Effects of Participating in Religious Groups on Mental Health Issues: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

ABSTRACT

We conducted a Mendelian randomization study to evaluate the potential causal effects of attending religious groups on the prevalence of depression, generalized anxiety disorders, anxiety disorders, and suicide and self-harm. Data from the UK Biobank and the FinnGen project were processed by inverse variance weighting (IVW), weighted median, and MR-Egger regression methods. Despite certain pleiotropic risks, we found that attending religious groups was potentially associated with a reduced risk of anxiety disorders (OR = 0.213, p = .028). The pleiotropies were largely controlled and the effect on anxiety disorders became more significant in our sensitivity analysis (OR = 0.162; p = .006). Additionally, attending religious groups was associated with a reduced risk of suicide and self-harm (OR = 0.231, p = .0006). However, we did not observe any substantial protection against depression. In conclusion, our study adds to the existing literature and sheds light on the potential health benefits of religious activities from a novel perspective.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in IEU Open GWAS project at https://gwas.mrcieu.ac.uk/, reference code: ukb-b-4667; finn-b-F5_DEPRESSIO; finn-b-F5_GAD; finn-b-KRA_PSY_ANXIETY; and finn-b-VWXY20_SUICI_OTHER_INTENTI_SELF_H.