Religion protected mental health, but limited crisis response during the critical early years of the COVID-19 pandemic

https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12720

This study confirms 

that religion stabilized mental health, but limited support for response during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And data from a national probability-based sample of the U.S. population showed that in March 2020, highly religious individuals and evangelicals were less likely to show less mental distress and less likely to support public health efforts to contain the virus. Therefore, it is concluded that religion can be a source of comfort and strength in times of crisis.

The study used data from the Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel (ATP), and those without Internet access were provided with a tablet and Internet connection to complete a self-administered Web survey.

We then used data from the wave that occurred March 19-24, 2020, shortly after WHO declared COIVD-19 a global health pandemic. Of the 15,433 people sampled, 11,537 respondents completed the survey.

As mentioned in the results above,

 religious individuals and evangelicals were found to be less affected by the psychological distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but instead, they did not cooperate with public health efforts or perceive the pandemic as much of a threat due to their disapproval of political policies, which is why the above statement was made.

A limitation of this study is that it was conducted in the early days of the pandemic, so it is unclear whether religion can continue to provide psychological relief. And is the spiritual comfort of religion effective enough to mitigate the negative effects of the virus, as religious reassurance delays the initial actions of the pandemic and increases the likelihood of being affected by the virus? This is also a question that has been raised.