Religous involvement and mortality: A meta-analytic review

A meta-analysis of data from 42 independent samples examining the association fa measure ofreligious involvement and all-eaase mortality isreported. Religious involvement was significantly associated with lower mortality (odds ratio = 1.29; 95 % confidence interval: 1.20-1.39), indicating that people high in religious involvement were more likely to be alive at follow-up than people lower in religious involve-ment. Although the strength of the religious involvement-mortality association varied as a function of several moderator variables, the association freligious involvement and mortality was robust and on the order of magnitude that has come to be expected for psychosocial f ctors. Conclusions did not appear to be due to publication bias. Key words: religion, mortality, survival, ongevity, meta-analysis Substantial numbers of Americans engage in religious activity. More than 90 % of American adults are affiliated with a formal religious tradition (Kosmin & Lachman, 1993). Nearly 96 % of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, 42 % attend a religious worship service weekly or almost weekly, 67 % are mem-ber's of a local religious body, and 60 % feel that religion is "ver