A significant decline in religious participation among middle-aged, less educated white Americans may have contributed to the alarming rise in “deaths of despair,” according to a recent study. Researchers discovered that states experiencing the steepest declines in church attendance from 1985 to 2000 also saw notable increases in deaths due to drug overdoses, suicides, and alcoholic liver disease.
This development follows the introduction of OxyContin and other opioids in the late 1990s, often cited as a catalyst for these deaths. However, the study, co-authored by Tamar Oostrom, an assistant professor of economics at The Ohio State University, suggests the trend began earlier, coinciding with a drop in religious participation.
Understanding the Link Between Churchgoing and Mortality
Oostrom, alongside Tyler Giles of Wellesley College and Daniel Hungerman of the University of Notre Dame, published their findings in the Journal of the European Economic Association. They utilized data from the General Social Surveys and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to analyze the correlation between religiosity and mortality.
Their research indicated that the decline in church attendance was most pronounced among white, middle-aged Americans without a college degree—the very demographic experiencing increased mortality rates. This trend was evident across both genders and in both rural and urban settings.
The Role of Blue Laws
To further substantiate their findings, the researchers examined the impact of repealing “blue laws,” which had restricted commercial activities on Sundays, thereby reducing competition with church attendance. The largest repeals occurred in 1985 in Minnesota, South Carolina, and Texas. These states experienced a 5- to 10-percentage-point decrease in weekly church attendance, followed by a rise in deaths of despair.
Oostrom noted that deaths of despair were on a decline from the late 1970s to the early 1990s among middle-aged white Americans, but this trend plateaued, aligning with the repeal of blue laws and declining religious participation. Mortality rates then surged with the advent of OxyContin in 1996.
“OxyContin and the opioid crisis made a bad situation worse, but the deaths of despair were already on the rise,” Oostrom said.
Social Connections and Identity
According to Oostrom, the decline in churchgoing may lead to a loss of social connections, which are crucial for health. However, the study did not observe a similar decline in other forms of social activity during the same period.
“Religion may provide some way of making sense of the world, some sense of identity in relation to others, that can’t easily be replaced by other forms of socialization,” Oostrom explained.
Interestingly, belief in God did not decline during this time; rather, it was the identification with religion and church attendance that waned. These factors appear to be critical in understanding the rise in deaths of despair.
Implications and Future Outlook
The study raises questions about whether a resurgence in organized religious participation or engagement in secular community organizations could reverse these mortality trends. However, the authors express skepticism about such a reversal, noting a lack of evidence for a resurgence in community participation.
Oostrom pointed out that while religious participation offers unique benefits for life satisfaction, these are challenging to replicate through other social engagements. The rise of social media in the 21st century may further complicate efforts to replace the social and identity functions traditionally provided by religion.
“People are less religious now, and there hasn’t been a substitute that provides what religion provided to many people. And our paper suggests this could have long-term impacts on health and mortality,” Oostrom concluded.
As communities grapple with these findings, the study underscores the complex interplay between social structures and public health, prompting further exploration into potential solutions for reversing the troubling trend of deaths of despair.
