Sexual Abuse and Depression: exploratory research into the possible
moderating effects of Religious Practices
Megan Everts
Supervisor: Dr. Henny Bos
University of Amsterdam
Department of Pedagogical science
Abstract
Sexual abuse has long-lasting negative consequences on the physical and mental health of victims. One of the main impacts is the presence of depression symptoms. Religiousness is often used as a coping mechanism in highly stressful situations such as the experience of traumatic events. Little is known about whether this coping mechanism is successful in reducing
depression symptoms, and in which ways. In order to investigate this, this study used a sample of 4134 religious people from the Adolescent health data (Add-health) in order to investigate
whether participation in church-related activities, turning towards religion for problem-solving, frequency of private prayer and the importance of religion moderate the relationship between sexual abuse and depression. Higher participation in church-related activities significantly reduced depression symptoms in sexual abuse victims, and sexual abuse was consistently related to more depressive symptoms. Further directions are discussed.
Introduction
Generally, people who are religious tend to use religious practices, such as prayer, or participation in church-based activities (for example going to mass, or volunteering within the church community), as coping strategies following stressful life events. These coping strategies aim both at reducing hyper arousal -such as excessive heart rate or increased alertness- on a daily basis and dealing with upcoming negative emotions (Gall, Basque, Damasco-Scott, & Vardy, 2007). Two aspects of religious belief can be distinguished (that can occur simultaneously, or not). Literature refers to “one’s private relationship with a higher power” and the participation in religion-based activities with a community of members (Sigurvinsdottir, Asgeirsdottir, Ullman, & Sigfusdottir, 2017). These can be either positive coping mechanisms-such as experiencing spiritual connectedness or seeking help from church members- or negative coping mechanisms- such as feeling of being punished by God and dissatisfaction with relationships within religious community - (Bjorck & Thurman, 2007). Although there are various definitions of religiousness, in the present study religiousness is defined as one’s self-identification as religious.
Sexual Abuse and Depression
Sexual abuse can be considered a highly stressful life event, resulting in high rates of mental health problems, including mood disorders, depression, PTSD. In a review of clinical literature, Browne and Finkelhor, (1986) identify depression as one of the main long-term consequences of sexual abuse. Victims of sexual abuse are found to be significantly more likely than the general population to attempt suicide. Depression symptoms such as low self-esteem or feelings of loneliness are also commonly recorded. The impacts of sexual abuse also seem to prevail on the long-term (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986). For example, a phenomenon observed in people who have been victims of childhood sexual abuse is that they maintain a feeling of
isolation throughout adulthood (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986). Sexual abuse has a high prevalence. Specifically, childhood sexual abuse has a prevalence of 26.6% amongst girls and 5.1% amongst boys (Finkelhor, Shattuck, Turner, & Hamby, 2014).
Religion and Mental Health
Not all people who are victims of sexual abuse experience psychopathology. It is important, therefore, to explore protective factors. In therapeutic settings, it has been deemed important to utilize patient’s existing strengths and resources in order to best support recovery (Walker, Reese, Hughes, & Troskie, 2010). Cultural beliefs and practices are highly present in people’s lives and could be part of their resources. As a matter of fact, the American Psychology Association recommends the understanding of how religion can both benefit and harm
individuals and families in order to use this in treatment (https://www.apa.org, 2019). This is especially important in order to move towards strength-based and culturally sensitive
psychotherapy. Sexual abuse, for instance, has a similar prevalence within secular and religious groups, however the latter might require adapted treatment (Rosmarin, Pirutinsky, Appel, Kaplan, & Pelcovitz, 2018). For instance, in the united states, one of the core resilience factors of African-American women victims of sexual abuse is strong religious faith (Singh, Garnett, & Williams, 2013). However, little is known as to how religion could be a successful coping mechanism in the face of traumatic incidents.
Research has found two main ways in which sexual abuse could affect religiosity. First, sexual abuse seems to deeply disrupt pre-existing religious beliefs, and people who are victims of sexual abuse tend to view God as a negative, threatening entity, or to altogether renounce spirituality. Nevertheless, religious people who were victims of sexual abuse also tend to use religion as a coping mechanism (Sigurvinsdottir et al., 2017; Gall et al., 2007). Positive religious
coping strategies are seen to lead to better outcomes, resulting in less rise in depression following an accumulation of stressful life events compared to negative religious coping strategies (Bjorck & Thurman, 2007). Similarly, spirituality has been seen to contribute to posttraumatic growth (Cadell, Regehr, & Hemsworth, 2003). For religious people, the ability to use religion as a positive coping strategy can be a protective factor against certain negative effects of sexual abuse. For instance, belief and connection with a benevolent God figure, one that nurtures hope and self-acceptance, are related to less negative mood compared to victims of interpersonal abuse who view God as punishing (Gall, 2006). When negative coping strategies are used, the risk for depression has been seen to increase compared to people who use positive religious coping strategies (Gall, 2006).
