Does Religious-Service Attendance Increase Mental Health? A Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis Across 18 Years
利用英国家庭追踪调查18年数据，通过随机截距交叉滞后面板模型分析发现，参加宗教活动与心理健康在个体内的关联大多不显著，且少数显著结果方向不一，质疑了宗教活动有益心理健康的普遍假设。
= 29,298), a longitudinal survey of adult British households between 1991 and 2009. The outcome variables were mental health (as measured with the General Health Questionnaire) and life satisfaction. Using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models over 10 waves of data spanning over 18 years, the associations between religious-service attendance and mental health at the within-person level were mostly nonsignificant. The few significant findings indicated that an increase in religious-service attendance is associated subsequently with either higher or lower levels of mental health, suggesting both detrimental and beneficial effects. A series of robustness analyses (including the use of marginal structural models) mainly supported these findings. The results suggest that there is a need to question the assumption that religious-service attendance provides mental health benefits.