#longitudinalstudy — Public Fediverse posts

DATE: July 30, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Childhood emotional abuse predicts lower romantic relationship satisfaction

URL: https://www.psypost.org/childhood-emotional-abuse-predicts-lower-romantic-relationship-satisfaction/

Adults who experienced psychological maltreatment as children tend to report lower satisfaction in their romantic relationships, largely because they struggle to form a strong sense of belonging. The longitudinal findings suggest that prioritizing therapies that build a person’s feelings of social connectedness could help repair relational damage stemming from early parental mistreatment. The research was published in Personality and Individual Differences.

Psychologists have extensively documented how early trauma shapes human development. Physical maltreatment and sexual abuse are routinely investigated as risk factors for later mental health struggles. Psychological abuse receives less academic attention, despite its pervasive impact on emotional well-being. This type of maltreatment encompasses parental attitudes and behaviors that are consistently repeated during a child’s developmental years, such as constant belittling, emotional neglect, harsh criticism, or active rejection.

Yakup İme, a researcher at Necmettin Erbakan University in Turkey, sought to understand how this specific form of early adversity echoes into adulthood. Decades of research grounded in attachment theory suggest that the initial bonds children form with their caregivers serve as a template for future connections. A supportive home environment normally teaches children that others are reliable and trustworthy. When parents are psychologically abusive, children often internalize a negative view of themselves and the outside world.

Children who enjoy a consistent and responsive bond with their primary caregivers generally mature into adults who handle emotional intimacy well. They learn to communicate their needs and regulate their emotions effectively during conflicts. In contrast, those subjected to psychological abuse often adopt disorganized or insecure attachment styles. They may alternate between clinging to a partner and pushing them away, leaving little room for emotional stability.

Researchers suspect this early conditioning can disrupt romantic relationships much later in life. Relationship satisfaction is an emotional reaction formed by an individual’s evaluation of the positive and negative situations in their romantic partnership. High relationship satisfaction is strongly associated with better overall physical health and psychological stability. Lower satisfaction is often linked to emotional distress and relationship dissolution.

To understand the mechanism linking a difficult childhood to an unhappy romantic life, İme focused on the concept of belongingness. Belongingness refers to an individual’s internal perception of being accepted, valued, and supported by a group or another person. Humans are fundamentally social beings driven to seek out safe environments and connect with others.

Past research indicates that a high sense of belonging provides a buffer against stress. Conversely, feeling alienated or rejected is associated with anxiety and social isolation. İme hypothesized that psychological abuse in early life damages a person’s ability to feel integrated into social networks. This damaged sense of belonging might then erode their ability to feel secure and satisfied in a romantic relationship.

To test this proposed pathway, the researcher designed a longitudinal study. Collecting data at multiple points in time allows researchers to track developmental trends and determine if changes in one variable predict changes in another. The study recruited 346 adult university students located in Konya, Turkey.

The participant group included 213 women and 133 men, with ages ranging from 20 to 36. Most participants were clustered around the age of 25. The data collection occurred in two separate waves, spaced three months apart, taking place in February and May of a single academic year. Measuring psychological constructs at spaced intervals helps separate preexisting personality traits from actual emotional shifts over time.

During both sessions, participants completed identical printed questionnaires. They filled out a psychological abuse scale, which measures the frequency of psychologically abusive parenting behaviors during early development. Participants rated statements such as how often a parent would purposefully embarrass them in front of others. A higher score indicated a higher frequency of emotional mistreatment in the past.

Next, they completed a general belongingness scale, which assesses whether an individual feels socially accepted or rejected in the present day. Respondents rated statements indicating whether they felt capable of establishing close relationships with their peers and broader community. Higher scores on this scale pointed to a well-developed sense of belonging.

Finally, the participants answered a relationship assessment scale, which evaluates overall contentment with a current romantic partner. This questionnaire asked participants to grade their general satisfaction with their dating life. Elevated scores on this assessment signified that the participant felt happy and secure with their romantic choices.

