The Impact of Changes in Religion on Health Among Sexual Minority Mormons

ABSTRACT

The current study presents data from the first longitudinal examination of sexual minority (SM) Mormons (n = 132). Over the course of 2 years, SM Mormons reported decreased psychological (e.g., orthodox beliefs), behavioral (e.g., service attendance), and social (interpersonal religious commitment) religiousness. Analyses revealed that, at baseline, service attendance was related to lower levels of meaning in life and higher levels of depression at time 2, while interpersonal religious commitment at baseline was related to higher levels of meaning in life and lower levels of depression. Latent change scores of religiousness suggested that decreases in interpersonal religious commitment over the 2 years predicted higher levels of depression and lower levels of meaning in life at time 2. We suggest that these results highlight the inherent difficulty in holding both a Mormon and SM identity, with trends implying that SM Mormons tend to disengage from their religious identity.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

This 2-year longitudinal study found that sexual minority Mormons disengaged from religion/spirituality over time. Reductions in interpersonal religious commitment were related to increased depression and decreased meaning in life.

Acknowledgments

We thank the participants who bravely shared their experiences with us.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data, study materials, and analytic code are available from the first author. This study was not preregistered.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by startup funds given to the first author by Rhodes College and Utah State University.