Religion That Heals or Harms? an Examination of the Association Between Religion and Gender Differences in Depression

Gender differences exist in religious involvement and depression, with women reporting significantly higher levels in both. Most research finds that women benefit more from religion than men, as they are more involved than men in many facets of religion. Research has for example shown that prayer offsets the noxious effects of stress on well-being for women, but not men. Other research showed that women are more likely than men to make use of supportive religious networks through church attendance and other religious activities, and are therefore more likely to reap the instrumental and psychological benefits with those relationships. However, in contrast a small number of studies suggest that women may face unique challenges in the church that diminish or offset the benefits of religion to mental health. Compared to men, women are more often prescribed to traditional role patterns and a subordinate role in the worship service. In addition, in secular settings, women may be confronted with the “cost of caring” by trying to maintain both extensive church-related ties while also remaining active in more secular networks. 

Unfortunately, the vast majority of current research is conducted in Anglo-Saxon and non-secular settings. In the current study, we aim to examine the association between gender differences in depression and religion from a cross-national comparative perspective. First results based on the European Social Survey (2006-2007) showed that religion, as measured by subjective religiosity and frequency of praying is associated with higher levels of depression, in both men and women, but more pronounced in women. These finding contradict the most frequent finding that religiosity is related to fewer depressive complaints, especially among women. We intend to further investigate our results by incorporating both individual indicators such as church attendance, as well as contextual moderators, such as religious context into our model.