The researcher matched the responses from the first wave of data collection with the responses from the second wave. To protect privacy, identifying details were limited to pseudonyms and fragments of phone numbers. The data was then analyzed using a statistical technique favored for tracking variables across different points in time. This analysis controls for initial baseline scores, revealing how the factors influence one another as time passes.

The data revealed a predictable sequence stretching from early parental mistreatment to adult romantic dissatisfaction. Participants who reported higher levels of childhood psychological abuse displayed noticeably lower feelings of belonging during the initial assessment. Even after adjusting for baseline assessments, the history of psychological abuse predicted a further decline in societal belongingness three months later. As these young adults felt more isolated from their peers, their romantic lives suffered.

Lower scores in belongingness at the start of the study predicted diminished relationship satisfaction by the second wave of data collection. Finding a place in a community or feeling accepted by peers appears to sustain the emotional closeness required for romance. When that sense of acceptance was missing, participants grew less content with their dating partners. Overall, the statistical model showed that belonging acts as a mediator, linking early emotional abuse to poor relationship satisfaction.

Those who endured constant belittling or neglect from caregivers often develop self-blame and social withdrawal. Because they expect rejection, they may distance themselves from social support networks entirely. This isolation deprives them of the fundamental human need for safety and connection. Consequently, they enter romantic partnerships with heightened insecurities and an impaired capacity to trust their partners.

The study suggests that finding ways to foster social inclusion could offer a therapeutic lifeline. When adults with adverse childhood experiences are successfully integrated into supportive communities, their internal sense of belonging grows. Feeling valued by a broader group may alleviate some of the heavy emotional burden placed on a single romantic partner. Therapies focused on enhancing social adaptability and general belonging might yield positive outcomes for those struggling with relationship instability.

The research features several practical limitations. The data relied entirely on self-reported questionnaires, meaning some responses might have been influenced by a desire to appear socially acceptable. The three-month gap between the two data collection periods limits the ability to track deeply ingrained psychological changes. Tracking participants over several years would offer a more comprehensive look at how these dynamics evolve across a lifespan.

The sample was entirely composed of adult students attending a single university in Turkey. The cultural structure, values, and educational system of the region might have influenced the outcomes. Replicating the study in different countries would help establish whether the observed patterns hold true across diverse populations. The study also stopped short of testing whether the questionnaires maintained strict measurement invariance over time.

Researchers recommend that future inquiries look into other potential mediating factors. Concepts such as interpersonal trust, self-esteem, and emotion regulation skills could also play a role in connecting early emotional maltreatment to later dating distress.

The study, “How early psychological abuse predicts decreased relationship satisfaction via belongingness in adulthood: A longitudinal study,” was authored by Yakup İme.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/childhood-emotional-abuse-predicts-lower-romantic-relationship-satisfaction/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ChildhoodEmotionalAbuse #BelongingnessMatters #RelationshipSatisfaction #EarlyAdversityEffects #RomanticRelationships #PsychologicalAbuseImpact #SocialConnectedness #AttachmentTheory #LongitudinalStudy #MentalHealthAwareness

DATE: July 30, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Childhood emotional abuse predicts lower romantic relationship satisfaction

URL: https://www.psypost.org/childhood-emotional-abuse-predicts-lower-romantic-relationship-satisfaction/

Adults who experienced psychological maltreatment as children tend to report lower satisfaction in their romantic relationships, largely because they struggle to form a strong sense of belonging. The longitudinal findings suggest that prioritizing therapies that build a person’s feelings of social connectedness could help repair relational damage stemming from early parental mistreatment. The research was published in Personality and Individual Differences.

Psychologists have extensively documented how early trauma shapes human development. Physical maltreatment and sexual abuse are routinely investigated as risk factors for later mental health struggles. Psychological abuse receives less academic attention, despite its pervasive impact on emotional well-being. This type of maltreatment encompasses parental attitudes and behaviors that are consistently repeated during a child’s developmental years, such as constant belittling, emotional neglect, harsh criticism, or active rejection.

