University of Pennsylvania, 3718 Locust Walk, Room 220, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6299, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2020 Dec;267:112376. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112376. Epub 2019 Jun 21.
Western Europe's growing Muslim population has occasioned considerable debate regarding cultural integration, immigration, and social isolation. In this study I explore the relationship between religious identification and depression in European countries, focusing in particular on the situation of Muslims, but comparing across other religious groups, as well as those who are unaffiliated with any religion. The analysis is based on countries sampled in the sixth round of the European Social Survey, conducted in 2012. The results reveal the dueling effects of religious identity: religious involvement involves social integration among like-minded friends, but can also invite discrimination from others. This dueling effect implies significant differences between groups. Among Protestants and Catholics greater religious identification is associated with progressively lower depression, relative to those with no affiliation. Among Muslims lower levels of identification are associated with significantly more depression. Muslims of the highest level of identification are statistically indistinguishable from those with no religious affiliation. These patterns among Muslims are not born of poor social integration, but rather reflect more experiences with discrimination. Overall differences among religious groups are very strong: the difference in depression between Muslims and Protestants, for instance, exceeds the difference between men and women.
西欧不断增长的穆斯林人口引起了关于文化融合、移民和社会隔离的大量争论。在这项研究中，我探讨了宗教认同与欧洲国家抑郁症之间的关系，特别关注穆斯林的情况，但也比较了其他宗教群体以及没有宗教信仰的人的情况。该分析基于 2012 年进行的第六轮欧洲社会调查中抽样的国家。结果揭示了宗教认同的双重影响：宗教参与涉及志同道合的朋友之间的社会融合，但也可能招致他人的歧视。这种双重影响意味着群体之间存在显著差异。在新教徒和天主教徒中，与没有宗教信仰的人相比，宗教认同程度越高，抑郁程度越低。在穆斯林中，较低的认同程度与明显更多的抑郁有关。认同程度最高的穆斯林在统计上与没有宗教信仰的人没有区别。穆斯林中出现的这些模式并非源于较差的社会融合，而是反映了更多的歧视经历。宗教群体之间的总体差异非常大：例如，穆斯林和新教徒之间的抑郁差异超过了男性和女性之间的差异。
