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Functional Limitations and Religious Service Attendance in Later Life

Barrier and/or Benefit Mechanism?

^a Department of Sociology and Gerontology Program, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

Jessica A. Kelley-Moore, Purdue University, 1365 Stone Hall, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1365 E-mail: kelleyj{at}sri.soc.purdue.edu.

Objectives. Why do some studies report a negative relationship between religious service attendance and functional limitations? Two possible mechanisms, the health benefit mechanism and the functional barrier mechanism, were systematically examined.

Methods. With 2 waves of a national probability sample of adults aged 60 years and older, this research used structural equation models to estimate the influence of these 2 mechanisms.

Results. Results indicated that functional limitations were associated with less frequent religious service attendance at the same wave, largely because of the barrier mechanism; no support was found for the benefit mechanism. Neither mechanism was significant over time.

Discussion. Findings suggest that there is a temporal and salient decline in social activities such as religious service attendance when lower body functional limitations are highest. However, long-term engagement in religious service attendance is not predicted by baseline functional limitations, indicating that there are not long-term declines in attendance because of higher levels of functional limitations.

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