Religiosity and COVID-19: Impact on Use of Remote Worship and Changes in Self-Reported Social Support

Maghboeba Mosavel (), Ariel Hoadley, Aderonke A. Akinkugbe, Dina T. Garcia and Sarah Bauerle Bass
Additional contact information
Maghboeba Mosavel: Department of Health Behavior and Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 830 East Main Street, P.O. Box 980149, Richmond, VA 23298, USA
Ariel Hoadley: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Public Health, Temple University, 1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave., Ninth Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
Aderonke A. Akinkugbe: Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Dina T. Garcia: Department of Health Behavior and Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 830 East Main Street, P.O. Box 980149, Richmond, VA 23298, USA
Sarah Bauerle Bass: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Public Health, Temple University, 1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave., Ninth Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 16, 1-13

Abstract: Objective : This study examines associations between changes in the use of remote worship services and changes in the types of social support among religious adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods : Cross-sectional, web survey data ( n = 461; 15 May to 6 July 2020) were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multinomial logistic regression models calculated unadjusted odds of increases and decreases of three types of perceived social support from before to during COVID-19 based on remote worship use. Results : Adults who initiated use of remote worship had lower odds of gaining social support for personal problems (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.19, 0.79) and greater odds of reporting less ease of getting practical help from neighbors (OR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.04, 3.02) compared to adults who never used or stopped using remote worship. Adults who continued using remote worship services were more likely to report less ease of getting practical help from their neighbors (OR: 2.23; 95% CI: 1.17, 4.25) and decreased interest and concern felt from other people (OR: 2.62; 95% CI: 1.24, 5.51) than adults who never used or stopped using remote worship. Conclusions : Adults who initiated and continued using remote worship during the COVID-19 pandemic had poorer perceived social support outcomes relative to adults who never used or stopped using remote services. Despite continued engagement with their religious communities, adults participating in worship remotely may have had residual personal, emotional, and instrumental social support needs that remote worship did not mitigate.

Keywords: COVID-19; social support; religious institutions; religious worship services; remote worship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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