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The Role of the Religious Social Context Phd Thesis

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The Role of the Religious Social Context Phd Thesis Ageing outcomes in women and men in Ireland: the role of the religious social context PhD Thesis Submitted: 30th April 2020 Joanna Orr MSc Supervisors: Rose Anne Kenny & Christine McGarrigle 1 2 Declaration I declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other university and it is entirely my own work. I agree to deposit this thesis in the University’s open access institutional repository or allow the Library to do so on my behalf, subject to Irish Copyright Legislation and Trinity College Library conditions of use and acknowledgement. I consent to the examiner retaining a copy of the thesis beyond the examining period, should they so wish (EU GDPR May 2018). This thesis uses data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Joanna Orr Signed: Date: 3 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the great contribution to knowledge and research made by all the participants of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Their commitment, time and effort has ensured the creation of a high-quality dataset which has already had a large impact on public health in Ireland. I also would like to thank the eleven women who consented to be interviewed for the qualitative section of this thesis. Apart from gracefully allowing me to ask them questions about their lives and providing rich, engaging data, their insight was invaluable in shaping my understanding of their Ireland. I am very grateful to the Irish Research Council for funding this PhD project. I also would like to thank my friends and family for their unending support. In particular, Paula, Leo, Tom, Siobhan, Deirdre, Louise, Carlijn and Sinead for proofreading, Eileen and George for the moral support, Victor for constant encouragement and patience, and Aymara for being my biggest motivation and favourite distraction. Finally, I owe thanks to the whole TILDA team, including nurses, researchers and administrative staff. The knowledge and collaboration within TILDA have made it a wonderful place to spend the last few years and I have learned so much. Special thanks to Dan Carey, Katy Tobin and Mark Ward, as well as Linda Hogan. Most of all, thank you to my two brilliant supervisors, Rose Anne Kenny and Christine McGarrigle. They both encouraged me to take this project on and guided me throughout, and it would not have been completed without them. I am so grateful to them both. 4 Table of Contents Declaration .................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... 8 List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ 9 List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. 10 Thesis Abstract ............................................................................................................................ 11 Lay Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 12 Aims and Hypotheses .................................................................................................................. 13 Value of Research ....................................................................................................................... 14 Outputs ........................................................................................................................................ 15 Chapter 1: Background ............................................................................................................... 17 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 18 1.1.1 How does the social context influence health? .......................................................... 18 1.1.2 Women’s health research ........................................................................................... 20 1.1.3 What do we know about gendered health outcomes in older age in Ireland? ............ 20 1.2 Religion and health ........................................................................................................... 21 1.2.1 Spirituality vs religion: Definitions ............................................................................ 25 1.2.2 Religion and mental health ......................................................................................... 26 1.2.3 Religion and physical health ...................................................................................... 27 1.2.4 Religion and cognition ............................................................................................... 28 1.2.5 Religion, fertility and health ...................................................................................... 29 1.2.6 Health and the nonreligious ....................................................................................... 30 1.3 The Irish social context ..................................................................................................... 30 1.3.1 Religious belief and practice ...................................................................................... 31 1.3.2 Religious influence on education ............................................................................... 33 1.3.3 Religious influence over health and healthcare provision .......................................... 34 1.3.4 Family formation and trajectories .............................................................................. 35 1.3.5 Labour-force participation ......................................................................................... 37 1.3.6 Church abuse scandals ............................................................................................... 38 1.3.7 Disaffiliation and estrangement from the Church in Ireland ...................................... 38 1.4 Theoretical frameworks .................................................................................................... 40 1.4.1 Biopsychosocial model .............................................................................................. 40 5 1.4.2 Social identity theory and person-culture fit .............................................................. 40 1.4.3 Life course approach to health ................................................................................... 41 1.5 The current thesis .............................................................................................................. 42 1.5.1 Research aims ............................................................................................................ 42 1.5.2 Thesis outline ............................................................................................................. 45 Chapter 2: Methodology ............................................................................................................. 47 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 48 2.2 Quantitative phase ............................................................................................................. 48 2.2.1 TILDA baseline (Wave 1) .......................................................................................... 49 2.2.2 TILDA follow-up (Waves 2, 3, 4 and 5) .................................................................... 50 2.2.3 Measures .................................................................................................................... 53 2.2.4 Analysis strategies...................................................................................................... 54 2.2.5 Missing data and attrition ........................................................................................... 54 2.3 Individual study designs ................................................................................................... 54 2.3.1. Study 1 ...................................................................................................................... 54 2.3.2. Study 2 ...................................................................................................................... 55 2.3.3. Study 3 ...................................................................................................................... 55 2.3.4. Study 4 ...................................................................................................................... 55 2.3.5. Study 5 ...................................................................................................................... 56 Chapter 3: Higher parity is associated with lower mortality in a European population of women with high fertility: results from Ireland ....................................................................................... 61 Chapter 4: Longitudinal associations of religiosity and physical function in older Irish adults. 80 Chapter 5: Religious attendance, religious importance, and the pathways to depressive symptoms in men and women aged 50 and over living in Ireland .............................................
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