Trust in God and psychological distress: exploring variations by religious affiliation

Abstract

Trust in God has been widely identified as a central aspect of religious life, yet relatively few studies have examined whether trust in God is associated with better mental health. This study has two goals. The first is to see if Conservative Christians have greater trust in God than moderate or liberal Christians. The second goal is to see if trusting in God is associated with lower levels of death anxiety, fewer depressed affect symptoms, and fewer somatic symptoms among Conservative Christians than moderate or liberal Christians. The data come from a nationwide survey of middle-aged and older adults (N = 1535). The findings reveal that, compared to moderate or liberal Christians, trust in God is associated with lower levels of death anxiety as well as fewer symptoms of a depressed affect and lower somatic symptom scores among Conservative Christians.

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