Prayer, Meditation, and Anxiety: Durkheim Revisited
Religions September 14, 2017 John Bartkowski, Gabriel Acevedo, Harriet Van Loggerenberg
Frequent communal prayer is linked to more anxiety-related symptoms, while attending worship services is linked to fewer such symptoms among American adults. Attending services together with communal prayer appears to reduce anxiety. Meditation, measured as a yes-or-no practice, shows no connection to anxiety in the same sample. These findings come from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey and suggest that collective religious activities have selective effects on mental health, with worship attendance offering benefits but communal prayer alone associated with greater anxiety.