Secularity, religiosity, and health: Physical and mental health differences between atheists, agnostics, and nonaffiliated theists compared to religiously affiliated individuals

Is Irreligion a Risk Factor for Suicidality? Findings from the Nashville Stress and Health Study

Suicide is a public health problem and one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Research exploring the linkages between religion and spirituality has received intermittent attention. Data was derived from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (2011-2014), a cross-sectional probability survey of black and white adults from Davidson County, Tennessee (n = 1252). Results indicate that those with no perceived belief in divine control had a higher likelihood of suicidality. This study provides a fresh perspective on the links between religious factors and suicidality by (a) considering multiple religious and spiritual domains and (b) focusing on the association between irreligion and suicidality.

Does Religious Worldview Benefit Life Satisfaction? Examination of the Incremental Predictive Power, Underlying Mechanism, and Temporal Relationship in Hong Kong and the USA

The benefits of religion have predominantly focused on personal religious identities and experiences, while the broader context of religious worldviews remains understudied. Across two quantitative studies, we showed the incremental predictive power of religious worldview and its mechanism among young adults in two societies-the USA (N = 179) and Hong Kong (N = 164). The mediation mechanism with social connectedness was further inferred from a 12-month study among Hong Kong Chinese (N = 133). This research has laid important groundwork for a deeper understanding of how religion shapes our perception of the world and its impact on our well-being.

Adolescent mental well-being, religion and family activities: a cross-sectional study (Northern Ireland Schools and Wellbeing Study)

OBJECTIVES

In this study, we seek to explore the relationship between adolescent mental well-being, religion and family activities among a school-based adolescent sample from Northern Ireland.

SETTING

The Northern Ireland Schools and Wellbeing Study is a cross-sectional study (2014-2016) of pupils in Northern Ireland aged 13-18 years.

PARTICIPANTS

1618 adolescents from eight schools participated in this study.

OUTCOMES MEASURES

Our primary outcome measure was derived using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. We used hierarchical linear regression to explore the independent effects of a range of personal/social factors, including religious affiliation, importance of religion and family activities.

RESULTS

In fully adjusted models, older adolescents and females reported lower mental well-being scores-for the year-on-year increase in age β=-0.45 (95% CI=-0.84, -0.06), and for females (compared with males) β=-5.25 (95% CI=-6.16, -4.33). More affluent adolescents reported better mental well-being. No significant differences in mental well-being scores across religious groups was found: compared with Catholics, Protestant adolescents recorded β=-0.83 (95% CI=-2.17, 0.51), other religious groups β=-2.44 (95% CI=-5.49, 0.62) and atheist adolescents β=-1.01 (95% CI=-2.60, 0.58). The importance of religion in the adolescents' lives was also tested: (compared with those for whom it was not important) those for whom it was very important had better mental well-being (β=1.63: 95% CI=0.32, 2.95). Higher levels of family activities were associated with higher mental well-being: each unit increase in family activity produced a 1.45% increase in the mental well-being score (β=0.78: 95% CI=0.67, 0.90).

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicates that non-religious adolescents may have lower mental well-being scores when compared with their more religious peers, irrespective of religious denomination. This may relate to both a sense of lack of firm identity and perceived marginalisation. Additionally, adolescents with poor family cohesion are more vulnerable to poor mental well-being.

A Systematic Review on Alcohol Consumption among Non-Religious and Religious Adults

Background: Research has suggested that religiosity is a protective factor in alcohol use, but this is an area that could be further explored. Objective: To undertake a systematic review of the literature on drinking patterns and their relationship with religiosity and non-religiosity in adult populations. Methods: We searched for relevant studies using the PubMed, LILACS, Web of Science, Scopus, and Psych-INFO databases. This review included only studies of people aged 18 and over which had a non-religious group as a comparison measure. Results: Fifty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. The present review showed that religious people tend to have lower alcohol consumption compared to those with no religion. However, this difference appears only when religions are analyzed together without differentiating between religious affiliations (Catholicism, Buddhism, Evangelicalism, etc.). Some religious affiliations, such as Buddhism, Catholicism and Lutheranism, appear to be risk factors for alcohol consumption. Definitions of risk consumption showed high heterogeneity, ranging from eight to 21 or more doses per week, a difference of 13 doses of alcohol between studies. Conclusions: The present review showed that religious people tend to have lower alcohol consumption compared to non-religious people. However, the results are contradictory when religious affiliations are analyzed separately and compared with non-religious participants. Adequately understanding which dimensions of religiosity and non-religiosity (e.g., group processes, engagement, meaning, rules of behavior) are protective in adulthood is fundamental to the construction of more effective interventions in this age group.

