Relationship between Religious Orientation, Anxiety, and Depression among College Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Religious obligation helps people to develop mental health by creating internal commitment to special rules. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the relationship between religious orientation and anxiety among college students. METHODS: Major scientific databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, EBSCO, ProQuest and PsycINFO were searched for original research articles published 1987–2016. A random effect model was used to combine Correlation coefficient. All analyses were performed using Stata MP. RESULTS: After screening of 7235 documents, 13 articles including 5620 participants met inclusion criteria in this meta-analysis. Correlation coefficient was −0.08 (95% CI= −0.19, −0.03) which indicated with increasing religious orientation, anxiety and depression reduced (P<0.001). Characteristics such as sex, geographic region, and type of religions were potential sources of heterogeneity. Based on fill-and-trim method the adjusted pooled r was obtained, −0.06 (95% CI= −0.16, −0.04). CONCLUSION: There was a weakness relationship between religious orientation and mental anxiety and depression. Therefore, it needs to improve knowledge of student about advantages of religious orientation.