Specific aspects of religious involvement protect against depressive symptoms among immigrant versus U.S.-born, Hispanic older adults

Objectives: This study investigates religious involvement and depressive symptoms in Hispanic older adults in the United States. We hypothesized that private prayer, religious attendance, and religious belief would have an inverse association with depressive symptoms, and that these associations would be stronger among immigrants, compared to U.S.-born participants.

Method: This cross-sectional, within-group study included 1,566 participants from the Health and Retirement Study. Multivariate linear regression evaluated the association between religious involvement and depressive symptoms in the whole sample and in subgroups stratified by immigrant status.

Results: Overall, only more frequent religious attendance was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Stratified models revealed an additional inverse association between private prayer and depressive symptoms only in the immigrant group.

Conclusion: These findings may help incorporate religious preferences into mental health prevention and treatment to reduce depressive symptoms among older Hispanic adults.