Religious people coped better with Covid-19 pandemic

Two Cambridge-led studies suggest that the psychological distress caused by lockdowns (UK) and experience of infection (US) was reduced among those of faith compared to non-religious people. People of religious faith may have experienced lower levels of unhappiness and stress than secular people during the UK's Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, according to a new University of Cambridge study released as a working paper. The findings follow recently published Cambridge-led research suggesting that worsening mental health after experiencing Covid infection - either personally or in those close to you - was also somewhat ameliorated by religious belief. This study looked at the US population during early 2021. University of Cambridge economists argue that - taken together - these studies show that religion may act as a bulwark against increased distress and reduced wellbeing during times of crisis, such as a global public health emergency. "Selection biases make the wellbeing effects of religion difficult to study," said Prof Shaun Larcom from Cambridge's Department of Land Economy, and co-author of the latest study. "People may become religious due to family backgrounds, innate traits, or to cope with new or existing struggles." "However, the Covid-19 pandemic was an extraordinary event affecting everyone at around the same time, so we could gauge the impact of a negative shock to wellbeing right across society.