Yakup İme, a researcher at Necmettin Erbakan University in Turkey, sought to understand how this specific form of early adversity echoes into adulthood. Decades of research grounded in attachment theory suggest that the initial bonds children form with their caregivers serve as a template for future connections. A supportive home environment normally teaches children that others are reliable and trustworthy. When parents are psychologically abusive, children often internalize a negative view of themselves and the outside world.

Children who enjoy a consistent and responsive bond with their primary caregivers generally mature into adults who handle emotional intimacy well. They learn to communicate their needs and regulate their emotions effectively during conflicts. In contrast, those subjected to psychological abuse often adopt disorganized or insecure attachment styles. They may alternate between clinging to a partner and pushing them away, leaving little room for emotional stability.

Researchers suspect this early conditioning can disrupt romantic relationships much later in life. Relationship satisfaction is an emotional reaction formed by an individual’s evaluation of the positive and negative situations in their romantic partnership. High relationship satisfaction is strongly associated with better overall physical health and psychological stability. Lower satisfaction is often linked to emotional distress and relationship dissolution.

To understand the mechanism linking a difficult childhood to an unhappy romantic life, İme focused on the concept of belongingness. Belongingness refers to an individual’s internal perception of being accepted, valued, and supported by a group or another person. Humans are fundamentally social beings driven to seek out safe environments and connect with others.

Past research indicates that a high sense of belonging provides a buffer against stress. Conversely, feeling alienated or rejected is associated with anxiety and social isolation. İme hypothesized that psychological abuse in early life damages a person’s ability to feel integrated into social networks. This damaged sense of belonging might then erode their ability to feel secure and satisfied in a romantic relationship.

To test this proposed pathway, the researcher designed a longitudinal study. Collecting data at multiple points in time allows researchers to track developmental trends and determine if changes in one variable predict changes in another. The study recruited 346 adult university students located in Konya, Turkey.

The participant group included 213 women and 133 men, with ages ranging from 20 to 36. Most participants were clustered around the age of 25. The data collection occurred in two separate waves, spaced three months apart, taking place in February and May of a single academic year. Measuring psychological constructs at spaced intervals helps separate preexisting personality traits from actual emotional shifts over time.

During both sessions, participants completed identical printed questionnaires. They filled out a psychological abuse scale, which measures the frequency of psychologically abusive parenting behaviors during early development. Participants rated statements such as how often a parent would purposefully embarrass them in front of others. A higher score indicated a higher frequency of emotional mistreatment in the past.

Next, they completed a general belongingness scale, which assesses whether an individual feels socially accepted or rejected in the present day. Respondents rated statements indicating whether they felt capable of establishing close relationships with their peers and broader community. Higher scores on this scale pointed to a well-developed sense of belonging.

Finally, the participants answered a relationship assessment scale, which evaluates overall contentment with a current romantic partner. This questionnaire asked participants to grade their general satisfaction with their dating life. Elevated scores on this assessment signified that the participant felt happy and secure with their romantic choices.

The researcher matched the responses from the first wave of data collection with the responses from the second wave. To protect privacy, identifying details were limited to pseudonyms and fragments of phone numbers. The data was then analyzed using a statistical technique favored for tracking variables across different points in time. This analysis controls for initial baseline scores, revealing how the factors influence one another as time passes.

The data revealed a predictable sequence stretching from early parental mistreatment to adult romantic dissatisfaction. Participants who reported higher levels of childhood psychological abuse displayed noticeably lower feelings of belonging during the initial assessment. Even after adjusting for baseline assessments, the history of psychological abuse predicted a further decline in societal belongingness three months later. As these young adults felt more isolated from their peers, their romantic lives suffered.