A “random group of misfits” or being “part of something bigger”? Exploring experiences of attending a non-religious congregation

Purpose

Religion is an important part of many people’s lives and there is some evidence that attending church or other religious congregations is positively associated with psychological well-being. However, religious participation is declining in Western Europe and North America. Sunday Assembly is a non-religious gathering that intends to provide a similar communal experience and a sense of spirituality to the church, but without the religious element. In the current study, we aimed to explore the experiences of and motivations for attending a non-religious congregation in relation to well-being.

Methods

A qualitative approach was taken, gathering data through semi-structured interviews with participants from Sunday Assembly congregations across England.

Results

Thematic analysis was used and three key themes were found: (1) searching for meaning and community, (2) Sunday Assembly as protective of mental health, and (3) loneliness in a crowd.

Conclusions

Sunday Assembly can provide a sense of belonging and improvement in mental health through shared experience and spirituality, and it can act as a coping mechanism during difficult times. Further research could explore the benefits of Sunday Assembly upon attendee’s mental health, test the effectiveness of Sunday Assembly as a coping mechanism, and whether continued attendance improves mood over time.

Throw BABE Out With the Bathwater? Canadian Atheists are No Less Healthy than the Religious

The belief-as-benefit effect (BABE) is a broad term for the positive association between religion/spirituality (R/S) and health outcomes. Functionally, religious variables and religious identities predict greater wellness, which implies that atheists should report worse health relative to religious groups. Using Cycle 29 of the cross-sectional General Social Survey from Statistics Canada (N > 15,900), I explored health differences in stress, life satisfaction, subjective physical wellbeing, and subjective mental wellbeing across R/S identities (atheists, agnostics, Nones, Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Religions). Results indicated that (1). religious attendance, prayer, and religiosity were generally unrelated to all health outcomes for all R/S identities, (2). averagely religious atheists reported health parity with averagely religious members of all other R/S identities, and (3). when comparing a maximally nonreligious atheist group against several maximally religiously affiliated groups, atheists largely showed health parity. If both low R/S and high R/S are associated with comparable wellness, researchers should actively question whether R/S is genuinely salutary.

Changes in Spiritual but Not Religious Identity and Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood in the United States: Pathways to Health Sameness?

The "spiritual but not religious" (SBNR) are a growing group in the religious landscape of the United States. Thousands of studies to date have been devoted to the study of religion and health, but far less attention has been given to the study of the "spiritual but not religious." In this study, we address this gap by using two waves of longitudinal data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (2005-2008). We assess whether within-person changes in SBNR identity are associated with health and mental health in emerging adulthood and consider several pathways that may account for observed differences. Results suggest that consistently identifying as SBNR was associated with worse physical and mental health relative to youth that were consistently religious. Using parametric mediation analyses, we found evidence that three of our four proposed mediators (religious attendance, sense of closeness to God, and religious doubt, but not life meaning) partially explained these mental health differences. This study therefore makes an important advance in assessing the health implications of (non)-religion/spirituality early in the life course.

Toward a translational epidemiology of religion: challenges and applications

This paper explores the concept of translational epidemiology in the context of epidemiologic studies of religious determinants of morbidity and mortality. Despite a research literature of, by now, thousands of published studies, many in top-tier medical and public health journals, some resistance remains to full acceptance of this work. A principal reason may be the failure of investigators to make the case for real-world applications of epidemiologic findings on religious risk or protection for subsequent personal or population health, in keeping with the definition of translational epidemiology. To remedy this, a case is made for a translational epidemiology of religion. Three types of translation are proposed. The first two recall the standard definition of translational medicine as "from bench to bedside," in this instance two types of bedside encounters, pastoral and clinical. The third application is to public health practice, involving multiple public health professions and specialties. As with other substantive topics within psychosocial epidemiology, research on population-health outcomes of religious exposures provides information that can be applied to development of health promotion and disease prevention programs and formulation of health policy. But this can happen only if investigators give more attention to enumerating potential uses of their findings.