Possible explanations
One hypothesis is that, for victims of interpersonal abuse, God acts as a stable and secure attachment figure (Gall, Basque, Damasco-Scott, & Vardy, 2007). Indeed, in situations that are stressful, perceived support is an important component in reducing the risk and severity of mental health problems. Sigfusdottir, Thorlindsson, and Bjarnason, (2007) note that most research in this field has been directed towards parental support, nevertheless it may be the case that certain cultural practices or institutional support, such as perceived religious support could also be buffers against increased mental health problems. McCullough, Michael,Willoughby, Brian, (2000) also suggest that religiosity might increase the ability to self-regulate through the exertion of rituals. This communication might also foster a sense of belonging and hope. Because results differ depending on types of religious practice, it seems important to investigate
mediators and moderators, in order to understand which aspects of religiosity might foster resilience.
The Present Study
Most previous research on the topic of religiosity as coping mechanism focuses on positive versus negative interactions with a higher figure. Little is known as to whether the form of the practice itself makes a difference in the impact of religiosity on mental health. Previous research on the topic does not address traumatic experience. For instance, there is evidence that church attendance could reduce risk for mortality, although not if participants were
simultaneously experiencing religious struggle (Pargament et al., 2001). Findings were less conclusive in the area of private religiousness, such as frequency of prayer at home, did not predictively reduce risk of mortality (McCullough et al., 2000). The proposed purpose of this research is to evaluate whether the importance of religion, the frequency of individual prayer, the frequency of participation in church-related activities, and turning towards religion in problem-situations are moderators of the relationship between sexual abuse and depression.
Figure 1. Exploratory research into the moderating effects of religious practices on the relationship between sexual abuse and depression
Method
Participants
For the present study, data were used from the public-use sample of the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health (Add Health) Wave IV. The total dataset comprised 5,114 participants. They were aged 7-12 years old when they took part in wave I, and 24-32 years old in wave IV. Inclusion criteria for the current study were; identifying as religious at the time of the wave IV interview and replying either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to having been victim of
physically forced sexual abuse, which means that those who refused to answer on this question or answered “don’t know” were excluded from the analytic sample. Additionally, people who replied, ‘don’t know’, or ‘refused’ as well as missing values on the moderation variables were excluded from the present study. This resulted in a total analytic sample size of 4134 participants for this study (56% female and 44% male). The mean age was 29 years old (SD = 1.785, range: 24-35).
Regarding ethnicities, the majority of participants of the analytic sample identified as white (69.1%). Other ethnicities represented were African or African American (27%), American Indian or Alaska Native (0.70%), and Asian or Pacific Islander (3%). Eight different religions were represented (Protestant, other Christian communities, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist Muslim Hindu and Other), with a majority of protestant participants (40.5%). Participants were asked about their educational level. They were grouped into participants who went to college or vocational training (64.3%), participants who stopped their education at high school level or under (26.8%), and participants who went higher than college or vocational training (9%).
Procedure
The participants were 7-12 years old when they took part in wave I of the Add Health, and 24-32 years old in wave IV ("Add Health", 2019). At wave I, 80 schools were selected through Quality Education Data, Inc. Systematic sampling methods and implicit stratification were applied. Students whose parents agreed then did an in-class questionnaire. Pupils (N=17) were chosen randomly from each stratum, which resulted in about 200 students per school. This resulted in a sample of 6504 at wave I. The at-home interviews lasted between 1 and 2 hours depending on participant age. For less sensitive questions, the interviewer read the questions aloud (through CAPI- Computer Assisted Personal Interview). For more sensitive questions, pre-recorded questions were delivered through earphones (through CASI- Computer Assisted Self Interview). At wave VI, the sample size was of 5,114 participants. Another at-home interview was conducted in 2008 with the same participants as in wave I (except for those who had dropped out), with a few additional questions that were more relevant to their status of young adults, such as any sociodemographic transitions, or marriage and pregnancy. Data were collected by RTI International with the University of North Carolina ("Add Health", 2019). At wave VI, The Add Health procedures (Wave I -Wave IV) were all approved by the Public Health IRB from the University of North Carolina. At Wave I written informed consent for all waves of the Add Health was obtained from the participants and their parents. For more information of the design and procedure of the Add Health, see:
Instruments
Data were collected through at-home interviews administered by a computer-assisted personal interview for less sensitive questions, such as those concerning religion and religious practices, and a computer-assisted self-interview for more sensitive questions, such as those concerning sexual abuse. The interview lasted approximately 90 minutes.
