Posted: 11/05/04
Students involved in religious life report
better emotional health, research shows
By Adelle Banks
Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS)–College students with significant religious involvement report better emotional health than those with no involvement, new research from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles shows.
The results, drawn from a national study of 3,680 college students, indicate students who are not churchgoers are more than twice as likely to say they have felt depressed or had poorer emotional health than students who frequently attend religious services.
The findings show religious activity has positive links to emotional health. Those who often attend religious services are far less likely to frequently feel overwhelmed during college.
The survey examined religious involvement such as service attendance, participation in campus religious organizations and reading of sacred texts.
It labeled feelings of depression, stress or being overwhelmed as indicators of “psychological distress.”
“College can be an unsettling time as students struggle with change and fundamental issues about themselves and the world,” said Alexander Astin, a UCLA education professor and co-principal investigator for the project.
“This study suggests that religion and spirituality can play a positive role in the mental and emotional health of students.”
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