Does religiosity/spirituality promote positive well-being for middle-aged adults in the context of monthly adversity?

Abstract

Religiosity/Spirituality (R/S) promotes positive development in midlife and old age. Little is known regarding which components of R/S (interpersonal religious commitment [RC] and intrapersonal RC) at the within-person (WP) and between-person (BP) levels promote positive midlife development in the context of adversity. Using data from 358 middle-aged adults (ages 50–65) who were assessed monthly for 2 years, we applied multilevel models to examine whether R/S at the WP and BP levels is protective against the adverse effects of monthly adversity on life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and positive and negative affect. Reporting more R/S at monthly assessments (WP levels) where adversity occurred was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and negative affect. At the BP level, individuals who, on average, reported more involvement in interpersonal RC were buffered from the monthly adversity’s effect on each outcome. Higher BP levels of intrapersonal RC increased the impact of monthly adversity on each outcome. More WP and BP interpersonal RC but not intrapersonal RC were consistently protective against adversities in domains of close family, social network, and work. We elaborate on R/S’s role in promoting resilience in the context of adversity, emphasizing potential mechanisms and the need for thorough future explorations of these associations.

Keywords

Lifespan development religiosity and spirituality resilience adversity midlife

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Almeida

D. M.

(2005). Resilience and vulnerability to daily stressors assessed via diary methods. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(2), 64–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00336.x

Almeida

D. M.

Charles

S. T.

Mogle

Drewelies

Aldwin

C. M.

Spiro

Gerstorf

(2020). Charting adult development through (historically changing) daily stress processes. American Psychologist, 75(4), 511–524. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000597

Bockrath

M. F.

Pargament

K. I.

Wong

Harriott

V. A.

Pomerleau

J. M.

Homolka

S. J.

Chaudhary

Z. B.

Exline

J. J.

(2022). Religious and spiritual struggles and their links to psychological adjustment: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 14(3), 283–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000400

Böger

Huxhold

(2018). Age-related changes in emotional qualities of the social network from middle adulthood into old age: How do they relate to the experience of loneliness? Psychology and Aging, 33(3), 482–496. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000222

Brown

S. A.

Floyd

F. J.

(2022). Subjective religiosity as resilience to stressful life events in middle-aged and older African Americans. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 35, 409–429. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2022.2082626

Carlson

K. M.

González-Prendes

A. A.

(2016). Cognitive behavioral therapy with religious and spiritual clients: A critical perspective. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 18(4), 253–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2016.1159940

Case

Deaton

(2015). Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife among white non-Hispanic Americans in the 21st century. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(49), 15078–15083. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1518393112

Chen

Feeley

T. H.

(2014). Social support, social strain, loneliness, and well-being among older adults: An analysis of the Health and Retirement Study. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 31(2), 141–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407513488728

Curran

P. J.

Bauer

D. J.

(2011). The disaggregation of within-person and between-person effects in longitudinal models of change. Annual Review of Psychology, 62(1), 583–619. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100356

10.

Dankulincova Veselska

Jirasek

Veselsky

Jiraskova

Plevova

Tavel

Madarasova Geckova

. (2018). Spirituality but not religiosity is associated with better Health and higher life satisfaction among adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(12), Article 2781. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122781

11.

Dey

N. E. Y.

Amponsah

Wiafe-Akenteng

C. B.

(2021). Spirituality and subjective well-being of Ghanaian parents of children with special needs: The mediating role of resilience. Journal of Health Psychology, 26(9), 1377–1388. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105319873956

12.

Exline

J. J.

Kaplan

K. J.

Grubbs

J. B.

(2012). Anger, exit, and assertion: Do people see protest toward God as morally acceptable? Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 4(4), 264–277. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027667

13.

Fitzgerald

Berthiaume

(2022). Does spirituality moderate the relationship between child maltreatment and adult men and women’s social anxiety, depression and loneliness. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 31(2), 235–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2021.1912875

14.

Foster

E. M.

(2010). Causal inference and developmental psychology. Developmental Psychology, 46(6), 1454–1480. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020204

15.