Sexual abuse. Participants were asked: “Have you ever been physically forced to have any type of sexual activity against your will? Do not include any experiences with a parent or adult caregiver.” Answers included: no, yes, Refused and don't know. Only participants who answered “no’ (0) or ‘yes’ (1) were included into the present analytic sample.
Depression. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD). This scale includes 5 items regarding depression symptoms
experienced in the past week (e.g. ‘past 7 days trouble concentrating’). Answer categories ranged from 0 (never) to 4 (very frequently). For the analyses the mean score of the 5 items was
conducted and high scores on the CESD variable indicated high scores on depression (Cronbach’s alpha= .78).
The frequency of participation in church-related activities was measured in the following question: “How often have you attended church, synagogue, temple, mosque, or religious services in the past 12 months?” With responses ranging from 0 (never) to 5 (more than once a week), excluding those who responded, ‘don't know’.
The importance of religion was measured with the question “How important (if at all) is your religious faith to you?” With responses ranging from 1 (not important) to 4 (more important than anything else), excluding those who responded, ‘don't know’ or ‘refused’.
The frequency of individual prayer was measured with the question “How often do you pray privately, that is, when you're alone in places other than a church, synagogue, temple, mosque, or religious assembly?” With responses ranging from 0 (Never) to 7 (more than once a day), excluding those who responded, ‘don't know’ or ‘refused’.
Turning towards religion in problem-situations was measured with the question “How often do you turn to your religious or spiritual beliefs for help when you have personal problems, or problems at school or work?” With responses ranging from 0 (Never) to 4 (very often)
excluding those who responded, ‘don't know’ or ‘refused’.
Analysis
Descriptive statistics (percentages and mean scores) were used to investigate for the whole analytic sample: (1) how many people reported sexual abuse, (2) the mean scores on participation in church-related activities, turning towards religion for problem-solving, frequency of individual prayer, the importance of religion, and the mean score on depression. To ensure that the effects of sexual abuse on depression could not be attributed to the associations with social demographics, preliminary analyses were carried out. It was examined whether gender, age, education and ethnicity were significantly associated with depression. For gender, education and ethnicity T-tests were used to assess differences in depression. For age a Pearson r
correlation was calculated to investigate the association between age and depression. Demographic variables that were significantly associated with depression were included as
covariates in the rest of the analyses. Before that the moderator analyses were carried out, we calculated the bivariate associations between all studied variables (sexual abuse, different religious practices, and depression).
Following this, moderation analyses were carried out for each moderation variable individually to investigate whether they changed the relationship between sexual abuse and depression. For these analyses the PROCESS macro (model 1) developed by Hayes (2013) was used. In each analysis sexual abuse was the independent, and depression the dependent variable. In each analysis the moderator and the interaction between the moderator and sexual abuse were also entered. There is an indicator that there is a significant moderation effect when the: (1) R2 change is significant and (2) interaction is significant. If there is a significant interaction a simple slope will be computed for the interpretation of the interaction. When none of the R2 changes will be significant a multiple regression analysis will be conducted without taking into account the interactions. With this additional analysis it will be investigated which of the studied variables (ethnicity, gender, education, sexual abuse, participation in church-related activities, turning towards religion to solve problems, the importance of religion and the frequency of individual prayer) is independently predicting depression.
All the analyses were carried out in SPSS version 25. In case that one of the
demographics is significantly related to depression, the variable(s) will be entered as controlling variable in the above described analyses.
Results
Table 1 shows the overall descriptive for all studied variables. It revealed that 347 (8.39%) participants reported having been victims of sexual abuse. Mean scores on in church-related activities was .73 (SD = 1.29), with 35.5% of participants partaking in these activities at least a few times. For turning to religion for problem-solving it was 2.54 (SD=1.34), with 89.2% of participants doing this at least seldom. For frequency of individual prayer, the mean was 4.68 (SD=2.25), with 93.1% of participants praying individually at least once a month. For the importance of religion, it was 2.78 (SD=.75), with 95.5% of participants considering religion at least somewhat important. Finally, for depression the mean score was 0.52 (SD= 0.51).
