The National Survey of Religious Leaders: Background, Methods, and Lessons Learned in the Research Process

Scientific Study of Religion

Eagle

2023

Self Cite

Are religious leaders unusually unhealthy? This question has long occupied scholars interested in the study of religious institutions, and a significant body of research has examined the causes, correlates, and effects of poor health among clergy. In this study, we aimed to: (1) outline the development of, and bias inherent to, the scholarly understanding of clergy health over the past 50 years; (2) test, using a recently collected nationally representative sample of clergy, the standing assumption that clergy are an especially unhealthy vocational group, specifically in terms of depression, obesity, and self‐rated health; and (3) identify the major correlates of health among clergy using these data. Contrary to the recent tenor of scholarly research on this subject, our research revealed that clergy are not a particularly unhealthy group. We suggest potential pathways forward to ameliorate the bias inherent in the research into clergy well‐being.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is There a Crisis in Clergy Health?: Reorienting Research Using a National Sample

Scientific Study of Religion

Eagle

2023

Self Cite

“…In our cross-sectional study, we used the NSRL, a national survey of a nationally representative sample of leaders of religious congregations in the United States, conducted from February 2019 to June 2020. 8 The NSRL gathered data, primarily via an online self-administered questionnaire, from 1600 congregational leaders, including 890 primary leaders and 710 secondary leaders. Eighty-two percent of respondents completed the survey online in a self-administered way, 7% completed the online survey via an interview, and 11% completed and returned a paper questionnaire.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

US Religious Leaders’ Views on the Etiology and Treatment of Depression

Chaves

2023

JAMA Psychiatry

ImportanceReligious leaders commonly provide assistance to people with mental illness, but little is known about clergy views regarding mental health etiology and appropriate treatment.ObjectiveTo assess the views of religious leaders regarding the etiology and treatment of depression.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis cross-sectional study used the National Survey of Religious Leaders, which is a nationally representative survey of leaders of religious congregations in the United States, with data collected from February 2019 to June 2020. Data were analyzed in September and October 2022.Main Outcomes and MeasuresViews about causes of depression (chemical imbalance, genetic problem, traumatic experience, demon possession, lack of social support, lack of faith, and stressful circumstances) and appropriate treatments (seeing a mental health professional, taking prescribed medication, and addressing the situation through religious activity).ResultsThe analytic sample was limited to congregations’ primary leaders (N = 890), with a 70% cooperation rate. Clergy primarily endorsed situational etiologies of depression, with 93% (95% CI, 90%-96%) endorsing stressful circumstances, 82% (95% CI, 77%-87%) endorsing traumatic experiences, and 66% (95% CI, 59%-73%) endorsing lack of social support. Most clergy also endorsed a medical etiology, with 79% (95% CI, 74%-85%) endorsing chemical imbalance and 59% (95% CI, 52%-65%) endorsing genetics. A minority of clergy endorsed religious causes: lack of faith (29%; 95% CI, 22%-35%) or demon possession (16%; 95% CI, 10%-21%). Almost all of the religious leaders who responded to the survey would encourage someone with depressive symptoms to see a mental health professional (90%; 95% CI, 85%-94%), take prescribed medication (87%; 95% CI, 83%-91%), and address symptoms with religious activity (84%; 95% CI, 78%-89%). A small but nontrivial proportion endorsed a religious cause of depression without also endorsing chemical imbalance (8%; 95% CI, 5%-12%) or genetics (20%; 95% CI, 13%-27%) as a likely cause. A similar proportion would encourage someone exhibiting depressive symptoms to engage in religious treatment without also seeing a mental health professional (10%; 95% CI, 5%-14%) or taking prescribed medication (11%; 95% CI, 8%-15%).Conclusions and RelevanceIn this cross-sectional survey, the vast majority of clergy embrace a medical understanding of depression’s etiology and treatment. When clergy employ a religious understanding, it most commonly supplements rather than replaces a medical view, although a nontrivial minority endorse only religious interpretations. This should encourage greater collaboration between medical professionals and clergy in addressing mental health needs.

“…First, the UMC has been ordaining women for over 60 years, with women making up over a quarter of UMC clergy in North Carolina for at least the past 15 years. Second, in 2021, one third of UMC clergy in North Carolina were women, mirroring the percentage of head clergy who are women in mainline congregations nationally (Chaves, Holleman, and Roso 2022). Therefore, focusing on the UMC offers the opportunity to have a substantial sample size of women clerics, while holding analyses stable within one theological tradition and organizational structure.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For this analysis, non‐white pastors made up between 8 and 13 percent of the sample per study wave, which made it almost impossible to conduct meaningful analyses between racial groups other than white and non‐white. However, this sample is appropriate to understand the gendered patterned of clergy health within white mainline denominations—the only prominent religious tradition in which at least a quarter of head clergy are women (Chaves, Holleman, and Roso 2022).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Resilience of Clergywomen?: Gender and the Relationship between Occupational Distress and Mental Health among Congregational Leaders

Scientific Study of Religion

2022

Religious leaders face unique vocational challenges that place their mental health at risk. As the clergy as a profession has traditionally been male-dominated, clergywoman experience greater occupational stress than their clergymen colleagues, putting their mental health at additional risk. However, past research offers varied evidence on the gendered nature of clergy health, suggesting that clergywomen may be especially resilient to some difficulties of clergy work. Using panel data from the Clergy Health Initiative, a sample of United Methodist pastors from 2010 to 2021, this study examines clergy-specific occupational stress and its gendered relationship with depression. I find that, while clergywomen experience higher levels of occupational stress, the relationship between occupational stress and depression is weaker for clergywomen as compared to clergymen. This study thus offers a new perspective on the gendered nature of the pastorate: that clergywomen may be able to more effectively cope with vocational difficulties than clergymen.