Do Anxiety, Depression, and Mental Health Treatment Impact Christian College Student Religiosity/Spirituality?

The majority of Americans report religious affiliation and participate in religious practices. Several studies have sought to analyze the protective factors of religiosity, especially as it relates to mental and physical health issues. However, little research has been conducted which explores the relationship between religiosity/spirituality (R/S), mental health, and its treatment status. This study sought to determine whether participants’ mental health problems (anxiety and depression) and treatment status (treatment versus no treatment) were related to their religiosity/spirituality and if severity of pathology and treatment engagement significantly affected R/S. Results suggest subjects can be aggregated into two meaningful groups: one that endorsed higher symptoms of anxiety and depression, higher rates of treatment, and lower religiosity/spirituality scores and one with fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, less engagement with treatment, and higher religiosity/spirituality scores. Although subsequent analysis indicated that severity of depression, depression treatment, and religiosity/spirituality were key variables, neither treatment nor symptom severity were significantly related to total religiosity/spirituality scores