Lower scores in belongingness at the start of the study predicted diminished relationship satisfaction by the second wave of data collection. Finding a place in a community or feeling accepted by peers appears to sustain the emotional closeness required for romance. When that sense of acceptance was missing, participants grew less content with their dating partners. Overall, the statistical model showed that belonging acts as a mediator, linking early emotional abuse to poor relationship satisfaction.

Those who endured constant belittling or neglect from caregivers often develop self-blame and social withdrawal. Because they expect rejection, they may distance themselves from social support networks entirely. This isolation deprives them of the fundamental human need for safety and connection. Consequently, they enter romantic partnerships with heightened insecurities and an impaired capacity to trust their partners.

The study suggests that finding ways to foster social inclusion could offer a therapeutic lifeline. When adults with adverse childhood experiences are successfully integrated into supportive communities, their internal sense of belonging grows. Feeling valued by a broader group may alleviate some of the heavy emotional burden placed on a single romantic partner. Therapies focused on enhancing social adaptability and general belonging might yield positive outcomes for those struggling with relationship instability.

The research features several practical limitations. The data relied entirely on self-reported questionnaires, meaning some responses might have been influenced by a desire to appear socially acceptable. The three-month gap between the two data collection periods limits the ability to track deeply ingrained psychological changes. Tracking participants over several years would offer a more comprehensive look at how these dynamics evolve across a lifespan.

The sample was entirely composed of adult students attending a single university in Turkey. The cultural structure, values, and educational system of the region might have influenced the outcomes. Replicating the study in different countries would help establish whether the observed patterns hold true across diverse populations. The study also stopped short of testing whether the questionnaires maintained strict measurement invariance over time.

Researchers recommend that future inquiries look into other potential mediating factors. Concepts such as interpersonal trust, self-esteem, and emotion regulation skills could also play a role in connecting early emotional maltreatment to later dating distress.

The study, “How early psychological abuse predicts decreased relationship satisfaction via belongingness in adulthood: A longitudinal study,” was authored by Yakup İme.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/childhood-emotional-abuse-predicts-lower-romantic-relationship-satisfaction/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ChildhoodEmotionalAbuse #BelongingnessMatters #RelationshipSatisfaction #EarlyAdversityEffects #RomanticRelationships #PsychologicalAbuseImpact #SocialConnectedness #AttachmentTheory #LongitudinalStudy #MentalHealthAwareness

DATE: July 22, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Does going to religious services actually improve your mental health?

URL: https://www.psypost.org/does-going-to-religious-services-actually-improve-your-mental-health/

Going to religious services on a weekly basis does not prevent common mental illnesses or elevate overall psychological well-being. A recent analysis of long-term data suggests that previously reported health benefits of gathering for worship may be the result of overlapping life circumstances rather than genuine medical effects. The findings indicate that the act of attending a service alone does not offer direct protection against psychiatric disorders. The study was published in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

For decades, an extensive body of literature has suggested a strong association between religious attendance and positive mental health outcomes. Many theoretical models proposed that gathering for spiritual reasons provided individuals with a built-in community, creating abundant arrays of social support. Theories also suggested that engaging with a faith community led to reduced participation in unhealthy behaviors, increased positive emotions, and provided individuals with better coping mechanisms during difficult life events.

Based on these concepts, some medical professionals and mental health advocates have historically recommended spiritual community integration as a routine psychological intervention. While countless studies have documented favorable outcomes linked to church or temple attendance, the vast majority of this research relied on cross-sectional designs. A cross-sectional study takes a single snapshot of a population at one moment in time. This approach can identify a correlation, but it cannot determine whether one factor explicitly causes another. Even when past researchers utilized longitudinal studies, which follow the same subjects over extended periods, they frequently failed to account for shifting life variables.

Gabriele Prati, a psychology researcher at the University of Bologna in Italy, initiated the current study to rigorously test this supposed protective effect. Prati wanted to evaluate if religious attendance truly causes improved mental health when separated from other beneficial life circumstances. To achieve this, the statistical analysis required adjustments for a variety of confounding variables.