Ganster

D. C.

Rosen

C. C.

(2013). Work stress and employee health: A multidisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 39(5), 1085–1122. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313475815

16.

Gerstorf

Ram

Estabrook

Schupp

Wagner

G. G.

Lindenberger

(2008). Life satisfaction shows terminal decline in old age: Longitudinal evidence from the German socio-economic panel study (SOEP). Developmental Psychology, 44(4), 1148–1159. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44.4.1148

17.

Gonzalez Avilés

Infurna

F. J.

Dey

N. E. Y.

Cruz-Carrillo

Grimm

K. J.

Lachman

M. E.

Gerstorf

. (2025). Midlife blues: A lifespan perspective on midlife depressive symptoms. Psychology and Aging, 40, 685–700. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000906

18.

Grimm

K. J.

Ram

Estabrook

(2017). Growth modeling: Structural equation and multilevel modeling approaches. Guilford Press.

19.

Haehner

Pfeifer

L. S.

Fassbender

Luhmann

(2023). Are changes in the perception of major life events associated with changes in subjective well-being? Journal of Research in Personality, 102, Article 104321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2022.104321

20.

Hoffman

Stawski

R. S.

(2009). Persons as contexts: Evaluating between-person and within-person effects in longitudinal analysis. Research in Human Development, 6(2–3), 97–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427600902911189

21.

Homan

K. J.

Hollenberger

J. C.

(2021). Religious support moderates the long reach of adverse childhood events on physical health in middle to late adulthood. Journal of Religion and Health, 60(6), 4186–4208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01259-w

22.

Howard

A. L.

(2015). Leveraging time-varying covariates to test within- and between-person effects and interactions in the multilevel linear model. Emerging Adulthood, 3(6), 400–412. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696815592726

23.

Infurna

F. J.

(2021). Utilizing principles of life-span developmental psychology to study the complexities of resilience across the adult life span. Gerontologist, 61(6), 807–818. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnab086

24.

Infurna

F. J.

Dey

N. E. Y.

Gonzalez Avilés

Grimm

K. J.

Lachman

M. E.

Gerstorf

(2024). Loneliness in midlife: Historical increases and elevated levels in the United States compared with Europe. American Psychologist, 80, 744–756. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001322

25.

Infurna

F. J.

Gerstorf

Lachman

M. E.

(2020). Midlife in the 2020s: Opportunities and challenges. American Psychologist, 75(4), 470–485. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000591

26.

Infurna

F. J.

Luthar

S. S.

(2018). Re-evaluating the notion that resilience is commonplace: A review and distillation of directions for future research, practice, and policy. Clinical Psychology Review, 65, 43–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2018.07.003

27.

Infurna

F. J.

Luthar

S. S.

Grimm

K. J.

(2022a). Investigating posttraumatic growth in midlife using an intensive longitudinal research design: Posttraumatic growth is not as prevalent as previously considered. European Journal of Personality, 36(4), 576–596. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070211041852

28.

Infurna

F. J.

Luthar

S. S.

Grimm

K. J.

(2022b). Lifetime adversity in the context of monthly adversity and psychological well-being in midlife: Evidence of cumulative disadvantage, but not steeling effects of lifetime adversity. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 77(8), 1394–1405. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbab230

29.

Infurna

F. J.

Staben

O. E.

Gardner

M. J.

Grimm

K. J.

Luthar

S. S.

(2023a). The accumulation of adversity in midlife: Effects on depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and character strengths. Psychology and Aging, 38(3), 230–246. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000725

30.

Infurna

F. J.

Staben

O. E.

Gardner

M. J.

Grimm

K. J.

Luthar

S. S.

(2023b). The accumulation of adversity in midlife: Effects on depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and character strengths. Psychology and Aging, 38(3), 230–246. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000725

31.

Joiner

R. J.

Martinez

B. S.

Nelson

N. A.

Bergeman

C. S.

(2022). Within-person changes in religiosity, control beliefs, and subjective well-being across middle and late adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 37, 848–862. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000713

32.

