Mental health and religion from an attachment viewpoint: overview with implications for future research

Abstract

I argue in this article that attachment theoretical considerations provide insights into why certain moderators underlie the links observed between religion and mental health. Three sets of moderators are discussed. First, contextual factors associated with heightened attachment activation (e.g., stress, unavailability of one's secular attachment figures, low social welfare) increase the strength of the links observed between religion and mental health. Second, aspects of mental health that are most notably affected by having a safe haven to turn to and a secure base to depart from are particularly reliably linked to religion. Other attachment-related aspects of mental health that religion may promote concerns attenuation of grief and reparation of internal working models following loss of and/or experiences of having been insensitively cared for by other attachment figures. Finally, aspects of religion that are most consistently linked to mental health are partially those that express attachment-components, including belief in a personal, loving God with whom one experiences a close and secure relationship.