Preliminary analyses: Associations between demographics and depression.
Depression was significantly correlated with gender, education and ethnicity (Table 2). It revealed that women scored higher levels of depression than men. Participants with lower
academic achievements also reported higher scores on depression compared to those with higher levels of education. Higher scores on depression were also reported by people of color in
comparison to people who identified as white. Therefore, gender, education, and ethnicity were used as controlling variables in the rest if the analyses.
Bivariate associations between studied variables
Partial Pearson r correlation (controlling for gender, ethnicity and education) showed that depression was significantly correlated with sexual abuse. Participants who had experienced sexual abuse were more likely to suffer from depression symptoms. Sexual abuse was also found to be significantly correlated with turning towards religion for problem solving, frequency of individual prayer, and the reported importance of religion. Having experienced sexual abuse was
related with higher scores on these three religious behaviors compared to participants who were not victims of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse did not appear to be significantly correlated to one’s participation in church-based activities (see Table 3).
Partial Pearson’s r correlation was also conducted to evaluate the relationship of the four religion-variables with depression. It revealed that depression was correlated with importance attributed to religion. People who suffered from depression at the time of the interview attributed more importance to religion than their counterparts. Experiencing more depression symptoms was also significantly correlated with participation in church-related activities, this appeared to be less frequent in participants who had more depression symptoms (see Table 3).
The correlation analysis finally revealed the relationship of all four religion-variables with each other. The more importance participants attributed to religion, the more they were likely to report higher scores on participation in church-related activities, frequency of individual prayer and turning towards religion for problem-solving. Participation in church-related was also significantly related to a higher tendency to pray at home and to turn towards religion to solve problems. It was finally revealed that frequently praying at home was related to a higher tendency to turn towards religion to solve problems and to pray individually (see Table 3)
Moderation analysis
The PROCESS Macro tool by Andrew Hayes (Hayes, 2013) was used to investigate whether each religious behavior individually had an effect on the relationship between sexual abuse and depression. For the analyses with participation in church related activities as moderator R² is not significant, F(1, 4104)= .28, p=.596, R²=.00, indication that this religious variable is not a moderator. For the analyses with the importance of religion as moderator, the results were not
significant F(1, 4103)= .77, p= .379, R²=.00. With the importance of religion as moderator, the interaction was not significant F(1, 4105)= .46, p=.500, R²=.00, meaning this was not a significant moderator. Finally, the frequency of individual prayer was not either a significant moderator of the relationship between sexual abuse and depression F(1, 4104)= .03, p=864, R²=.000. In sum, none of the religion-variables revealed to influence the association between sexual abuse and depression.
Predictors of depression. Because the regression models including the interactions were not significant, we investigated which of the studied variables was significantly independently correlated with depression without taking into account the interaction variables. It revealed that including ethnicity, gender, sexual abuse, education and four the religious variables accounted for 7% of the variance in depression, F (8,4095) = 38.13, p < .0001. Table 4 shows that the variables that were significantly associated in the regression model with depression were: education, sexual abuse, ethnicity, gender, participation in church-related activities. The directions of these relationships were the same as in the results of the partial Pearson’s r correlation. The standardized beta’s shows that education has the strongest association with depression, followed by sexual abuse.
Further Analysis
Due to the data answer categories of the moderation variables being skewed, further analyses were conducted (see Table 5). The religion variables (participation in church-related activities, turning towards religion to solve problems, importance of religion and frequency of individual prayer) were recoded into categorical data with answer options to participation in church-related activities, turning towards religion for problem-solving and individual prayer
being recoded as ‘no/yes’. Answer categories for importance of religion were recoded into ‘not important/important’.
Using this method, we found one significant interaction between sexual abuse, participation in church-related activities and depression F(1, 4104)=9.81, p=.002, R2=.00. Having been a victim of sexual abuse was consistently and significantly related to more depression. Nevertheless, the model including participation in church-related activities had a stronger negative effect, meaning that the relationship between sexual abuse and depression was significantly weaker in participants who took part in church-related activities (b = .15, se b = .04, CI [.26, .40], p < .001) than in those who did not (b=.33, SE b = .04, 95% CI [.26,.40], t=9.34, p<.001).
For the other moderation variables, no significant interaction was found using categorical answers, with turning towards religion to solve problems F(1, 4103)= 47.18, p=.142, R²=.07, the importance attributed to religion F(1, 4105)= 46.65, p=.56, R²=.064 and frequency of individual prayer F(1, 4104)= 46.52, p=.864, R²=.06 not significantly changing the relationship between sexual abuse and depression.
