Objectives: This study examined a community sample of older adults with schizophrenia to determine whether there were differences in religiousness with their age peers, to examine the relationship between religiousness and psychotic symptoms, and to see whether religiousness has direct or stress-buffering effects on quality of life.
Methods: The schizophrenia group consisted of 198 community-dwelling persons aged 55 and older who developed schizophrenia before age 45.A community comparison group (N=113) was recruited using randomly selected block groups. A seven-item religiousness scale was developed that consisted of three dimensions (salience, coping, and attendance). An adaptation of Pearlin and colleagues' Stress Process Model was used to examine the direct and buffering effects of religiousness on quality of life.
Results: Persons with schizophrenia had significantly lower levels of religiousness than their age peers, although this was due to less frequent religious attendance (four times a year versus once a month). Religiousness was not significantly associated with psychotic symptoms, nor did it have any buffering effects on the relationship between psychosis and quality of life. Religiousness had a significant, albeit modest, independent additive effect on quality of life, and it did not have any buffering effects on the four stressors that were significantly associated with quality of life.
Conclusions: Religiousness may have a favorable impact on the quality of life of older adults with schizophrenia, and it must be considered along with other therapeutically important agents.