Exploring bidirectional causality between religion and mental health: A longitudinal study using data from the parent generation of a UK birth cohort

Abstract

Relations between religion and mental health have been studied extensively, yet whether associations are causal remains uncertain. Here, we use longitudinal data from the parental generation of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), based in the UK, to assess: i) whether religiosity may cause subsequent depression and anxiety; ii) whether depression and anxiety may cause subsequent religiosity; and iii) whether there are gender differences in the above associations. All analyses were pre-registered, and adjusted for baseline confounders, exposures and outcomes in an attempt to rule out reverse causality and confounding bias. We found little conclusive evidence that religiosity was associated with subsequent mental health, or that mental health was associated with subsequent religiosity. Some weak associations were reported, but effect sizes were small and largely consistent with null effects. Small differences by gender were found, with religiosity marginally associated with better mental health in women and worse mental health in men, but the inconsistency of the results and the wide margins of error mean that firm conclusions cannot be made. In sum, in this UK population we find little evidence for bidirectional causation between religion and mental health, or for large differences in these associations by gender.