The only way to resolve the question is with more rigorous research. While RCTs aren’t possible, researchers can try to identify alternative explanations and control for them in analyzing the data. For instance, rigorously assessing people’s social networks can help make sure that religion isn’t just a proxy for companionship. And while it’s not possible to make people start or stop going to services, or even tell them how often to go, researchers can follow the patterns that people initiate to see what effects they have on health.
Several recent studies led by Harvard epidemiologist Tyler VanderWeele do exactly this. In a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2016, using data from over 70,000 women who were part of the Nurses’ Health Study from 1992 to 2012, VanderWeele and colleagues found that those who attended religious services at least once a week had 33% lower mortality, from any cause, over a 16-year period. In particular, deaths due to cancer or cardiovascular disease were 75% the rate among non-attenders. While religion-associated reductions in smoking and increases in social support explained some of the benefit, the data suggested that religion worked through other, as yet unexplained, avenues too.
VanderWeele’s team found a similar benefit when it came to suicide risk. Among the nurses, attending services at least once a week or more cut the suicide rate by 80%, even when controlling for diagnoses of depression, cancer and cardiovascular disease. Researchers asked detailed questions to isolate the effect of social support from that of religious activity and found that while social connection did have a positive effect, it didn’t completely explain the benefits religion offered.
Andy Vermaut shares:Is Religion Good For Your Health?: Studying the health benefits of religious activity involves special challenges, and researchers are developing new methods to meet them. Thank you! https://t.co/v4RpNSZyNZ pic.twitter.com/CUuUSpGSXJ
— Andy Vermaut (@AndyVermaut) June 8, 2023