Spiritual support and well-being in later life: revisiting the role of god-mediated control

ABSTRACT One central finding of the religion-health literature which has stood the test of time is that participation in religious congregations is linked with a vast array of health and mental health benefits in later life. In this study, we probe why this might be so by considering the role of spiritual support, defined as assistance given by fellow church members with the purpose of bolstering the religious beliefs and behaviors of the recipient. Using longitudinal data from a sample of older adults from the 2001–2004 Religion, Health, and Aging Study, results from lagged dependent variable models suggest that greater spiritual support at baseline was associated with lower depression, an association which was partially explained by perceptions of God-mediated control (viewing God as a collaborative partner). We situate our findings within socioemotional selectivity theory and gerotranscendence theory and offer practical implications of our results for religious or pastoral clinicians.