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Keywords

spirituality, religiosity, religion, depression, anxiety, children, parents

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between religious/spiritual identity and depression and anxiety levels at comparative baseline levels, and then longitudinally. Gathered from The Family Foundations of Youth Development Project, this study samples parent-child dyads from highly religious parts of the Western United States to determine how the mental health of these individuals is affected by the conjunction of spirituality and religiosity, the lack of either, or one divorced from the other. Results revealed that at baseline levels, participants across all groups who identified as “Spiritual but not Religious” had the highest levels of anxiety and depression, and children who identified as “Religious and Spiritual” had the lowest levels of depression. The difference between the “Religious and Spiritual” identity and the “Spiritual but not Religious” identity, specifically, was significant across every baseline scale. Results indicated that while the baseline mental health levels of the “Spiritual but not Religious” groupings were the worst, this was the only group of children to significantly decrease in their depression levels, and the only group to not significantly increase in their anxiety levels, across time. Regarding adults, each group got significantly less depressed over time, except those who identified as “Religious but not Spiritual.” Like the area of research broadly, the results of this study are nuanced. This paper explains the study’s procedures and results, and offers possible interpretations, intending to alleviate suffering and encourage flourishing by identifying causal and protective factors for mental illness as it relates to religiosity and spirituality.

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

2025-04-10

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Psychology

University Standing at Time of Publication

Senior

Mental Wellness of the Saintly, Spiritual, and Secular: Who Has the Edge?

Included in

Psychology Commons

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