Harvard study: going to church boosts health

New research led by Tyler VanderWeele, Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, shows that going to church dramatically improves health because it intensively shapes the attitudes, behavior, beliefs, sense of meaning and purpose of life, as reported by Pravmir.

In a 20-year study, Harvard scientists found that women who went to religious services twice a week were one-third less likely to die compared to non-attendees.

The study included data on more than 75,000 U.S. women between the ages of 46 and 71.

The researchers found that women who went to church more than once a week had a 33% lower risk of dying during the study period compared with those who said they never went. Less-frequent attendance was also associated with a lower risk of death, as women who attended once a week or less than weekly had 26% and 13% lower risk of death, respectively.

Women who regularly attended religious services also had higher rates of social support and optimism, had lower rates of depression and were less likely to smoke. However, the researchers took into account these differences between churchgoers and non-churchgoers when they calculated the decrease in death rates of 13% to 33%.

Going to church could have a number of additional benefits that could, in turn, improve longevity, but the researchers were not able to examine them with the available data. Attendance could promote self-discipline and a sense of meaning and purpose in life, or it could provide an experience of the transcendent, said Tyler J. VanderWeele, Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

“Service attendance may be a powerful and underappreciated health resource,” VanderWeele said. Even occasional church-goers have a mortality risk that is 13% lower than non-goers.

The study also did not explore the association in men. Previous research suggests that male churchgoers also benefit, though their decrease in death rate is not as large as among women, VanderWeele said. Researchers said the impact of church-going on men’s health does not seem as strong. However, the study did not specifically look at men.

Professor VanderWeele said scientists don’t know exactly why attending religious services improve health. But he believes it may due to social support and the sense of community congregants get from being part of a worship group.

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