Buddhism and Depressive Symptoms among Married Women in Urban Thailand

Ting Xu, Xiaohe Xu, Thankam Sunil and Bangon Sirisunyaluck
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Ting Xu: School of Public Administration, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Xiaohe Xu: School of Public Administration, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Thankam Sunil: Department of Sociology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
Bangon Sirisunyaluck: Faculty of Liberal Arts, Maejo University, Chiang Mai 50290, Thailand

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-10

Abstract: A growing body of research has documented salutary associations between religious involvement and poor mental health outcomes, such as depressive symptoms and psychological distress. However, little scholarly attention has been given to the association between Buddhism, a non-Western religious faith, and depressive symptomatology in Thailand. Using random survey data collected from urban Thailand, this study examines the association between religious involvement and depressive symptoms among married women in Bangkok. Findings from multiple linear regression models reveal that (1) Buddhist respondents report significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms than their non-Buddhist counterparts, (2) the frequency of participation in religious activities is significantly and inversely associated with the level of depressive symptoms, and (3) the inverse association between religious participation and depressive symptoms is more salient for Buddhists who frequently practice their faith (i.e., significant interaction effect). Research limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Keywords: Buddhism; depressive symptoms; mental health; religious involvement; Thailand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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