Belongingness is a Mediating Factor Between Religious Service Attendance and Reduced Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study aimed to test whether pre-pandemic religious service attendance relates to both lesser impact from the COVID-19 pandemic and lower levels of psychological distress among a sample of 645 American adults across nine US regions. A second aim was to test whether belongingness mediated these relationships. First, it was expected that more frequent pre-pandemic religious service attendance relates to belongingness, which mediates the religious service attendance and psychological distress association. Second, it was expected that people who felt greater belongingness also experienced less perceived impact from the pandemic. Results from a path model supported these hypotheses. This is among the first studies to provide empirical evidence for religion’s association with psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Mediating Role of Religious Beliefs in the Relationship between Well-Being and Fear of COVID-19

“…This result is consistent with research that reported a positive relationship between religious services attendance and well-being (Chen et al, 2020;Greenfield & Marks, 2007). Many prior scholars reported that attending religious services enhanced social integration, belonging, peacefulness, hope and released negative emotions (Hill, 2006;Michaels et al, 2022).…”

“…For instance, Ellison et al (2001) reported that church attendance positively correlated to well-being. Individuals who regularly attend religious services may feel optimism, belonging, peacefulness, hope, and release of negative emotions (Hill, 2006;Michaels et al, 2022).…”

Understanding the influence of political orientation, social network, and economic recovery on COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Americans

“…Previous studies highlight the impact of the social network by showing that communities with close ties have fewer cases and deaths as information on the pandemic spreads and people engage more in health-protective actions (Fraser and Aldrich, 2021; Markridis and Wu, 2021; [51] . Individual behaviors are influenced by others and the features of the network [43] . For example, one study shows that networking with neighbors, friends, and family was positively associated with the odds of wearing a mask [28] .…”

Religious Minorities’ Perceptions of Official COVID-19 Health Guidelines: The Case of Ultra-Orthodox Society in Israel

“…As every religious minority group has unique beliefs, practices, and norms that can affect its members’ health and health behaviors, it is important to understand how the dynamic during COVID-19 varied among different religious minorities (Shapiro et al, 2020 ). While many studies have been published about the conduct of various religious minorities during COVID-19 (e.g., DeFranza et al, 2020 ; Michaels et al, 2022 ; Osei-Tutu et al, 2021 ; Weinberger-Litman et al, 2020 ), the conduct of the Haredi community in Israel—a religious minority subculture—has hardly been investigated (see Schroeder et al, 2021 ), particularly from the community’s own perspective.…”