Grieving the Living: The Social Death of Former Jehovah's Witnesses

Addressing a relative lack of research investigating the experiences of individuals who have left the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW), this research utilizes a social identity approach to examine qualitatively, the process of transitioning towards post-JW life, experiences of ostracism and perceived threats to self-identity. Semi-structured interviews were carried out in the homes of six former JWs, and transcripts were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Narratives suggest that experiences of ostracism following religious exit can be associated with diminished mental health, while having a sense of agency and establishing new (online) social connections may help mitigate adverse consequences. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Godless in the Great White North: Assessing the Health of Canadian Atheists Using Data from the 2011/2012 Canadian Community Health Survey

An overlooked reason to study atheism and health is that it provides a reasonably strong test of the broader religion-health relationship. Using data from the 2011/2012 Canadian Community Health Survey (n > 8000) I explored the health differences between atheists and eight categories of religious identities (nonreligious, Anglican, Baptist, Christian, Protestant, Catholic, United Church, and All Others). Surprisingly, results showed no substantive differences between atheists and non-atheists for self-rated health, emotional well-being, and psychological well-being. In contrast, results showed substantive and consistent differences between atheists and non-atheists with respect to social well-being. Results appear to suggest that while religious groups report superior scores on health proxies relative to atheists, this does not translate into substantive health differences.

School-based education to prevent bullying in high schools in Indonesia

BACKGROUND

The Global School-based Health Survey showed that 20.6% of Indonesian students aged 13-17 years old were bullied. The proportion was lower than those reported from Southeast Asian countries (28.3-51.0%). School education was reported to contribute to the reduction of bullying, but no similar study has been done in Indonesia. This study aimed to explore the role of school-based education in preventing bullying in high schools in Indonesia.

METHODS

In-depth interviews with principals and focus group discussions with teachers from five schools in Mataram City were conducted in 2018. Data were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Participant observations and document reviews were conducted to verify the data.

RESULTS

Seven themes emerged: (i) Bullying as a problem; (ii) Causes of bullying; (iii) Effects of bullying; (iv) Curricular interventions; (v) Cultural interventions; (vi) Institutional interventions; and (vii) Challenges and recommendations regarding current interventions. Curricular interventions include Pancasila (state ideology or principles of the state's philosophy) and civic education, and religious education, while cultural interventions include cultural practices and extracurricular activities. The schools provide an enabling environment by maintaining a good physical environment and implementing policies to prevent bullying. These activities promote the prevention of school bullying.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that moral education in curriculum and cultural activities are avenues for the prevention of school bullying. The implementation of both religious education and civic education encouraged the creation of values among students. In Indonesia, current interventions should be continued and must be modified to respond with societal changes.

Worldview Under Stress: Preliminary Findings on Cardiovascular and Cortisol Stress Responses Predicted by Secularity, Religiosity, Spirituality, and Existential Search

This study reports preliminary findings on the hypothesis that worldview can predict cardiovascular and cortisol responses to social stress. Based on theory and previous findings, we assumed that worldview security would provide a basis for stress resilience. Accordingly, religious and atheist individuals were expected to show higher stress resilience than spiritual and agnostic participants. Likewise, dimensional measures of religiosity and atheism were hypothesized to predict decreased, and existential search-indicating worldview insecurity-was hypothesized to predict increased physiological stress responses. Subjects included 50 university students who completed online questionnaires and took part in a standardized social stress test (Trier Social Stress Test). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP), heart rate (HR), and salivary cortisol (SC) were assessed at baseline, immediately after stress testing, and during a forty-minute recovery period. Worldview comparisons revealed lower cardiovascular stress responses among religious than among atheist and spiritual participants and particularly high baseline SC among spiritual participants. Across the entire sample, existential search showed substantial positive correlations with SBP, HR, and SC stress parameters. The findings suggest that worldview security might partly explain the health benefits often associated with religion.

