Facets of Religion/Spirituality and Cognitive Health: Association Variations Across Gender and Race Among Older Adults

Religion and spirituality (R/S) may be associated with better cognitive health, yet most published studies have been conducted in primarily White populations without investigating association variations by gender and race. A cross-sectional analysis of 1,041 community-dwelling diverse older adults from the Philadelphia Healthy Brain Aging (PHBA) cohort study was conducted using multiple regression analysis. We examined associations between facets of R/S and total cognitive scores and performed stratification analysis separately by gender and race to explore potential gender- and race-specific variations. Higher non-organizational R/S was associated with lower cognitive scores, while greater religious and spiritual coping was associated with higher cognitive scores, controlling for age, education, chronic conditions, race, and financial constraints. Across gender and race variations, non-organizational R/S was associated with lower cognitive scores in women alone, with no variations across race. Higher religious and spiritual coping was associated with higher cognitive scores in both Black and White women, but not men, while higher religious and spiritual healing was associated with lower cognitive scores in Black women only. Associations between religious and spiritual facets and cognitive health differ across gender and race; longitudinal studies are needed.