Religiosity and Spirituality Development: An Accelerated Longitudinal Design

The central aim of the present study was to model developmental trends in communal and independent religious practices, spirituality, positive and negative religious/spiritual coping, as well as their confluence, across ages 45-80.

Participants derived from the Notre Dame Study of Health & Well-being (NDHWB), a longitudinal study spanning 10 years in an age-heterogeneous sample. Using 2-level multilevel models, we estimated no change, linear change, quadratic change, and cubic change functions across ages 45-80 in each construct. Cohort differences were also tested.

Communal and independent practices, spirituality, negative religious/spiritual coping, as well as composite religiosity/spirituality, followed cubic trajectories across mid- to later life. Communal religious practices peaked twice: once at 45 and again around age 70. Independent practices, in contrast, peaked at age 45 and then declined in a stage-like manner until age 80. Spirituality reached its nadir around age 50 and peaked in the early 70s; the reverse was true for negative religious/spiritual coping. The change trajectory in composite religiosity/spirituality most resembled that of independent religious practices. Finally, positive religious/spiritual coping followed a linear trajectory, but a cohort difference precluded its interpretation as developmental change.

Individuals appear to engage with their faith in different ways as they age, meaning extant conclusions about age-related differences and change in global religiosity/spirituality may be distorted.