A confounding variable is an outside factor that influences both the supposed cause and the supposed effect, creating a false impression of a direct link. For example, a person who maintains strong contact with friends might be more likely to attend group religious services, and that same social contact might also protect them from depression. If researchers fail to mathematically remove the influence of those friendships from the data, it might look like the religious service alone prevented the depression.

To strip away these outside influences, Prati utilized data from the Midlife Development in the United States project. This large study tracked a nationally representative sample of 7,108 adults living across the United States. Researchers collected information in three major waves spanning two decades, starting in the mid-1990s and concluding around 2014. The data collection involved phone interviews and extensive self-administered questionnaires.

The dataset recorded how frequently participants attended religious meetings, sorting them into groups depending on whether they attended once a week or more. The survey also logged formal diagnostic criteria for several common mental illnesses. Specifically, the data tracked instances of major depressive episodes, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder.

In addition to clinical illnesses, the researchers analyzed general psychological well-being. This metric was assessed using an established scale that measures several distinct dimensions of the human experience. These dimensions include a person’s sense of autonomy, their environmental mastery, their perceived personal growth, their positive relations with others, their overarching purpose in life, and their level of self-acceptance.

Prati employed an advanced statistical technique designed to mimic the conditions of a randomized clinical trial. This approach isolates the specific act of attending religious gatherings by balancing out the remaining variables between participants. The analysis adjusted for fixed demographic elements, including participant age, gender, and ethnicity.

Most importantly, the software adjusted for time-varying confounders. These are life circumstances that can change from year to year. The fluctuating variables included self-rated physical health, perceived financial status, personality traits like extraversion or neuroticism, and the frequency of contact with a person’s friendship network. The study even accounted for a person’s past mental health history and their previous religious attendance habits.

Once all these shifting elements were balanced, the expected benefits of religious attendance did not materialize. Frequent religious service attendance did not alter the probability of a person developing a major depressive episode. The data showed equal rates of depression among frequent attendees and those who rarely or never went to services. Similarly, weekly religious attendance did not protect respondents from developing a panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder.

The relationship between religious service attendance and general psychological well-being was not statistically significant. A person who engaged in frequent religious attendance did not report higher levels of life purpose or self-acceptance than someone with similar life circumstances who strictly stayed home. Changes in a person’s religious attendance frequency relative to their typical habits did not lead to any subsequent improvements or declines in their mental wellness.

These results challenge the widespread assumption that spiritual gathering is a universal protective factor for human psychology. Prati noted that people who attend religious services regularly often possess other overlapping benefits, such as robust physical health, stable incomes, or outgoing personalities. When those underlying advantages are removed from the equation, the act of religious attendance itself loses its supposed healing properties.

This pattern held true even in the United States, a finding that carries specific weight in sociological research. The “religiosity as social value” hypothesis suggests that the mental benefits of religious services might only appear in societies that highly value religion. Because religious people in these places might receive more social approval and resources, they might experience fewer mental health issues. Since the United States features relatively low levels of secularization, the lack of a protective effect in this American sample suggests the link is genuinely coincidental.

The findings carry specific implications for health care practices. Health professionals are sometimes encouraged to raise the topic of spiritual community engagement with patients as a way to treat or prevent psychological distress. This new research suggests that such advice oversimplifies the mechanics of mental health. Joining a religious group is not always a meaningful form of social participation for every individual, and not all forms of social participation result in positive psychological outcomes. Doctors and therapists should evaluate actual evidence before offering specific behavioral recommendations related to spirituality.

The study carries a few limitations inherent to observational research. Calculating exact causality from survey data relies on mathematical assumptions about demographic balancing that cannot be flawlessly verified in a laboratory. Participants also self-reported their religious attendance. People occasionally inflate their reporting of socially respected behaviors on surveys, which can introduce measurement errors into the data.

