Previous literature on religion and sexual behavior has focused on narrow definitions of religiosity, including religious affiliation, religious participation, or forms of religiousness (e.g., intrinsic religiosity). Trends toward more permissive premarital sexual activity in the North American Christian-Judeo religion support the secularization hypothesis of religion, which posits an increasin...

This study explores the relationship between several personal religion-related variables and social behaviour, using three paradigmatic economic games: the dictator (DG), ultimatum (UG), and trust (TG) games. A large carefully designed sample of the urban adult population in Granada (Spain) is employed (N = 766). From participants' decisions in these games we obtain measures of altruism, bargai...

BACKGROUND The religious beliefs and spirituality of patients on hemodialysis (HD) therapy have not been studied extensively. Studies of the dialysis population seem to indicate that religion may be associated with increased patient satisfaction with life and increased levels of social support. METHODS Using multiple religiosity scales and scales to assess patient satisfaction with life and s...

Several recent studies have examined the connection between religion and medical service utilization. This relationship is complicated because religiosity may be associated with beliefs that either promote or hinder medical helpseeking. The current study uses structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between religion and fertility-related helpseeking using a probability sample of...

Recent reviews suggest that religiosity is associated with the delay of adolescent coital debut (Rostosky, Wilcox, Wright, Randall, in press; Wilcox, Rostosky, Randall, Wright, 2001). Few studies, however, have examined this association using longitudinal data to test theoretically driven models. We analyzed data from 3,691 adolescents (ages 15-21), testing the hypothesis that adolescent religi...

BACKGROUND Utilization of religious institutions is one of the strategies for HIV prevention in Uganda. There is limited data on the association between religiosity and HIV infection rates. OBJECTIVE To determine the association between religiosity and HIV prevalence rates among Christians. METHODS An unmatched case-control study was done. Data from 106 HIV positive cases and 424 HIV negati...

Patient-centered care is widely supported by physicians, but this wide-spread support potentially obscures the social patterning of clinical interactions. We know that patients often want religious/spiritual conversations in the context of medical care but the provision is infrequent. As there is regional variance in religiosity, a gap in the literature exists regarding whether patient populati...

Some studies suggest that religiosity may be related to health outcomes. The current investigation, involving 92,395 Women's Health Initiative Observational Study participants, examined the prospective association of religious affiliation, religious service attendance, and strength and comfort from religion with subsequent cardiovascular outcomes and death. Baseline characteristics and response...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this observational study was to describe the associations between cultural beliefs that are prevalent in older African Americans and adherence to diabetes self-management (DSM) behaviors. METHODS In a community population of 110 older African Americans with type 2 diabetes, the investigators administered surveys that assess present time orientation (PTO), future time ...

OBJECTIVES Previous research has identified an inverse relationship between religiosity/spirituality and depressive symptoms. However, prospective studies are needed. This study investigates the association between antenatal religiosity/spirituality and postpartum depression, controlling for antenatal depressive symptoms, social support, and other potential confounders. METHODS This is a pros...