Discussion
The aim of this research was to evaluate whether various religious activities moderated the effect of sexual abuse on depression. These included; participation in church-related activities, turning towards religion for problem-solving, frequency of individual prayer and importance attributed to religion. To date, most studies about the impact of religion as coping strategy focus on positive versus negative attitudes towards a higher figure. For instance,
whether people who were victims of abuse fostered a relationship with a nurturing God figure or one who induced guilt and blame (Bjorck & Thurman, 2007). These found that a positive
relationship with a higher figure could foster resilience (Bjorck & Thurman, 2007). In order to expand the knowledge on this topic this study additionally investigates whether different types of religious practices could have a more or less beneficial impact on mental health problems
resulting from interpersonal abuse.
It was found that participation in one religious activity, such as prayer at home, was significantly correlated with participation in the other kinds of religious practices, such as turning towards religion for problem-solving. The more a participant gave importance to religion the more they will tend to turn towards religion to solve problems, attribute importance to religion and participate in church-related activities. This suggests that for religious people, religion is both a social, interactive activity (participation in church-related activities) and a private one (individual prayer).
Unsurprisingly, a significant relationship was found between sexual abuse and depression symptoms, even after controlling for gender, ethnicity and education. This is also what has been found in previous research, which has suggested that one of the main consequences of sexual abuse is the experience of depression symptoms, in the immediacy following the traumatic event and on the long-term (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986).
Initially, no significant interaction was found between participation in church-related activities, turning towards religion for problem-solving, the importance of religion, frequency of individual prayer and sexual abuse and depression. The fact that there was no significant effect of most religious behaviors on the interaction between sexual abuse and depression confirms the fact that, as suggested by previous research, the impacts of sexual abuse are robust and
long-lasting (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986). Many reviews and meta-analysis have investigated the long-term effects of sexual abuse on physical and mental health. One of the most recurrent findings is the prevalence of depressive symptoms (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986). For instance, in a community sample, it was found that women who had been victims of sexual abuse were almost twice as likely to have suffered a major depressive episode in their life compared to their counterparts. Larger studies found similar results in male populations (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986). Males who were victims of sexual abuse also scored significantly higher on depression and anxiety then people who had not been victims of interpersonal abuse (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986).
However, when recoding the data into categorical answer categories, a significant interaction was found between sexual abuse, participation in church-related activities and
depression. It seems to be that taking part in church-related activities reduces the effect of sexual abuse on depression for religious people. Two streams have hypothesized on how religion might reduce depressive symptoms (Robins & Fiske, 2009). The first suggests that religious beliefs themselves reduce depressive symptoms, whilst other theorists suggest that it is rather the support network created in religious communities that can reduce depressive symptoms. Our findings are in line with the latter theory. Indeed, results suggest it is the interactive practice of religion that could have a beneficial effect on depressive symptoms (Robins & Fiske, 2009). Although most religions state a moral imperative against suicide which might explain why people of religious affiliation with depression are less likely to commit suicide, this does not explain the significantly lower depressive symptoms, nor the absence of interaction between private prayer practices and depressive symptoms. Lower depressive symptoms might be related to community support received as part of participating in church-activities. It is hypothesized
that, in agreement with Robins and Fiske, (2009), this could create a sense of belonging (Robins & Fiske, 2009). This is an important resilience factor for victims of interpersonal abuse. Indeed, Kessler and Magee, (1994) found that chronic depression in adulthood following childhood interpersonal abuse was mediated by stressful interpersonal relationships in adulthood. Indeed, individuals who did not have stressful relationships in adulthood were not found to suffer from chronic depression. Therefore, it could be beneficial for future research to seek to confirm this hypothesis by measuring the amount of support received by individuals at their church and the correlation of this with depressive symptoms, in individuals who were and were not victims of interpersonal abuse.
Some considerations about this study are further discussed. For instance, the type of sexual abuse analyzed is quite restricted and might have affected the results. This study only includes victims of physically forced sexual abuse. The impact might be stronger than for victims of non-physically forced sexual abuse and might make it more difficult to use coping strategies. In addition, this study excludes victims of intra-familial abuse, who commonly score higher on symptoms of depression than other victims of sexual abuse. Results might not be generalizable to all categories of abuse reported (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986).
