The research, which looked at data over three decades, reports that a country’s religious values may serve as ‘a protective factor’ against anxiety issues in children and adolescents.
Religious faith in society may do more than provide spiritual comfort and moral guidance; it could also help protect against anxiety disorders, according to a recent study published in Developmental Science.
The research published in March explored if there were links between what societies value — such as independence and community — and anxiety- disorder rates among children and adolescents over three decades.
The study by Leonard Konstantin Kulisch, Ana Lorena Domínguez Rojas, Silvia Schneider and Babett Voigt analyzed preexisting records and data during the years 1989 to 2022 from the “World Value Survey,” “Global Burden of Disease” study, “Human Development Report,” and “Future of Families and Child Well-Being Study.”
The research found an emphasis on independence was linked to higher anxiety rates in “WEIRD” (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) nations, while a greater emphasis on religious faith and interdependence correlated with less anxiety disorders globally.
It also found that the importance of religious faith in socialization, and its link to interdependence, was associated with fewer anxiety disorders across 70 of
