Religious involvement and mortality: A meta-analytic review

A meta-analysis of data from 42 independent samples examining the associati on of a measure of religious involvement and all-cause mortality is reporte d. Religious involvement was significantly associated with lower mortality (odds ratio = 1.29; 95% confidence interval: 1.20-1.39), indicating that pe ople high in religious involvement were more likely to be alive at follow-u p than people lower in religious involvement. Although the strength of the religious involvement-mortality association varied as a function of several moderator variables, the association of religious involvement and mortalit y was robust and on the order of magnitude that has come to be expected for psychosocial factors. Conclusions did not appear to be due to publication bias.