Abstract
The association between religiousness and depressive symptoms was examined with
meta-analytic methods across 147 independent investigations (
N
= 98,975). Across all studies, the correlation between religiousness and
depressive symptoms was −.096, indicating that greater religiousness
is mildly associated with fewer symptoms. The results were not moderated by
gender, age, or ethnicity, but the religiousness-depression association was
stronger in studies involving people who were undergoing stress due to recent
life events. The results were also moderated by the type of measure of
religiousness used in the study, with extrinsic religious orientation and
negative religious coping (e.g., avoiding difficulties through religious
activities, blaming God for difficulties) associated with higher levels of
depressive symptoms, the opposite direction of the overall findings.
