Mental Health and Religious Attendance

Maselko and Buka (2008) published findings this month that they suggest indicate a benefit in continuous religious practice for women. Maselko said "Everyone has some spirituality, whether it is an active part of their life or not whether they are agnostic or atheist or just ‘non-practicing.’" (EurekAlert, 2008). The study found that women who had changed their attendance at religious services (whether stopping or starting) had an increased risk of mental health and substance abuse problems. Conversely, men whose attendance changed had a decreased risk. Maselko attributes the health decline in women to a loss of social support.

The "change in attendance" results are consistent with "non-attendance" results found by Strawbridge et al (2001). Strawbridge also found decreased mental health outcomes for men and increased for women correlated with religious attendance. However, Strawbridge notes that general longevity and physical health behaviors correlate positively with religious service attendance in both men and women.

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I didn't attend church services as a kid. My family was pagan. I did tag along to some Christian services and Sunday school in first and second grade (age 6-7), but it wasn't a positive social experience, so I didn't keep it up. Actually, when I think about religion and spirituality, I rarely think of other people. It's always felt like a very private thing to me, which I think is related to having been brought up thinking that solitary practioners were the norm.

For more on religious differences, see January 2007: 1 & 2.