title: Faith Moves Mountains-Mountains Move Faith: Two Opposite Epidemiological Forces in Research on Religion and Health.
abstract: Research suggests opposite epidemiological forces in religion and health: (1). Faith seems to move mountains in the sense that religion is associated with positive health outcomes. (2). Mountains of bad health seem to move faith. We reflected on these forces in a population of 3000 young Danish twins in which all religiosity measures were associated with severe disease. We believe the reason for this novel finding is that the sample presents as a particularly secular population-based study and that the second epidemiological force has gained the upper hand in this sample. We suggest that all cross-sectional research on religion and health should be interpreted in light of such opposite epidemiological forces potentially diluting each other.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of General Practice, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, J. B. Winsløwsvej 9A, 5000, Odense, Denmark. nchvidt@health.sdu.dk.
authors.forename: N C
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6311-9784
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Hvidt
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hvidtjørn
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.|Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology and Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.|The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of General Practice, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, J. B. Winsløwsvej 9A, 5000, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of General Practice, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, J. B. Winsløwsvej 9A, 5000, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Søndergaard
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012067:Religion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014427:Twins / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Meaning-making; Religious coping; Religious seeking; Religious struggle; Spirituality and health