Science AMA Series: I am Tyler VanderWeele, professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of public health and I study the health effects of religious service attendance; Ask My Anything!

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Hello, reddit!

I am Tyler VanderWeele, professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of public health, and I study the mechanisms by which religion and spirituality affect health outcomes.

A recent study I led found that women who attended religious services more than once per week were more than 30% less likely to die during a 16-year-follow-up than women who never attended. We found that attending religious services increases social support, discourages smoking, decreases depression, and helps people develop a more optimistic or hopeful outlook on life. You can read the study here.

Another recent study found that women attending church services at least weekly were at five-fold lower risk for suicide, with an even larger effect for Catholics. You can read that study here.

More information about the Harvard programs supporting this research can be found here and here.

I’ll be here from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET to answer your questions; Ask Me Anything!

">Science AMA Series: I am Tyler VanderWeele, professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of public health and I study the health effects of religious service attendance; Ask My Anything!