By Isobel Williams via SWNS
Religious people coped much better during the Covid-19 pandemic than non-believers, according to a new study.
Researchers found those with faith experienced much less unhappiness and stress during the pandemic, with mental health decline being 60 percent worse for non-religious people.
The research team believe that religion may protect people from increased distress and reduced wellbeing in times of crisis.
To get their results the University of Cambridge researchers studied data from people in both the UK and US throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the UK study, the team analyzed data from 3,884 people during the first two national lockdowns.
They found that while lockdowns were associated with a universal uptick in unhappiness, the average increase in feeling miserable was 29 percent lower for people who described themselves as belonging to a religion.
Professor Sriya Iyer, of Cambridge’s Faculty of Economics, said: “Religious beliefs may be used by some as psychological resources that can shore up self-esteem and add coping skills, combined with practices that provide social support.
“The pandemic presented an opportunity to glean further evidence of this in both the United Kingdom and the United States, two nations characterized by enormous religious diversity.”
The team also looked at the extent of individual’s commitment to their faith and how central it is to their lives.
They saw that those who said religion makes some or a great difference in their lives had around half the increase in unhappiness seen for those who find it makes little or no difference.
Professor Shaun Larcom, of Cambridge’s Department of Land Economy, said: “Selection biases make the wellbeing effects of religion difficult to study. People may become religious due to family backgrounds, innate traits, or to cope with new or existing struggles.
“However, the Covid-19 pandemic was an extraordinary event affecting everyone at around the same time, so we could gauge the impact of a negative shock to wellbeing right across society.
“This provided a unique opportunity to measure whether religion was important for how some people deal with a crisis.
“The study suggests that it is not just being religious, but the intensity of religiosity that is important when coping with a crisis.”
There was little overall difference between Christians, Muslims and Hindus, but the team did find that wellbeing among some religious groups appeared to suffer more than others when places of worship were closed during the first lockdown.
Professor Larcom added: “The denial of weekly communal attendance appears to have been particularly affecting for Catholics and Muslims.”
In an earlier Cambridge study, online surveys were used to ask 5,178 US people about Covid-19 infections among respondents or their immediate family and friends, as well as religious beliefs, and mental health.
They discovered that where mental health declined, it was around 60 percent worse on average for non-religious people compared to people of faith.
The positive effects of religion were not found in areas with the strictest lockdowns, suggesting access to places of worship might be even more important in a US context.
The study, published in the European Economic Review, also found significant uptake of online religious services, and a 40 percent lower association between Covid-19 and mental health for those who used them.
Professor Larcom said: “These studies show a relationship between religion and lower levels of distress during a global crisis.
“It may be that religious faith builds resilience, and helps people cope with adversity by providing hope, consolation and meaning in tumultuous times.”
