Older church-goers tend to have better mental health

Older people who go to church tend to have better mental health and a bigger social network, it has emerged.

A study of 6,000 Irish adults over the age of 50 has found that older men and women who attended regular church services are less likely to suffer from depression.

The study, carried out by the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (Tilda) at Trinity College Dublin, found the connection between faith and positive mental health may be due to the social benefits of religious involvement.

Religion was important to the majority of those taking part in the study. But both men and women who attended regularly reported fewer depressive symptoms.

While the size of older peoples’ social networks reduced over the course of the study, those who regularly attended religious services also tended to feel more socially connected than those who went less frequently.

People who identified religion as very important to them but did not attend religious services regularly were found to have worse mental health than their churchgoing counterparts, the study also found.

Over the course of six years, religious attendance also declined slightly for the predominantly Catholic group taking part in this study. Between 2010 and 2016, religious attendance dropped from 91% to 89% in women and from 89% to 87% in men.

The study highlights the importance of assessing the decline in religious participation and how this may affect older people, according to lead author Joanna Orr.

“Maintenance of religious practice for those who are religious, as well as the maintenance and bolstering of social networks and social participation for all in this age group emerge as important,” she said.

The importance of social engagement as a person gets older is well-established, according to Rose Anne Kenny, Tilda principal investigator.

“If religious attendance facilitates older people to maintain a larger social circle with continued social engagement, alternative ways to socialise will be necessary as we develop into a more secular society,” the professor said.