Science AMA Series: I am Tyler VanderWeele, professor of epidemiology at
the Harvard T.H. Chan School of public health and I study the health
effects of religious service attendance; Ask My Anything!
Abstract
Hello, reddit! I am Tyler VanderWeele, professor of epidemiology at the
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and I study the mechanisms by
which religion and spirituality affect health outcomes. A recent study I
led found that women who attended religious services more than once per
week were more than 30% less likely to die during a 16-year-follow-up
than women who never attended. We found that attending religious
services increases social support, discourages smoking, decreases
depression, and helps people develop a more optimistic or hopeful
outlook on life. You can read the study here. Another recent study found
that women attending church services at least weekly were at five-fold
lower risk for suicide, with an even larger effect for Catholics. You
can read that study here. More information about the Harvard programs
supporting this research can be found here and here. EDIT: Hi everyone,
it’s 11:00 a.m. ET and I’m here to answer your questions! And a reminder
that we’ve posted the links to the full studies above. EDIT 2: It’s 1:20
p.m. ET and unfortunately I have to sign-off. Thank you for all your
great questions!