Changes in Religious Doubt and Physical and Mental Health in Emerging Adulthood

Abstract

Researchers are increasingly identifying a number of elements of the “dark side” of religion that undermine its overall positive relationship with well‐being. This study assesses the impact of changes in religious doubt for physical health and depression in emerging adulthood, a life course stage when individuals begin to form their own religious identity. Using Waves 3 and 4 of the National Study of Youth and Religion, a latent class growth analysis was used to derive four trajectories of religious doubt (stable no doubt, stable doubt, increasing doubt, decreasing doubt). Regression results suggest that those in the increasing doubt class reported higher depression and worse self‐rated health than with stable no doubt. Causal mediation analyses revealed that a decreased sense of meaning in life was found to mediate this relationship. This study sets forth implications for future research centered on religion and health over the life course.

Religious/spiritual struggles and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: Does “talking religion” help or hurt?

“…A second finding of our study was that R/S struggles were associated with greater psychological distress and worse self-rated health during the pandemic, an association which persisted with controls for changes in other forms of religiosity (e.g., increases/decreases in religious attendance and religious importance) and demographic covariates. This finding is not entirely surprising, since past research has linked greater R/S struggles to higher depression (Ellison and Lee 2010), lower physical health (Mannheimer and Hill 2015 ; Upenieks 2021 ) and earlier mortality (Pargament and Exline 2021). To our knowledge, however, this is the first study that has documented a link between R/S struggles and discussions about religious/spiritual matters and their effect on well-being and we do so by using nationally representative data.…”

“…Religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles are an example of the bittersweet nature of the religious experience, and reflect a spiritual tension characterized by a less secure relationship with God (e.g., feeling punished or abandoned by God), uncertainty in the tenets of one’s faith, or feelings of criticism or strain from co-religionists (Exline et al 2014 ). Religious/spiritual struggles are known to be associated with negative coping (Hayward and Krause 2016), worse mental health (Ellison and Lee 2010; Exline et al 2015 ; May 2018 ), lower physical health (Fenelon and Danielsen 2016; Upenieks 2021 ), and eventual mortality (Pargament and Exline 2021). No existing study, however, has sought to uncover the prevalence of spiritual struggles during the pandemic (Dein et al 2020), nor considered any aspects of religious life that may be helpful in reducing the impacts to well-being from these struggles.…”

“…R/S struggles can take many forms, including (1) divine struggles (feelings of abandonment or being punished by God), (2) interpersonal struggles (conflicts with family, friends, and others within one’s religious group about religious issues), or (3) intrapersonal struggles (doubts about the truth of one’s faith, or question about ultimate meaning or purpose in life) (Exline et al 2014 ). Several studies have linked religious struggles to a range of adverse mental health outcomes, including anger, depression, and anxiety (Ellison and Lee 2010; Exline et al 2015 ) as well as physical health (Mannheimer and Hill 2015 ; Upenieks 2021 ) and mortality (Pargament and Exline 2021). Notably, these patterns are remarkably consistent across all forms of religious struggle.…”

“…Discussing such struggles with others may reinforce the idea that one is not alone in doubting their faith or feeling abandoned or punished by God. Religious discussion could therefore act as a resource inasmuch as it promotes a quicker resolution of R/S struggles and minimizes the relative impact it has on mental and physical health (e.g., Upenieks 2021 ). Based on this body of work, we hypothesize:…”

Age Differences in Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Assessing the Moderating Role of Attachment to God

“…The view of God as an imminent, involved higher power is indeed much more common among recent cohorts of younger adults ( Bengtson et al, 2015 ). Though fewer in number, some studies also suggest that attachment to God associates with a higher sense of purpose in life and lower depression for emerging adults, associations which have shown to persist over a 5-year period ( Culver & Denton, 2017 ; Upenieks, 2021 ). Therefore, to the extent that younger adults hold a stronger attachment to God, the expected disadvantage with regards to depression and anxiety relative to their older counterparts during the pandemic should be minimized.…”