Religious Involvement, Stress, and Mental Health: Findings from the 1995 Detroit Area Study

Although interest in the links between religion and mental health has increased sharply in recent years, researchers remain far from a consensus regarding which aspects of religious involvement are germane to mental health, which mental health outcomes may be influenced by religious factors, and which mechanisms and/or models may account for these observed relationships. This article extends the literature in this area by elaborating a set of direct, mediating, and moderating links between multiple dimensions of religious involvement and psychological distress and well-being. Relevant hypotheses are then tested using data from the 1995 Detroit Area Study. Among our key findings: the frequency of church attendance bears a positive association with well-being and an inverse association with distress; the frequency of prayer has a slight inverse link with well-being and a weak positive association with distress; belief in eternal life is positively associated with well-being but unrelated to distress; in general, the net effects of these religious variables are not mediated by the risk of social stressors or by access to social or psychological resources; other religious variables, including measures of church-based social support, are unrelated to distress or well-being; and there is limited evidence of stress-buffering effects, but not stress-exacerbating effects, of religious involvement. The limitations of the study are discussed, and several implications and promising directions for further research on religion and health/well-being are identified.