The multidimensional nature of mental health also means the study could only track a limited number of factors. The research focused on depression, panic, anxiety, and general well-being, leaving out metrics like sleep quality or physical stress reactivity. Future studies might benefit from examining different cultural demographics outside the United States. Researchers might also track subjects over shorter monthly intervals to see if attending a service offers a brief, transient boost to a person’s mood that fades too quickly to appear in a long-term study.

The study, “Religious Service Attendance and Common Mental Disorders and Well-Being: Causal Effects Based on a Longitudinal Marginal Structural Model Approach,” was authored by Gabriele Prati.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/does-going-to-religious-services-actually-improve-your-mental-health/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ReligiousAttendanceMentalHealth #ChurchAttendanceAndMentalHealth #ReligionAndWellBeing #MentalHealthResearch #ReligiousCommunityImpact #PsychologyOfReligion #WellBeingStudy #LongitudinalStudy #CausalEffects #ReligiousServiceAttendance

DATE: July 22, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Does going to religious services actually improve your mental health?

URL: https://www.psypost.org/does-going-to-religious-services-actually-improve-your-mental-health/

Going to religious services on a weekly basis does not prevent common mental illnesses or elevate overall psychological well-being. A recent analysis of long-term data suggests that previously reported health benefits of gathering for worship may be the result of overlapping life circumstances rather than genuine medical effects. The findings indicate that the act of attending a service alone does not offer direct protection against psychiatric disorders. The study was published in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

For decades, an extensive body of literature has suggested a strong association between religious attendance and positive mental health outcomes. Many theoretical models proposed that gathering for spiritual reasons provided individuals with a built-in community, creating abundant arrays of social support. Theories also suggested that engaging with a faith community led to reduced participation in unhealthy behaviors, increased positive emotions, and provided individuals with better coping mechanisms during difficult life events.

Based on these concepts, some medical professionals and mental health advocates have historically recommended spiritual community integration as a routine psychological intervention. While countless studies have documented favorable outcomes linked to church or temple attendance, the vast majority of this research relied on cross-sectional designs. A cross-sectional study takes a single snapshot of a population at one moment in time. This approach can identify a correlation, but it cannot determine whether one factor explicitly causes another. Even when past researchers utilized longitudinal studies, which follow the same subjects over extended periods, they frequently failed to account for shifting life variables.

Gabriele Prati, a psychology researcher at the University of Bologna in Italy, initiated the current study to rigorously test this supposed protective effect. Prati wanted to evaluate if religious attendance truly causes improved mental health when separated from other beneficial life circumstances. To achieve this, the statistical analysis required adjustments for a variety of confounding variables.

A confounding variable is an outside factor that influences both the supposed cause and the supposed effect, creating a false impression of a direct link. For example, a person who maintains strong contact with friends might be more likely to attend group religious services, and that same social contact might also protect them from depression. If researchers fail to mathematically remove the influence of those friendships from the data, it might look like the religious service alone prevented the depression.

To strip away these outside influences, Prati utilized data from the Midlife Development in the United States project. This large study tracked a nationally representative sample of 7,108 adults living across the United States. Researchers collected information in three major waves spanning two decades, starting in the mid-1990s and concluding around 2014. The data collection involved phone interviews and extensive self-administered questionnaires.

The dataset recorded how frequently participants attended religious meetings, sorting them into groups depending on whether they attended once a week or more. The survey also logged formal diagnostic criteria for several common mental illnesses. Specifically, the data tracked instances of major depressive episodes, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder.

In addition to clinical illnesses, the researchers analyzed general psychological well-being. This metric was assessed using an established scale that measures several distinct dimensions of the human experience. These dimensions include a person’s sense of autonomy, their environmental mastery, their perceived personal growth, their positive relations with others, their overarching purpose in life, and their level of self-acceptance.

