Study: Religious Childhood Linked to Healthier, Happier Adulthood
Practicing religious or spiritual traditions during childhood and adolescence may provide health benefits to children later in life.
According to a study published this week in the American Journal of Epidemiology, people who attended religious services on a weekly basis or prayed or meditated daily during their youth reported greater life satisfaction and positivity during early adulthood. They were also less likely to have symptoms of depression, smoke, use drugs or have sexually transmitted diseases than people who did not share their religious habits.
Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health examined data from mothers in the Nurses' Health Study II and their children in the Growing Up Today Study. The researchers followed 5,000 children from 8 to 14 years old and discovered that those who participated in religious services at least weekly were about 18 percent more...