study_id,authors,year,title_short,journal,sample,design,key_finding,url
1,Luy,2003,Causes of Male Excess Mortality: Insights from Cloistered Populations,Population and Development Review,"11,000+ Bavarian monks and nuns 1890-1995",Longitudinal mortality analysis,"Gender mortality gap nearly eliminated in cloistered populations; entire excess male mortality in general population is behavioral not biological; biological advantage for women = ~1 year max",https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2003.00647.x
2,"Schmitz, Lazarevič, Luy",2025,No Socioeconomic Inequalities in Mortality among Catholic Monks,J Health and Social Behavior,"2,421 monks born 1840-1959",Longitudinal (Cloister Study),"ZERO socioeconomic mortality gradient; low-educated monks lived as long as high-educated monks and high-educated men in general population; monastic structure erased education-mortality relationship",https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12394762/
3,"Poulain",2012,The Longevity of Nuns and Monks: A Gender Gap Issue (Belgian Data),PAA Conference Paper,"13,681 persons in convents/monasteries tracked 1991-2006",Survival analysis (KM + Cox PH),"Monks and nuns outlive general population; advantage concentrated ages 50-80; monks' survival curve close to never-married women; statistically significant lower mortality risk",https://paa2012.populationassociation.org/papers/122836
4,"Durà-Vilà, Leavey",2017,Solitude among contemplative cloistered nuns and monks,Mental Health Religion & Culture,Two Catholic contemplative monasteries in Spain,Ethnographic (in-depth interviews),"Nuns/monks actively sought solitude to deepen intimacy with God; inverse relationship between human attachment and divine closeness; suffering reframed through Dark Night of the Soul narrative; depressive symptoms transformed into spiritual growth",https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13674676.2017.1322049
5,Durà-Vilà,2017,Dark Night of the Soul narrative in Spanish contemplative nuns,ScienceOpen,Augustinian nuns (n=10),Ethnographic,"Symptoms clinically resembling depression were understood within contemplative tradition as active transformation; not denial but meaning-making; clinical implications for incorporating existential frameworks",https://www.scienceopen.com/document?vid=738235a8-f90f-4cc3-a0d7-d4405a70c595
6,"Luy, Wiedemann et al",2021,German-Austrian Cloister Study Health Survey,Austrian Academy of Sciences,Monks and nuns in German/Austrian cloisters,Cross-sectional survey,"33.1% active in sports >1x/week; 36.8% daily meditation/relaxation; 54.7% rate health as excellent; 20.8% often feel stressed; homogeneous lifestyle reduces confounding",https://www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/detail/news/do-lower-educated-people-die-earlier
7,"Bowen et al",2017,Stability of Lifestyle and Cognitive Aging in Nuns Monks and Master Athletes,Frontiers in Human Neuroscience,"20 nuns/monks (age 77.5±5.56), 20 master athletes, 20 sedentary controls",Cross-sectional comparison,"Highest correlation between fitness and cognitive performance in nuns/monks group; lifelong lifestyle stability confers benefits to working memory attention and inhibitory control",https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6567482/
8,"Wickramasinghe et al",2011,Effect of meditation on psychological distress among Buddhist Monks and Nuns,PubMed,Buddhist monks and nuns,Cross-sectional,"More advanced meditators showed significantly fewer signs of psychological distress than less advanced; dose-dependent and skill-dependent; practice may have therapeutic value for anxiety and depression",https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21391415/
9,"Snowdon",2001,Aging with Grace: The Nun Study,Various (book + multiple papers),"678 School Sisters of Notre Dame, aged 75-106",Longitudinal (Nun Study),"Landmark study linking early-life linguistic ability to late-life dementia risk; nuns provided uniquely controlled population for aging research; lower Alzheimer's rates than general population",N/A (book; multiple journal publications)
10,"Jakubaschk et al",1994,Depression and aggression in Amish persons,PubMed,43 Old Order Amish,Cross-sectional (BDI + Buss-Durkee),"Total hostility significantly lower than general population; depression scores significantly higher; positive correlation (0.45) between hostility and depression; absolute pacifism may channel distress differently",https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7991004/
11,"Deparcieux",1746,Earliest study on life expectancy of order members,Historical,French nuns and monks,Observational,"Higher life expectancy among French nuns and monks compared to general population; first documented evidence dating to 18th century",Cited in Schmitz et al 2025
12,"Timio et al",1999,Blood Pressure in Nuns in a Secluded Order: 30-Year Follow-up,Mineral and Electrolyte Metabolism,Secluded order nuns,30-year longitudinal,"Nuns and worldly women were similar in most medical conditions and health behaviors; nuns showed stable blood pressure over 30 years while general population women showed age-related increases",Cited in Schmitz et al 2025