religiosity_dimension,outcome,association_strength,direction,notes,key_source
Service attendance,All-cause mortality,Strong,Protective,"Most robust finding in entire religion-health literature; 26-33% reduction",Li et al 2016; Chen et al 2020; McCullough meta-analysis
Service attendance,Suicide,Strong,Protective,"5x lower risk (women); strongest single protective factor identified",VanderWeele et al 2016
Service attendance,Depression,Strong,Protective,"~30% reduction; meta-analytic; 77% of 32 longitudinal studies show protective",Garssen et al 2021; VanderWeele 2021
Service attendance,Substance use disorders,Strong,Protective,"aOR 0.3-0.4 for alcohol/tobacco/cannabis disorders",Weinberger et al 2022
Service attendance,Life satisfaction,Moderate-Strong,Positive,"Congregational friendships mediate ~half the effect",Lim & Putnam 2010
Service attendance,Loneliness,Moderate,Protective,"Social integration and support are key mediators",Rote et al 2013
Prayer (private),All-cause mortality,Weak/Null,No association,"No association after controlling for demographics and health; may be marker for illness",VanderWeele et al 2016b (Black Women's Health Study)
Prayer (private),Depression,Weak/Mixed,Mixed,"May help in clinical populations for remission speed; not clearly protective in general population",Koenig et al 1998
Prayer (private),Blood pressure,Moderate,Protective,"40% less likely to have diastolic HTN when combined with attendance",Koenig et al 1998 (Mayo review)
Prayer (private),Healthy life expectancy (Europe),Negative,Harmful,"Higher private prayer associated with LOWER HLE in women across 47 European countries",European Values Survey analysis 2021
Intrinsic religiosity,All-cause mortality,Weak/Null,No association,"Systematic reviews show weak or null; not independently predictive after attendance controlled",Chida et al 2009; Koenig et al 2012
Intrinsic religiosity,Depression remission,Moderate,Protective,"Faster time to remission in clinical populations",Koenig et al 1998
Intrinsic religiosity,Physiological health markers,Negative,Harmful,"Meta-analysis found intrinsic religiosity negatively associated with health markers",Shattuck & Muehlenbein 2020
Intrinsic religiosity,Well-being and life satisfaction,Moderate,Positive,"Positive but confounded with personality; Protestant-normed scales",Various; Cohen et al critique
Extrinsic religiosity,Health outcomes,Null/Negative,No benefit,"Social-instrumental use of religion shows no health benefit",Allport & Ross 1967 framework; multiple replications
Religious coping (positive),Depression,Moderate,Protective,"Better outcomes when used constructively",Pargament framework
Religious coping (negative),Mental health,Moderate,Harmful,"Spiritual struggle/anger at God associated with worse outcomes",Abu-Raiya et al 2016
Religious/spiritual identity,All-cause mortality,Null,No association,"No association in Black Women's Health Study",VanderWeele et al 2016b
Self-rated importance of religion,Depression,Weak/Null,No clear association,"Balbuena et al: importance of spiritual values not related to depressive episodes",Balbuena et al 2013 (Canada 14yr)
Self-rated importance of religion,Suicidal ideation (depressed patients),Positive,HARMFUL,"More severe ideation among depressed patients who rated religion as more important",Lawrence et al 2016 (PMC4990512)
Attendance frequency (depressed patients),Suicidal ideation,Positive,HARMFUL,"More frequent attendance associated with more severe ideation in depressed patients",Lawrence et al 2016 (PMC4990512)
Religious affiliation alone,Suicide,Null,No association,"GSS linked to NDI: affiliation had no relationship with suicide",Balbuena Baetz Bowen 2018
Religious affiliation (depressed inpatients),Suicide attempts,Protective,Protective,"BUT - mechanism was moral objections to suicide and lower aggression not belief per se",Dervic et al 2004