atheists largely showed health parity. If both low R/S and high R/S are associated with comparable wellness, researchers should actively question whether R/S is genuinely salutary.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Speed
- Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, 100 Tucker Park Road, Saint John, NB, E2K 5E2, Canada.
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Li F, Liang W, Chandio AA, Zang D, Duan Y. Household clean energy consumption and health: Theoretical and empirical analysis. Front Public Health 2022; 10:945846. [PMID: 36176530 PMCID: PMC9514035 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.945846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The impact of energy consumption on health has become a widely debated topic around the world. However, much of the current research on this topic lacks a theoretical basis. As a result, this paper employs both theoretical and empirical analysis to investigate the impact of household clean energy consumption on residents' health. First, based on the theories of health economics and energy economics, this paper believes that the usage of clean energy can improve the health of residents. Then, the sample for this study is comprised of data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, and the Order Probit Model is applied for the empirical analysis. The outcomes of basic regression, robustness testing, and the treatment of endogenous factors reveal that the usage of clean energy has greatly benefited the health of residents. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis shows that long-term use of clean energy greatly improved the health of non-religious people and had a more pronounced impact on the health of women and low-income residents. In addition, the mechanistic analysis indicates that subjective happiness and air quality played a partial mediating role in the impact of cleaner energy consumption on health. Finally, cleaner household energy reduced the prevalence of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, lung disease, asthma, and depression. The conclusion of this paper supports the view of some existing literature, and several policy recommendations are made based on the research findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fanghua Li
- College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Wei Liang
- School of Business and Tourism, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Abbas Ali Chandio
- College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Dungang Zang
- College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yinying Duan
- School of Business and Tourism, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China,*Correspondence: Yinying Duan
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Libby G, Zimmer Z, Kingston A, Haviva C, Chiu CT, Ofstedal MB, Saito Y, Jagger C. Are Religiosity and Spirituality Related to Self-Reported Health Expectancy? An Analysis of the European Values Survey. JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND HEALTH 2022; 61:2590-2604. [PMID: 34283368 PMCID: PMC9142421 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-021-01348-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Research on religiosity and health has generally focussed on the United States, and outcomes of health or mortality but not both. Using the European Values Survey 2008, we examined cross-sectional associations between four dimensions of religiosity/spirituality: attendance, private prayer, importance of religion, belief in God; and healthy life expectancy (HLE) based on self-reported health across 47 European countries (n = 65,303 individuals). Greater levels of private prayer, importance of religion and belief in God, at a country level, were associated with lower HLE at age 20, after adjustment for confounders, but only in women. The findings may explain HLE inequalities between European countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gillian Libby
- Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, Leeds University, Leeds, UK
| | - Zachary Zimmer
- Global Aging and Community Initiative, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Canada
| | - Andrew Kingston
- Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5PL, UK
| | - Clove Haviva
- Global Aging and Community Initiative, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Canada
- Geriatric Medicine Research, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | - Chi-Tsun Chiu
- Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | | | - Yasuhiko Saito
- College of Economics and Population Research Institute, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Carol Jagger
- Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5PL, UK.
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