Religious affiliation is generally associated with better mental health. The nonreligious, however, currently constitute one of the fastest-growing religious categories in the United States. Since most of the nonreligious were raised in religious homes, their growth raises important questions about the mental health of those who consider dropping out of religion. In this article, I use longitudinal data from the Portraits of American Life Study to examine the impact of religious affiliation on mental health. Specifically, I compare individuals who dropped out of religion (leavers) with individuals who considered dropping out (stayers) and individuals who are more consistent in their religious (stable affiliates) and nonreligious (stable Nones) affiliations. I find that stayers experience more depressive symptoms than any other group and that they experience a greater increase in depressive symptoms over time. My findings are consistent with identity theories in sociology, and they provide evidence that a strong religious or secular identity is an important contributor to mental health.

中文翻译：

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我该留下还是该走？宗教（Dis）隶属关系和抑郁症状

宗教信仰通常与更好的心理健康有关。但是，非宗教人士目前是美国增长最快的宗教类别之一。由于大多数非宗教人士都是在宗教家庭中长大的，因此他们的成长提出了有关那些考虑辍学的人的心理健康的重要问题。在本文中，我使用《美国人生肖像研究》的纵向数据来检验宗教信仰对心理健康的影响。具体来说，我比较了退出宗教的人（离开者）与考虑退出的人（逗留者）以及在宗教（稳定的从属关系）和非宗教（稳定的无）联系方面更一致的人。我发现，与其他任何人相比，住宿者会遇到更多的抑郁症状，并且随着时间的推移他们会经历更多的抑郁症状。我的发现与社会学中的身份认同理论相吻合，并且它们提供的证据表明，强烈的宗教或世俗身份认同是心理健康的重要因素。