Jung

J. H.

(2018). Childhood adversity, religion, and change in adult mental health. Research on Aging, 40(2), 155–179. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027516686662

33.

Kent

B. V.

Henderson

W. M.

Bradshaw

Ellison

C. G.

Wright

B. R. E.

(2021). Do daily spiritual experiences moderate the effect of stressors on psychological well-being? A smartphone-based experience sampling study of depressive symptoms and flourishing. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 31(2), 57–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2020.1777766

34.

Klokgieters

S. S.

Van Tilburg

T. G.

Deeg

D. J. H.

Huisman

(2019). Do religious activities among young–old immigrants act as a buffer against the effect of a lack of resources on well-being? Aging & Mental Health, 23(5), 625–632. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1430739

35.

Krause

(2003). Religious meaning and subjective well-being in late life. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 58(3), S160–S170. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.3.S160

36.

Krause

(2006). Exploring the stress-buffering effects of church-based and secular social support on self-rated health in late life. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, B, 61(1), S35–S43.

37.

Krause

Hayward

R. D.

(2015). Assessing whether trust in god offsets the effects of financial strain on health and well-being. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 25(4), 307–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2014.952588

38.

Krause

Pargament

K. I.

Ironson

(2017). Does a religious transformation buffer the effects of lifetime trauma on happiness? The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 27(2), 104–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2017.1300506

39.

Lachman

M. E.

(2004). Development in midlife. Annual Review of Psychology, 55(1), 305–331. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141521

40.

Lachman

M. E.

Teshale

Agrigoroaei

(2015). Midlife as a pivotal period in the life course: Balancing growth and decline at the crossroads of youth and old age. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025414533223

41.

Littell

R. C.

Milliken

G. A.

Stroup

W. W.

Wolfinger

R. D.

Schabenberger

(2006). SAS® for mixed models (2nd ed.). SAS Institute.

42.

Little

R. J. A.

Rubin

D. B.

(2002). Statistical analysis with missing data (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119013563

43.

Luhmann

Orth

Specht

Kandler

Lucas

R. E.

(2014). Studying changes in life circumstances and personality: It’s about time. European Journal of Personality, 28(3), 256–266. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1951

44.

Manning

Ferris

Narvaez Rosario

Prues

Bouchard

(2019). Spiritual resilience: Understanding the protection and promotion of well-being in the later life. Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging, 31(2), 168–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2018.1532859

45.

McGinnis

(2018). Resilience, life events, and well-being during midlife: Examining resilience subgroups. Journal of Adult Development, 25(3), 198–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-018-9288-y

46.

Morton

K. R.

Lee

J. W.

Martin

L. R.

(2017). Pathways from religion to health: Mediation by psychosocial and lifestyle mechanisms. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 9(1), 106–117. https://doi.org/10/1037/rel0000091

47.

Muhammad

(2022). The role of religiosity and religious participation in the relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment among older Indian adults. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 11915. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14744-3

48.

Nelson

C. J.

Rosenfeld

Breitbart

Galietta

(2002). Spirituality, religion, and depression in the terminally ill. Psychosomatics, 43(3), 213–220. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psy.43.3.213

49.

Nguyen

A. W.

(2020). Religion and mental health in racial and ethnic minority populations: A review of the literature. Innovation in Aging, 4(5), Article igaa035. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaa035

50.

Park

C. L.

(2007). Religiousness/spirituality and health: A meaning systems perspective. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 30(4), 319–328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-007-9111-x

51.

Park

C. L.

Wilt

J. A.

(2024). Do religious practices improve one’s mood? Daily religious behaviors are associated with daily wellbeing and buffer against hassles and uplifts. Journal of Research in Personality, 111, Article 104499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2024.104499

52.

Peres

M. F. P.

Kamei

H. H.

Tobo

P. R.

Lucchetti

(2018). Mechanisms behind religiosity and spirituality’s effect on mental health, quality of life and well-being. Journal of Religion and Health, 57(5), 1842–1855. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0400-6

53.

