While religion can be very comforting, it also carries its share of challenges. Those who truly rely on God, however, are statistically shown to be happier than those with lukewarm faith.

From PsyPost. Religion can be a significant, comforting part of many peoples’ lives and has been linked to positive mental health outcomes. A study published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion suggests a more complicated relationship between religion and psychological wellbeing by focusing specifically on attachment to God….

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Researchers W. Matthew Henderson and Blake Victor Kent used data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey, which included relevant information from 1,624 adult participants. … Attachment to God, the independent variable, was measured using a nine-item scale that included questions such as “I feel that God is generally responsive to me.”

The authors of this study hypothesized that uncertainty in attachment to God would be related to higher levels of emotional distress and the results supported this. This study showed that participants who felt anxiously attached to God experience higher levels of all of the distress measures utilized. The curvilinear relationship suggests that people who are securely and avoidantly attached to God experience less distress. Avoidant attachment had been shown as detrimental in previous research, but this study suggests that since much of the population aren’t socialized to believe in God or religion, it can be an appropriate and not distressing type of attachment for many….

“That challenges the existing research. These data suggest it’s only those in the middle, those who experience uncertainty in the relationship with God, and not the avoidant, that have worse mental health….”

On Resurrection Sunday, join us praying for lukewarm Christians to surrender to Jesus and develop an eternal relationship with Him.

(Excerpt from PsyPost. Photo Credit: Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash)