The second part of a three-part study on the impact of religious involvement on health is out from the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University and it’s showing religious involvement could have some benefits for life expectancy. The first part of the study was regarding the impact religious involvement has on mental health. That study found that regular church attendance was linked to better mental health outcomes for individuals, particularly regarding depression, anxiety, and addiction. The second part focused on religion’s impact on physical health.

The study analyzed over 1,000 studies and found that 83% showed greater longevity for those more involved in religious activities. The findings suggested that regular attendance in church activities could be associated with a 34% lower risk of death. One study of 20,000 participants found that those with regular religious attendance lived on average 7.6 years longer than those who did not attend. The benefit was even higher with black Americans, who experience on average 13.7 additional years of life when involved in regular religious services.

Part of the improvement of life expectancy could be due to healthier life choices made by those with regular religious service attendance. Those who attended services regularly tended to use tobacco less than those who don’t attend services, with 98% of the studies finding that religious people had lower rates of smoking. Researchers also reported lower use of substance abuse and lower rates of addiction. Research from Harvard University appeared to indicate that religious 12-step programs tended to me more successful in treating addiction than cognitive behavioral therapy. Those with more religious involvement also appeared to suffer less from stress and the physical ailments that come with it.

“These are not fringe findings from a handful of studies — they reflect a consistent pattern across hundreds of the most rigorous investigations in the field. The data indicate that religious involvement is one of the most robust predictors of better physical health outcomes available in the research literature, and it deserves far greater attention in public health conversations,” Loren D. Marks,lead author of the report, told The Christian Post. “What makes religion powerful is that it has elements of beliefs, practices and community — you get all three if you’re actively involved.” The study’s co-author, Harold Koenig, agreed. “After four decades of research and thousands of studies, the pattern is remarkably clear: religious involvement is associated with better physical health across virtually every domain we’ve examined. These are not isolated findings — they represent one of the most consistent relationships in all of health science.”