Pomerleau

J. M.

Pargament

K. I.

Krause

Ironson

Hill

(2020). Religious and spiritual struggles as a mediator of the link between stressful life events and psychological adjustment in a nationwide sample. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 12(4), 451–459. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000268

54.

Radloff

L. S.

(1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306

55.

Reutter

K. K.

Bigatti

S. M.

(2014). Religiosity and spirituality as resiliency resources: Moderation, mediation, or moderated mediation? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 53(1), 56–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12081

56.

Seery

M. D.

Holman

E. A.

Silver

R. C.

(2010). Whatever does not kill us: Cumulative lifetime adversity, vulnerability, and resilience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(6), 1025–1041. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021344

57.

Sörman

D. E.

Rönnlund

Sundström

Norberg

Nilsson

L.-G.

(2017). Social network size and cognitive functioning in middle-aged adults: Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations. Journal of Adult Development, 24(2), 77–88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-016-9248-3

58.

Spilman

S. K.

Neppl

T. K.

Donnellan

M. B.

Schofield

T. J.

Conger

R. D.

(2013). Incorporating religiosity into a developmental model of positive family functioning across generations. Developmental Psychology, 49(4), 762–774. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028418

59.

Tavares

J. L.

Ronneberg

C. R.

Miller

E. A.

Burr

J. A.

(2019). Stress and inflammation among older adults: The moderating role of religiosity. Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging, 31(2), 187–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528030.2018.1536910

60.

Underwood

L. G.

(2011). The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale: Overview and results. Religions, 2(1), 29–50. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel2010029

61.

Upenieks

(2021). Resilience in the aftermath of childhood abuse? Changes in religiosity and adulthood psychological distress. Journal of Religion and Health, 60(4), 2677–2701. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01155-9

62.

Upenieks

Schieman

Ellison

C. G.

(2023). Does religiosity buffer the adverse mental health effects of work-family strain? Examining the role of an overlooked resource. Review of Religious Research, 65(1), 7–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034673X231171788

63.

Walen

H. R.

Lachman

M. E.

(2000). Social support and strain from partner, family, and friends: Costs and benefits for men and women in adulthood. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 17(1), 5–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407500171001

64.

Watson

Clark

L. A.

Tellegen

(1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063

65.

Wettstein

Infurna

F. J.

Dey

N. E. Y.

Cruz-Carrillo

Grimm

K. J.

Lachman

M. E.

Gerstorf

(2024). Trajectories of episodic memory in midlife: Historical change from a cross-country perspective. Psychology and Aging, 40, 197–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000870

66.

Whitehead

B. R.

Bergeman

C. S.

(2012). Coping with daily stress: Differential role of spiritual experience on daily positive and negative affect. Journals of Gerontology: Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 67(4), B456–B459. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbr136

67.

Whitehead

B. R.

Bergeman

C. S.

(2020). Daily religious coping buffers the stress–affect relationship and benefits overall metabolic health in older adults. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 12(4), 393–399. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000251

68.

Wickham

(2016). Ggplot2. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24277-4

69.

Wong

Pargament

K. I.

Faigin

C. A.

(2018). Sustained by the sacred: Religious and spiritual factors for resilience in adulthood and aging. In Resnick

Gwyther

L. P.

Roberto

K. A.

(Eds.), Resilience in aging (pp. 191–214). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04555-5_10

70.

Worthington

E. L.

Wade

N. G.

Hight

T. L.

Ripley

J. S.

McCullough

M. E.

Berry

J. W.

Schmitt

M. M.

Berry

J. T.

Bursley

K. H.

O’Connor

(2003). The Religious Commitment Inventory-10: Development, refinement, and validation of a brief scale for research and counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50(1), 84–96. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.50.1.84

71.

Wrzus

Hänel

Wagner

Neyer

F. J.

(2013). Social network changes and life events across the life span: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 53–80. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028601

72.

Zimmer

Jagger

Chiu

C. T.

Ofstedal

M. B.

Rojo

Saito

(2016). Spirituality, religiosity, aging and health in global perspective: A review. SSM—Population Health, 2, 373–381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2016.04.009

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.07 MB