It might also be useful to examine the effects of religion for different communities. For instance, some communities might experience more daily stressors akin to social strata or ethnicity. Additionally, various communities or individuals might consider religion more or less as a coping strategy. As found in this paper, different aspects of religious practices are often strongly intercorrelated, however, people can abide to religious systems for very different reasons. These different attitudes towards one’s religious practice could lead to different outcomes. White women attending healing support groups felt benefits compared to
African-American women in the same groups (they were a minority) (Singh et al., 2013). However, American women benefited more from connections and interactions with other African-American women in religious contexts (Singh et al., 2013). A future direction could be to investigate whether people who are victims of sexual abuse intentionally participate in religious activities as coping strategies, or whether these are simply habitual activities.
To conclude, no interaction was found between turning towards religion for problem-solving, the importance of religion, individual prayer and sexual abuse and depression. In accordance with previous research, sexual abuse was found to be consistently correlated with higher prevalence of depressive symptoms. This study supports previous findings suggesting that rather than religion itself, it is the social support received by the church community that might benefit abuse victims (Robins & Fiske, 2009). Future research could aim to correlate the amount and quality of perceived support received by religious people victims of interpersonal abuse in their church community with the amount of mental health problems encounters. Implications would be to encourage clinicians to adapt their practice to the cultural environment in which patients live. Additionally, sexual abuse still has a high prevalence amongst religious and non-religious communities. It seems important to make non-religious communities aware of the beneficial impact they can have on the overall health of other community members by fostering an open and welcoming environment for victims of abuse, and to continue raising awareness of its’ prevalence.
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Tables Table 1 Sociodemographic N M, SD % Sex Males 1819 44% Females 2315 56% Age Level of education 29.0, 1.78
Lower than college 1107 26.8%
College or vocational training 2657 64.3%
Higher than college or vocational
training 370 9% Ethnicity White 2853 69.1% People of color 1530 37% Religious Identification Protestant 1675 40.5% Catholic communities 925 22.4% Another Cristian 1128 27% Jewish 34 .8% Buddhist 24 .6% Muslim 14 .3% Hindu 4 .1% Other 330 8%
Table 2
Association between depression and sociodemographic variables
Depression T/F p Sex -6.49 .001 Males .46 Females .56 Age .49 .607 Level of education 6.97 .001
Lower than college
College or vocational training Higher than college or vocational training
Ethnicity -5.56 .001
White .49
People of color .52
Table 3
Partial correlation of sexual abuse, participation in church related activities, turning towards religion for problem solving, frequency of individual prayer, importance of religion and depression
M (SD) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
1.Sexual abuse
2.Participation in church-related activities 0.73 (1.29) .02*
3.Turning to religion for solving problems 2.35 (1.33) .05* .35* 4.Frequency of individual prayer 4.68 (2.25) .05* .32* .71*
5. Importance of religion 2.78 (0.75) .03* .41* .63* .05*
6.Depression 0.51 (0.50) .14* -.04* .04 .05* .01
Note: *p<.05; 1 0=yes, 1=no;
2 0 'Never' 1 'A few times' 2 'Once a month' 3 '2 or 3 times a month' 4 'Once a week' 5 'More than once a week';
3 0 'Never' 1 'Seldom' 2 'Sometimes' 3 'Often' 4 'Very often';
4 0 'Never' 1 'Less than once a month' 2 'Once a month' 3 'A few times a month' 4 'Once a week' 5 'A few times a week' 6 'Once a day' 7 'More than once a day';
5 1 'Not important' 2 'Somewhat important' 3 'Very important' 4 'More important than anything else';
Table 4
Individual Predictors of Depression
Dependent variable: Depression Predictors b SE b p CI Lower bound CI Upper bound Ethnicity -.08 .02 .001 -.06 -.13 Sex -.09 .02 .001 -.06 -.12 Education -.15 .01 .001 -.16 -.11 Sexual abuse -.14 .03 .001 -.21 -.31
Participation in church related activities -.07 .01 .001 -.04 -.01 Turning towards religion for problem-solving -.03 .01 .266 -.01 -.03
The importance of religion -.02 .01 .256 -.05 -.01
Table 5
Moderation table for participation in church-related activities with two categorical answer categories
Dependent variable: Depression
Predictors b SE b t p LLCI ULCI
Ethnicity -.10 .01 -6.02 .001 -.06 -.13
Sex -.09 .01 -6.00 .001 -.06 -.12
Education -.13 .01 -9.74 .001 -.15 -.10
Sexual abuse -.33 .04 -9.34 .001 -.26 -.04
Participation in church-related activities -.04 .02 -2.65 .008 -.08 -.01
