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In a nutshell
While religious involvement generally correlates with lower depression rates, this protective effect is often weaker or absent for LGBTQ+ college students compared to their heterosexual peers.
The relationship between religious importance and depression varies significantly across different religious affiliations and sexual orientation groups, with some combinations (like bisexual Buddhist or Mormon students) showing higher depression risk.
About 42% of college students reported moderate to severe depression symptoms, with significantly higher rates among sexual minorities (53.8% for gay/lesbian, 64.5% for bisexual, and 62.8% for queer/questioning/other students).
LOS ANGELES — The relationship between religion and mental health has long been studied, with many researchers finding that religious involvement often correlates with better psychological well-being. But recent research reveals that these benefits aren’t universal—especially when it comes to sexual orientation.
A team of researchers from several universities, led by Hans Oh from the University of Southern California, examined how religious beliefs affect depression rates among college students with different sexual orientations. Their findings, published in PLOS Mental Health, reveal patterns that challenge conventional wisdom about religion’s protective effects.
The Growing Mental Health Crisis on Campus
Depression has become increasingly common among young adults. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, about one in five U.S. college students reported moderate to severe depression symptoms. The college years are particularly challenging as students navigate new social environments while questioning their identities and worldviews.
For many people, religion helps protect against depression by providing social support networks, frameworks for understanding difficult circumstances, and coping strategies through practices like prayer. But sexual minorities—individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, or questioning—often have more complicated relationships with religious institutions.
Despite estimates suggesting that 50-60% of sexual minorities identify as religious, many report experiencing discrimination in religious settings. This creates barriers that may prevent them from accessing the psychological benefits that heterosexual individuals more readily experience through religious participation.
Faith’s Uneven Impact Across Different Groups
Looking at data from over 103,000 students across 140 U.S. colleges and universities, the research team found that while religious involvement generally correlated with lower depression rates, this benefit varied significantly by both religious affiliation and sexual orientation.
Christian religious affiliation linked to lower depression rates compared to being religiously unaffiliated—but this protective effect was weaker for sexual minority students. For sexual minority students, non-Christian religious affiliation actually correlated with higher odds of depression.
When examining the importance participants placed on religion, more revealing patterns emerged. Among Christian students, higher religious importance linked to lower depression rates, but mainly for heterosexual students. This protective relationship was generally absent among sexual minority Christians.
For many college students, religion can help ward off depression. Sexual minorities, however, are less likely to see the same benefits. (© TungCheung – stock.adobe.com)
Similarly, Muslim students who rated religion as highly important showed lower depression rates, but again, only among heterosexual students. Hindu and Catholic students showed a different pattern: religious importance correlated with lower depression rates among both heterosexual students and those identifying as queer/questioning/other, but not for gay/lesbian or bisexual students.
Most concerning were findings regarding Buddhist and Mormon students who identified as bisexual. In these religious contexts, higher religious importance actually correlated with greater odds of depression for bisexual students—suggesting that for some sexual minority groups, strong religious devotion might increase psychological distress rather than relieve it.
Beyond Statistics: What This Means for Young Adults
Whether religion helps or harms sexual minorities likely depends on the specific belief systems and practices that shape their religious experiences. Sexual minorities who feel internal conflict between their sexuality and religious beliefs may face increased risk for mental health problems.
The relationship between religiousness and mental health depends heavily on one’s sense of belonging and the alignment between religious beliefs and sexual identity. In religious environments where heterosexual and sexual minority students are treated differently, the mental health benefits of religious participation may be compromised for those who don’t conform to heteronormative expectations.
With younger generations increasingly identifying as LGBTQ+ (around 16% of Gen Z individuals) and approximately 40% of LGBTQ+ adults aged 18-34 reporting being religious, understanding these dynamics becomes increasingly important. Therapists, clergy members, and others working with student populations should consider both religious affiliation and the importance of faith to individuals, while being attentive to potential conflicts at the intersection of religious beliefs and sexual orientation.
