Jeffrey S. Levin

Is religion therapeutically significant for hypertension

Epidemiologic studies of the effects of religion on blood pressure suggest that religious commitment is inversely associated with blood pressure and that several religious denominations or groups have relatively low rates of hypertension-related morbidity and mortality. In this review, we examine the implication that certain characteristics and functions of religion account for this association, and we posit 12 possible explanations for this finding. We propose that a salutary effect of religion on blood pressure can be explained by some combination of the following correlates or sequelae of religion: the promotion of health-related behavior; hereditary predispositions in particular groups; the healthful psychosocial effects of religious practice; and, the beneficial psychodynamics of belief systems, religious rites, and faith. Since past epidemiologic studies may have been methodologically limited or flawed, possible explanations for the findings of these studies also include epistemological confusion, measurement problems, and analytical errors. Finally, for the sake of completeness, two more speculative hypotheses are identified: superempirical and supernatural influences or pathways.

Public Health and Health Education in Faith Communities

This special issue of Health Education & Behavior is devoted to broadly examining the interconnections among public health, health education, and faith-based communities. In addition to a focus on questions related to the practice of public health and health education within religious settings (e.g., program development, implementation, and evaluation), the articles in this issue examine a broad range of both substantive and methodological questions and concerns. These articles include contributions that address (1) various theoretical and conceptual issues and frameworks explaining the relationships between religious involvement and health; (2) substantive reviews of current research in the area; (3) individual empirical studies exploring the associations between religious involvement and health attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors; (4) evaluations of health education programs in faith communities; and (5) religious institutions and their contributions to the development of health policy. The articles comprising the issue are selective in their coverage of the field and provide different and complementary perspectives on the connections between religious involvement and health. It is hoped that this approach will appeal to a broad audience of researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and others from health education, public health, and related social and behavioral science disciplines.

Is there a religious factor in health care utilization?: A review

This paper reviews more than 30 studies of health care utilization in which the effects of religion variables are examined, an area previously unreviewed. The authors found that over three-quarters of these studies reported significant religious differences in rates of utilization. The most common operationalization of religion was religious affiliation (typically Protestant vs Catholic vs Jewish), although the effects of religious attendance and religiosity were occasionally examined. Most major areas of health care use are represented in this literature, including psychiatric care, maternal and child health services, dental care, and physician and hospital utilization. Despite the preponderance of significant findings, it is difficult to isolate any consistent trends, although low-order analyses seem to suggest that Jews are higher utilizers than non-Jews. New findings presented from a study in Appalachia were inconclusive. The authors discuss the conceptual limitations inherent in ways in which health services researchers typically investigate the effects of religion. Drawing on recent work in the epidemiology of religion, several recommendations are offered regarding the prospect of future research in this area.

Maternal stress and pregnancy outcomes: A review of the psychosocial literature

The literature linking maternal psychosocial stress with pregnancy outcomes is reviewed. These published findings, dating back over the past 30 years, tend to conceptualize stress as either life change or anxiety. After a brief conceptual and methodological overview of ‘stress’, empirical research findings are reviewed with pregnancy outcomes grouped into 4 categories: low birth weight, prematurity, antepartum complications, and intrapartum complications. In general, the literature reveals that life change stress is predictive of both prematurity and antepartum complications, and that anxiety is predictive of both antepartum and intrapartum complications, although the intrapartum results are mixed. In sum, there is currently only scattered evidence linking stress to low birth weight. Finally, the implications of these findings for clinical practice and research are discussed.

Religious Attendance and Psychological Well-Being in Middle-Aged and Older Mexican Americans'

The relationship between religious attendance and psychological well-being is explored ir a sample of middle-aged and older Mexican American men and women. Religious attendance has significant zero-order effects on life satisfaction in older men and in middle-aged and older women. The associations remain significant in women, despite controlling for age, marital status, social class, and either of two indicators of health status. Previous work in gerontology and epidemiology suggests that religious attendance, especially among older adults, may represent a proxy for health, but ourfindings provide only mixed confirmation of this, and only in older men. In women, religious attendance does appear to have a substantive independent effect on well-being

Theory in Religion, Aging, and Health: An Overview

This paper provides an overview of theory in religion, aging, and health. It offers both a primer on theory and a roadmap for researchers. Four “tenses” of theory are described—distinct ways that theory comes into play in this field: grand theory, mid-range theory, use of theoretical models, and positing of constructs which mediate or moderate putative religious effects. Examples are given of both explicit and implicit uses of theory. Sources of theory for this field are then identified, emphasizing perspectives of sociologists and psychologists, and discussion is given to limitations of theory. Finally, reflections are offered as to why theory matters.

Religion, Emotions, and Health

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the research evidence of salutary effects of religiosity, particularly among older persons. It suggests that attachment theory offers a promising way of integrating data on the etiologic mechanisms that may explain the observed effects of religion on health. The implication has been that religion can evoke positive, salutogenic emotions, given a secure religious attachment and positive cognitive–emotional schemas of the self and others born out of secure familial attachment. Emerging research on the relation between hostile right-wing authoritarianism and fundamentalist religions ought to catch the attention of psychologists seeking to understand the effects of early emotional climate on personality development and health and well-being in adulthood. The chapter suggests that the scientific study of religion an enduring and multifaceted aspect of human experience can contribute in many ways to ongoing efforts to understand the relation between emotion and health.

Energy Healers: Who They Are and What They Do

This paper surveys the landscape of energy healing, offering a taxonomy and conceptual overview of the work of practitioners. First, systems of energy healing are classified under four categories: an East Asian tradition, a Western professional tradition, a bioenergy tradition, and a contemporary metaphysical tradition. Examples of each are provided. Second, the possibility of core concepts in energy healing is broached, focusing specifically on five issues: the source of healing and its pathway of transmission, what it is that is being transmitted, what it is that healers do, the healers state of consciousness, and requirements of clients in order to receive healing. Third, a discussion is provided of the relative importance of technique in energy healing. Fourth, what really matters for healing is proposed, emphasizing three factors: focus, intention, and compassion. Finally, the paper concludes by suggesting that formally trained energy practitioners do not have a monopoly on energy healing.

Engaging the Faith Community for Public Health Advocacy: An Agenda for the Surgeon General

This article proposes an agenda for the Surgeon General of the United States that is consonant with the traditional public health approach of “upstream” and “midstream” intervention addressing social and institutional determinants of health. Accordingly, this features a prominent role for expanded partnerships between the faith-based and public health sectors. Such an agenda would revise the current status quo for the Surgeon General, whose celebrated bully pulpit is currently focused more on encouraging “downstream” compliance with federal guidelines related to lifestyle behavior modification. A new faith-based agenda, by contrast, could more effectively advocate for core features of the traditional public health ethic, including primary prevention, the multiple determinants of population health, communitarianism and social justice, and a global perspective, supported by the historic prophetic role of the faith traditions.

Religion and medicine: How are they related?

This paper provides a comprehensive and dynamic profile of religion-medicine interrelationships. This profile is drawn from the respective characteristics of religion and medicine, as well as from historic and contemporary literature regarding their interconnections. Six symbiotic functions are identified and discussed with respect to their bearing on clinical practice, medical education, and research.This paper provides a comprehensive and dynamic profile of religion-medicine interrelationships. This profile is drawn from the respective characteristics of religion and medicine, as well as from historic and contemporary literature regarding their interconnections. Six symbiotic functions are identified and discussed with respect to their bearing on clinical practice, medical education, and research.