Psychological Science Vol. 36 No. 3 2025
Does Religious-Service Attendance Increase Mental Health? A Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis Across 18 Years
Abstract
= 29,298), a longitudinal survey of adult British households between 1991 and 2009. The outcome variables were mental health (as measured with the General Health Questionnaire) and life satisfaction. Using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models over 10 waves of data spanning over 18 years, the associations between religious-service attendance and mental health at the within-person level were mostly nonsignificant. The few significant findings indicated that an increase in religious-service attendance is associated subsequently with either higher or lower levels of mental health, suggesting both detrimental and beneficial effects. A series of robustness analyses (including the use of marginal structural models) mainly supported these findings. The results suggest that there is a need to question the assumption that religious-service attendance provides mental health benefits.
- DOI
- 10.1177/09567976251325449
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 157-167
- Language
- en
- Sources
- crossref openalex