For heterosexual students, religious involvement offers mental health benefits that help them navigate the challenges of young adulthood. For their sexual minority peers, the picture becomes more complex. Religious affiliation and importance still correlate with lower depression rates for both groups, but the benefits are generally weaker for sexual minority students and vary significantly depending on religious affiliation.
The research points to significant work ahead—but also to substantial mental health benefits for religious communities that successfully create inclusive spaces.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers analyzed data from the Healthy Minds Study, an online survey given to undergraduate and graduate students across 140 U.S. higher education institutions between September 2020 and June 2021. Focusing on young adults aged 18-29, they analyzed responses from 103,161 students. The survey had a 14% response rate, and researchers used statistical weighting to account for potential response bias.
Depression was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), which asks about depression symptoms experienced over a two-week period. Scores range from 0-27, with scores of 10 or higher indicating moderate to severe depression. Religious factors were measured using two questions: one about religious affiliation (categorized as Unaffiliated, Christian, Non-Christian, Multiple Religions, or “I Don’t Know”) and another about how important religion was to the person (rated from “very unimportant” to “very important”). Sexual orientation was categorized as heterosexual, lesbian/gay, bisexual, or queer/questioning/other. The researchers used statistical analyses to examine relationships between these factors while controlling for age, gender identity, and race/ethnicity.
Results
About 42% of participants reported moderate to severe depression symptoms, with much higher rates among sexual minority students (53.8% for gay/lesbian, 64.5% for bisexual, and 62.8% for queer/questioning/other) compared to heterosexual students (36.8%). Approximately two-thirds of participants reported religious affiliation, with Christianity being most common. Religious affiliation was more common among heterosexual students, though about half of sexual minority students also reported religious affiliation. About 41.5% of participants said religion was important or very important to them, with higher percentages among heterosexual students (48%) compared to sexual minority students (19.4% for gay/lesbian, 21.7% for bisexual, and 24.2% for queer/questioning/other).
Christian religious affiliation correlated with lower depression rates compared to being religiously unaffiliated, while having multiple religious affiliations linked to higher depression rates. The protective effect of religious affiliation was weaker for sexual minority students. The relationship between religious importance and depression varied across sexual orientation groups and religious affiliations. For Christian students, higher religious importance correlated with lower depression rates, but primarily for heterosexual students. Higher religious importance was also protective for Muslim heterosexual students and for both heterosexual and queer/questioning/other Hindu and Catholic students. However, higher religious importance correlated with greater depression odds for bisexual Buddhist and Mormon students.
Limitations
The study has several important limitations. Being cross-sectional (collecting data at one point in time), it cannot establish cause-and-effect relationships or determine whether depressed individuals are more or less likely to seek religious support. The categorization of religious affiliations may have been somewhat arbitrary, with some categories containing diverse religious traditions that are difficult to analyze as a group. The study didn’t measure various aspects of religious participation, such as worship attendance, theological beliefs about homosexuality, or private religious practices.
The measurement of sexual orientation also didn’t capture the multifaceted nature of sexuality, which includes identity, behavior, and attraction. Some participants may have been reluctant to disclose their sexual orientation, especially those from conservative religious backgrounds. Despite the large overall sample, some specific subgroups (like gay/lesbian Mormon students) were quite small, limiting statistical power. Finally, the findings only reflect college students willing to complete the survey, with a relatively low response rate of 14%.
Funding Information
The authors received no specific funding for this research and declared no competing interests.
Publication Details
The study, “Religiousness, sexual orientation, and depression among emerging adults in U.S. higher education: Findings from the Healthy Minds Study,” was conducted by Hans Oh, G. Tyler Lefevor, Edward B. Davis, Anna Zhu, Yaofang Hu, Trevor A. Pickering, Ai Koyanagi, and Lee Smith. It was published in PLOS Mental Health on March 26, 2025. The research received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board, Advarra, as well as the Institutional Review Boards at all participating campuses, with secondary analysis approved by the University of Southern California.