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The purpose of this study is to test wo hypotheses about therelationship between reli~ous doubt and health. The first hypothesis specifies that people wh have more doubts about their faith wiU be less satisfied with their health, and experience more symptoms of depression than individuals who have fewer doubts about their r ligious beliefs. The second hypothesis states that the potentiaUy deleterious effects of reli~ous doubt will be greater for people who occupy formal roles in the church. Findings from a nationwide survey provide support for b th hypotheses. The restdts underscore the importance of looking at the potential costs, a weU as the benefits, of relig~ous involvement. A growing number of studies suggest hat involvement in religion appears to have health-protective as well as health-enhancing effects (Koenig, McCullough and Larson 2001). However, critics of this work argue that some researchers are overzealous in their desire to establish a firm relationship between these con-structs, and that claims for the potential health-related benefits of religion are premature (Sloan, Bagiella and Powell 1999). These criticisms are not entirely unfounded because research reveals that the correlation between religion and health is often fairly modest. This may be due to a number of factors, including
Krause et al. (Thu,) studied this question.