Churchgoers who attend a house of worship at least weekly are more likely than non-churchgoers to rate their mental or emotional health as “excellent,” according to a new Gallup survey that found religion had a positive impact during the pandemic.
The poll found that weekly churchgoers finished at the top among 14 subgroups on mental and emotional health, with 44 percent of weekly churchgoers rating their own mental or emotional wellbeing as “excellent.” Those who attend church nearly weekly or monthly or seldom or never attend at all were less likely to rate their mental and emotional health as excellent.
Gallup’s Megan Brenan wrote in an analysis, “Americans who attend religious services weekly are notably more emotionally resilient than those who are less religious.”
Overall, though, the mental and emotional health of Americans remains at a 21-year low, driven by a COVID-19 pandemic and government responses that led to widespread lockdowns and job loss.
Only 34 percent of Americans – the same number as last year – rate their mental and emotional health as excellent. In 2019, 43 percent of Americans rated their mental and emotional health that way.
The findings, Brenan wrote, suggest that the “public continues to grapple with the emotional effects of the pandemic 20 months after it first began in the U.S.”