Prati employed an advanced statistical technique designed to mimic the conditions of a randomized clinical trial. This approach isolates the specific act of attending religious gatherings by balancing out the remaining variables between participants. The analysis adjusted for fixed demographic elements, including participant age, gender, and ethnicity.

Most importantly, the software adjusted for time-varying confounders. These are life circumstances that can change from year to year. The fluctuating variables included self-rated physical health, perceived financial status, personality traits like extraversion or neuroticism, and the frequency of contact with a person’s friendship network. The study even accounted for a person’s past mental health history and their previous religious attendance habits.

Once all these shifting elements were balanced, the expected benefits of religious attendance did not materialize. Frequent religious service attendance did not alter the probability of a person developing a major depressive episode. The data showed equal rates of depression among frequent attendees and those who rarely or never went to services. Similarly, weekly religious attendance did not protect respondents from developing a panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder.

The relationship between religious service attendance and general psychological well-being was not statistically significant. A person who engaged in frequent religious attendance did not report higher levels of life purpose or self-acceptance than someone with similar life circumstances who strictly stayed home. Changes in a person’s religious attendance frequency relative to their typical habits did not lead to any subsequent improvements or declines in their mental wellness.

These results challenge the widespread assumption that spiritual gathering is a universal protective factor for human psychology. Prati noted that people who attend religious services regularly often possess other overlapping benefits, such as robust physical health, stable incomes, or outgoing personalities. When those underlying advantages are removed from the equation, the act of religious attendance itself loses its supposed healing properties.

This pattern held true even in the United States, a finding that carries specific weight in sociological research. The “religiosity as social value” hypothesis suggests that the mental benefits of religious services might only appear in societies that highly value religion. Because religious people in these places might receive more social approval and resources, they might experience fewer mental health issues. Since the United States features relatively low levels of secularization, the lack of a protective effect in this American sample suggests the link is genuinely coincidental.

The findings carry specific implications for health care practices. Health professionals are sometimes encouraged to raise the topic of spiritual community engagement with patients as a way to treat or prevent psychological distress. This new research suggests that such advice oversimplifies the mechanics of mental health. Joining a religious group is not always a meaningful form of social participation for every individual, and not all forms of social participation result in positive psychological outcomes. Doctors and therapists should evaluate actual evidence before offering specific behavioral recommendations related to spirituality.

The study carries a few limitations inherent to observational research. Calculating exact causality from survey data relies on mathematical assumptions about demographic balancing that cannot be flawlessly verified in a laboratory. Participants also self-reported their religious attendance. People occasionally inflate their reporting of socially respected behaviors on surveys, which can introduce measurement errors into the data.

The multidimensional nature of mental health also means the study could only track a limited number of factors. The research focused on depression, panic, anxiety, and general well-being, leaving out metrics like sleep quality or physical stress reactivity. Future studies might benefit from examining different cultural demographics outside the United States. Researchers might also track subjects over shorter monthly intervals to see if attending a service offers a brief, transient boost to a person’s mood that fades too quickly to appear in a long-term study.

The study, “Religious Service Attendance and Common Mental Disorders and Well-Being: Causal Effects Based on a Longitudinal Marginal Structural Model Approach,” was authored by Gabriele Prati.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/does-going-to-religious-services-actually-improve-your-mental-health/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ReligiousAttendanceMentalHealth #ChurchAttendanceAndMentalHealth #ReligionAndWellBeing #MentalHealthResearch #ReligiousCommunityImpact #PsychologyOfReligion #WellBeingStudy #LongitudinalStudy #CausalEffects #ReligiousServiceAttendance

#longitudinalstudy #immigrants #Germany
Out now:
Runge, R. A., & Maehler, D. B. (2026):
"Navigating cultural identity: A 20-year longitudinal study of first-generation adult immigrants in Germany"
👉 Read here: https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000603

#longitudinalstudy #immigrants #Germany
Out now:
Runge, R. A., & Maehler, D. B. (2026):
"Navigating cultural identity: A 20-year longitudinal study of first-generation adult immigrants in Germany"
👉 Read here: https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000603

The Time of Day You Eat in Later Life Could Foreshadow an Early Death

A new longitudinal study by an international team of researchers has found a link between eating breakfast later in the day and a greater chance of an early d…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Nutrition #EatingBreakfast #EatingHabits #elderlypeople #longitudinalstudy #Mentalhealth #mortalityrisk #nutrition #researchers
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2284880/the-time-of-day-you-eat-in-later-life-could-foreshadow-an-early-death/

The Time of Day You Eat in Later Life Could Foreshadow an Early Death

A new longitudinal study by an international team of researchers has found a link between eating breakfast later in the day and a greater chance of an early d…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Nutrition #EatingBreakfast #EatingHabits #elderlypeople #longitudinalstudy #Mentalhealth #mortalityrisk #nutrition #researchers
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2284880/the-time-of-day-you-eat-in-later-life-could-foreshadow-an-early-death/

川普大概不喜歡研究機構或者像我們這種“散裝”的數據分析師！
上次揭露美國通貨膨脹率（細項）並沒有支持川普說的“物價下降，通貨膨脹死了”。
這次他要搞華盛頓DC掌握在他手中，要驅逐遊民。說好聽點是送他們遠離華盛頓DC，在外圍給他們居住所。說不好聽點，他稱他們是罪犯。讓華盛頓DC不安全。
結果呢，華盛頓DC的犯罪人數至少從2019年到2024年是個半週期。將新冠疫情造成的影響回到2019年。
第二段和第一段相比，第二段後期的犯罪人數高漲，比第一段還高。
嘖嘖！美國人睜眼說瞎話的撲克牌功夫越來越厲害。

#AI數據分析唯一認證
#AI數據分析看到趨勢深度資訊
#AI數據分析解讀數據的關鍵
#AI數據分析課程 早報名早享受
【解讀看更多】https://aitrendsplot.blogspot.com/2025/08/blog-post_12.html

#財經 #金融 #數據分析 #研究 #解讀 #知識 #學習 #教育 #研習 #認證 #AI #MathAI #economy #economywatch #research #longitudinalstudy #美國 #犯罪 #華盛頓DC #川普 #Trump

美國從2014年第一季到2025年第二季當中，唯一的下降實質時薪發生在2021年第二季到2022年第四季。此時剛好是新冠疫情發生的第二年與第三年，也是美國通貨膨脹嚴重的時期。

最新趨勢從2023年第一季到2025年第二季，此時是通貨膨脹率下降時期，使得實質時薪往上提高，特別是2023年第四季到2024年第一季忽然從106.395美元/小時跳升到107.989美元/小時。雖然2024年第二季與第三季的實質時薪下降，但2025年第四季再次往上提高，從107.543美元/小時跳升到108.178美元/小時。

美國發生通貨膨脹時會試圖提高名目工資率，以消除通貨膨脹。實質時薪是名目時薪扣除通貨膨脹率。實質時薪持續提高代表，名目工資增長速度快過通貨膨脹率，讓美國人的時薪可抵消通貨膨脹外，還得到更多所得。這表示企業在美國雇用人力的實質成本持續增加。

#AI數據分析唯一認證
#AI數據分析課程 早報名早享受

#財經 #金融 #數據分析 #研究 #知識 #學習 #AI #MathAI #economy #economywatch #research #longitudinalstudy #美國

🚨 New research using our #population #opendata - Real-time #sewage surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in Dhaka, #Bangladesh versus clinical #COVID-19 surveillance: a longitudinal environmental surveillance study - in #TheLancet #LongitudinalStudy https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(23)00010-1

📃A robust #NumberSense at 12 months old predicts math skills at age 4, regardless of general intelligence or other skills, report @manuela_piazza and her #CIMeC Per2Con group in Developmental Science, after a #LongitudinalStudy of the same 40 children, three years apart. #EarlyMaths
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/desc.13386