This investigation examined how religiosity in the period of life ranging from emerging to established adulthood is associated with mental health. To address this issue, we examined the relationship between multiple dimensions of religiosity among young-adult Gen-Xers and mental health (psychological well-being, depression, and self-esteem) over this important stage of adulthood. We selected 510 young-adults participating in the Longitudinal Study of Generations surveyed in 2000 (18–29 years), 2005 (23–34 years), and 2016 (34–45 years). Latent class analysis identified three latent religious classes across the three waves: nonreligious, strongly religious, and spiritual-but-not-religious. Young-adult Gen-Xers in the strongly religious class across the three measurements generally reported better mental health when they reached established adulthood than those in the nonreligious class. Mental health in established adulthood was not significantly different between strongly religious and spiritual-but-not-religious individuals. Findings suggest that religiosity may serve as an important resource for mental health in the transition to established adulthood. Implications are discussed in the context of declining religiosity in the US over recent decades.

这项调查研究了从新兴到成熟的成年期的宗教信仰如何与心理健康相关联。为了解决这个问题，我们在成年的这个重要阶段检查了年轻成人 X 一代的宗教信仰的多个维度与心理健康（心理健康、抑郁和自尊）之间的关系。我们选择了 510 名参与 2000 年（18-29 岁）、2005 年（23-34 岁）和 2016 年（34-45 岁）调查的代际纵向研究的年轻人。潜在阶级分析在这三个浪潮中确定了三个潜在的宗教阶级：非宗教、强烈宗教和精神但非宗教。强烈宗教信仰中的年轻成年 X 一代三个测量值的班级通常报告说，他们成年后的心理健康状况比非宗教班级的要好。坚定的成年期的心理健康在强烈的宗教信仰和精神但非宗教信仰的个体之间没有显着差异。研究结果表明，宗教信仰可能是向成熟成年过渡的心理健康的重要资源。在近几十年来美国宗教信仰下降的背景下讨论了其影响。