Exploring reciprocal relationships between religious service attendance and depressive symptoms from adolescence to middle adulthood

Previous research has explored the relationship between religious service attendance and depressive symptoms and has found higher levels of attendance to be associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, likely due to the development of strong social networks within religious communities. However, little research has examined the influence of depression on religious service attendance or the potential of a reciprocal relationship between the two. Drawing from Add Health, I identify four trajectories of religious service attendance and two trajectories of depressive symptoms from adolescence to middle adulthood. Within each trajectory, I identify similar trajectories of depressive symptoms within attendance and vice versa. This study further complicates our understanding of the relationships between service attendance and depressive symptoms and supports the need for more nuanced inquiries into the mechanisms driving these relationships.