The psychology of nonbelievers

Contrary to some conceptualizations, nonbelievers are more than simply those scoring low on religiosity scales. They seem to be characterized by analytic, flexible, and open-minded social-cognitive attributes, although this may interact with sociocultural levels of religiosity. This paper demonstrates that nonbelief, at least in the West, tends to coincide with specific worldviews, namely valuing rationality and science, as well as humanistic and liberal values. Furthermore, nonbelievers seem to parallel believers in various indicators of health. Finally, as all ideologists, nonbelievers may hold prejudicial attitudes toward groups perceived as threatening their (secular) worldviews, although this has some limits. Global increases in secularity make the nascent psychological study of nonbelievers and nonreligious worldviews an important research programme.

Longitudinal Associations of Religiosity and Physical Function in Older Irish Adults

OBJECTIVES

Research into the link between religion and physical function has shown inconsistent results. Most studies have used self-reported measures of physical function, and many have excluded those who are not religious and only compared levels of religious engagement within those groups that are religious. We aimed to assess the longitudinal associations of religious affiliation and religious attendance on two objective measures of physical function.

DESIGN

Longitudinal study using five waves of data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

SETTING

Community-dwelling adults in Ireland.

PARTICIPANTS

Adults aged 50 and over who participated in two or more waves of TILDA (n = 6,122),and a supplementary analysis of a sub-sample aged 65 and over (n = 2,359).

MEASUREMENTS

Timed Up and Go (TUG) and grip strength were measured on at least two occasions. Data were collected approximately every 2 years over 10 years. Longitudinal linear mixed effects models were estimated to calculate the effect of religious affiliation and attendance on TUG and grip strength over time.

RESULTS

TUG scores increased by an average of .1 seconds with each year of age, which increased to .3 seconds by age 72 years. Grip strength scores decreased by .2 kg with each year of age and increased to -.3 kg per year by age 72. No overall differences were observed between religious affiliations in scores of TUG or grip strength.

CONCLUSION

Religious affiliation does not predict performance on objective physical function measures. Results are discussed with reference to the changing religious characteristics of the Irish population.

Religiosity and Meditation Practice: Exploring Their Explanatory Power on Psychological Adjustment

There has been increased interest in the relationships between religiosity, meditation practice and well-being, but there is lack of understanding as to how specific religious components and distinct meditation practices could influence different positive and negative psychological adjustment outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the explanatory power of religious beliefs and the practice of prayer, focused attention (FA), open monitoring (OM), and compassion meditation (CM) on psychological adjustment, taking into consideration a number of practice-related variables such as session length, frequency of practice and lifetime practice. Psychological adjustment was assessed by means of happiness, positive affect, depression, negative affect, and emotional overproduction. A cross-sectional design was used, with a final sample comprising 210 Spanish participants who completed an online assessment protocol. Hierarchical regressions were performed, including age, sex and psychotropic medication use in the first step as possible confounders, with the addition of religious beliefs and the practice of prayer, FA, OM, and CM in the second step. FA session length was related to all psychological adjustment outcomes: happiness (ΔR 2 = 0.09, p = 0.002; β = 0.25, p = 0.001), positive affect (ΔR 2 = 0.09, p = 0.002; β = 0.18, p = 0.014), depression (ΔR2 = 0.07, p = 0.004; β = -0.27, p < 0.001), negative affect (ΔR 2 = 0.08, p = 0.007; β = -0.27, p < 0.001) and emotional overproduction (ΔR 2 = 0.07, p = 0.013; β = -0.23, p = 0.001). CM session length was related to positive affect (β = 0.18, p = 0.011). CM practice frequency was associated with happiness (ΔR 2 = 0.06, p = 0.038; β = 0.16, p = 0.041). Lifetime practice of FA was related to happiness (ΔR 2 = 0.08, p = 0.007; β = 0.21, p = 0.030) and OM to emotional overproduction (ΔR 2 = 0.08, p = 0.037; β = -0.19, p = 0.047). Religious beliefs and prayer seemed to be less relevant than meditation practices such as FA, OM, and CM in explaining psychological adjustment. The distinct meditation practices might be differentially related to distinct psychological adjustment outcomes through different practice-related variables. However, research into other forms of institutional religiosity integrating social aspects of religion is required.