Demographic and socioeconomic predictors of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours in a prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England: Results from the parental generation [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]
Background: We explored associations between possible demographic and socioeconomic causes of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours (RSBB) in the parental generation of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Methods: We used a prospective birth cohort study (ALSPAC) in So...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wellcome
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Wellcome Open Research |
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| Online Access: | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/7-159/v2 |
| _version_ | 1827874811462811648 |
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| author | Kate Northstone Jean Golding Yasmin Iles-Caven Jimmy Morgan Hamid Reza Tohidinik Isaac Halstead Daniel Major-Smith |
| author_facet | Kate Northstone Jean Golding Yasmin Iles-Caven Jimmy Morgan Hamid Reza Tohidinik Isaac Halstead Daniel Major-Smith |
| author_sort | Kate Northstone |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: We explored associations between possible demographic and socioeconomic causes of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours (RSBB) in the parental generation of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Methods: We used a prospective birth cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England with 14,157 enrolled mothers and 14,154 associated partners. Three RSBB outcome measures collected during pregnancy were examined: religious belief (belief in God/a divine power; yes/not sure/no), religious affiliation (Christian/none/other) and religious attendance (frequency of attendance at a place of worship). Multiple demographic and socioeconomic exposures were assessed (23 in mothers and 22 in partners). We explored age-adjusted associations between each exposure and outcome using multinomial regression, in addition to exposure-age interactions. Results: Many demographic and socioeconomic factors were associated with RSBB, including age, ethnicity, marital status, education, income and deprivation. Overall, higher socioeconomic position was associated with increased levels of RSBB, particularly regarding religious attendance. For instance, compared to mothers with the lowest level of educational attainment, a degree-level education was associated with a six-fold increase in the relative risk ratio of religious attendance at least once a week, relative to not attending at all (RRR=5.90; 95% CI=[4.44; 7.86]). The magnitude of these associations often varied by outcome, e.g., income was associated with religious attendance, but only weakly with religious affiliation. Although results were demographically and socially patterned, overall effect sizes were relatively small, with a largest pseudo-R2 value of 2.4%. Patterns of association were similar for mothers and partners. Conclusion: The observed positive association between socioeconomic position and RSBB is contrary to much previous theoretical and empirical work. Potential reasons for these differences are discussed, including cross-cultural variation in religiosity and state support, and differences between RSBB measures. This descriptive paper can also help inform future studies using these data regarding the consideration of appropriate confounders. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:58:14Z |
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| id | doaj.art-dd9f0ca39edf4cffb4b7d03de3a45d03 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2398-502X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:58:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Wellcome |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wellcome Open Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-dd9f0ca39edf4cffb4b7d03de3a45d032023-08-08T01:00:00ZengWellcomeWellcome Open Research2398-502X2023-01-01720786Demographic and socioeconomic predictors of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours in a prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England: Results from the parental generation [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]Kate Northstone0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0602-1983Jean Golding1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2826-3307Yasmin Iles-Caven2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9965-9133Jimmy Morgan3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9935-732XHamid Reza Tohidinik4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0432-0357Isaac Halstead5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0463-4062Daniel Major-Smith6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6467-2023Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKCentre for Academic Child Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKCentre for Academic Child Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKCentre for Academic Child Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKCentre for Academic Child Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKCentre for Academic Child Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKCentre for Academic Child Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKBackground: We explored associations between possible demographic and socioeconomic causes of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours (RSBB) in the parental generation of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Methods: We used a prospective birth cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England with 14,157 enrolled mothers and 14,154 associated partners. Three RSBB outcome measures collected during pregnancy were examined: religious belief (belief in God/a divine power; yes/not sure/no), religious affiliation (Christian/none/other) and religious attendance (frequency of attendance at a place of worship). Multiple demographic and socioeconomic exposures were assessed (23 in mothers and 22 in partners). We explored age-adjusted associations between each exposure and outcome using multinomial regression, in addition to exposure-age interactions. Results: Many demographic and socioeconomic factors were associated with RSBB, including age, ethnicity, marital status, education, income and deprivation. Overall, higher socioeconomic position was associated with increased levels of RSBB, particularly regarding religious attendance. For instance, compared to mothers with the lowest level of educational attainment, a degree-level education was associated with a six-fold increase in the relative risk ratio of religious attendance at least once a week, relative to not attending at all (RRR=5.90; 95% CI=[4.44; 7.86]). The magnitude of these associations often varied by outcome, e.g., income was associated with religious attendance, but only weakly with religious affiliation. Although results were demographically and socially patterned, overall effect sizes were relatively small, with a largest pseudo-R2 value of 2.4%. Patterns of association were similar for mothers and partners. Conclusion: The observed positive association between socioeconomic position and RSBB is contrary to much previous theoretical and empirical work. Potential reasons for these differences are discussed, including cross-cultural variation in religiosity and state support, and differences between RSBB measures. This descriptive paper can also help inform future studies using these data regarding the consideration of appropriate confounders.https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/7-159/v2ALSPAC religion confounding bias socioeconomic position descriptive studyeng |
| spellingShingle | Kate Northstone Jean Golding Yasmin Iles-Caven Jimmy Morgan Hamid Reza Tohidinik Isaac Halstead Daniel Major-Smith Demographic and socioeconomic predictors of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours in a prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England: Results from the parental generation [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] Wellcome Open Research ALSPAC religion confounding bias socioeconomic position descriptive study eng |
| title | Demographic and socioeconomic predictors of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours in a prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England: Results from the parental generation [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] |
| title_full | Demographic and socioeconomic predictors of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours in a prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England: Results from the parental generation [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] |
| title_fullStr | Demographic and socioeconomic predictors of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours in a prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England: Results from the parental generation [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] |
| title_full_unstemmed | Demographic and socioeconomic predictors of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours in a prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England: Results from the parental generation [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] |
| title_short | Demographic and socioeconomic predictors of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours in a prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) in Southwest England: Results from the parental generation [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations] |
| title_sort | demographic and socioeconomic predictors of religious spiritual beliefs and behaviours in a prospective cohort study alspac in southwest england results from the parental generation version 2 peer review 2 approved 1 approved with reservations |
| topic | ALSPAC religion confounding bias socioeconomic position descriptive study eng |
| url | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/7-159/v2 |
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