Relations of religious beliefs with distress and well-being among Hindu college students

Religious beliefs are generally linked with less distress and higher psychological well-being, but few studies have been conducted with non-Christian samples or outside the United States. We examined how religious beliefs relate to distress and psychological well-being in a sample of Hindu students in India. 178 students (36% women, 64% men, mean age of 22.7 years) completed questionnaires regarding religious beliefs, distress (depression, anxiety, stress) and positive well-being (happiness, life satisfaction, meaning in life). Religious beliefs were unrelated to frequency of service attendance, importance of prayer, or influence of religion on one's life and related positively to depression and anxiety as well as meaning in life. Associations of religious beliefs and wellbeing were modest and did not strongly support general theoretical notions that religious beliefs are a source of comfort. Indian Hindus constitute a large portion of the world population and the impact of their religious beliefs warrants additional attention.