ABSTRACT. This study examines the impact of religiosity on incidence and course of depressive syndromes in a community-based sample of older persons in the Netherlands (n=177). The course of depression was assessed in five waves of measurements, covering one year. Religiosity was operationalized as salience of religion as compared to the salience of other aspects of life. Religious salience was not associated with incidence of depression, but had a relatively strong association with improvement of depression among the respondents who were depressed at the first measurement. This association was most prominent among those with a poor physical health.
