A new study conducted during wartime in Israel suggests that the mental-health advantages often associated with religiosity may be explained less by religious identity itself than by the habits, social environments, and psychological resources it can encourage. Researchers found that a stronger sense of meaning in life, lower social-media use, and reduced exposure to disturbing online content were closely associated with lower levels of addiction and psychological distress.
The study, published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, analyzed survey responses from 2,907 Jewish adults in Israel. Participants were surveyed in February 2025, while the country was experiencing prolonged conflict and widespread exposure to war-related news and imagery. The sample included people from secular, traditional, religious, and ultra-Orthodox communities, allowing the researchers to examine how religiosity related to mental health across a broad spectrum of Jewish Israeli society.
Led by Dr. Aaron D. Cherniak, Dr. Dvora Shmulewitz, and Professor Mario Mikulincer of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health, the research examined a broad group of psychological outcomes. These included depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms, substance misuse, and behavioral addictions such as problematic gambling, gaming, and pornography use. The researchers also measured participants’ perceived meaning in life, social-media consumption, and exposure to harmful digital material, including graphic war-related content and online hate speech.
Religious participants generally reported fewer symptoms of psychological distress and lower levels of substance misuse and behavioral addictions. However, statistical modeling showed that the apparent advantage associated with religiosity was substantially reduced after the researchers accounted for meaning in life and digital habits. In other words, religious identity alone did not fully explain the differences in mental-health outcomes. Instead, religiosity appeared to be connected to several potentially protective factors that could also exist outside religious settings.
A sense of meaning and purpose emerged as one of the strongest predictors of psychological resilience. Participants who felt that their lives were coherent, valuable, and directed toward meaningful goals tended to report fewer symptoms across several mental-health categories. This pattern is consistent with psychological theories suggesting that meaning can help people organize traumatic experiences, maintain motivation, and regulate distress when circumstances are unpredictable. Meaning may also reduce vulnerability by encouraging long-term goals and strengthening a person’s ability to tolerate short-term discomfort without turning to addictive behaviors.
Digital exposure was another major factor. People who spent more time on social media reported greater psychological distress, regardless of their religious background. Those who encountered more graphic war footage and online hate speech also showed higher levels of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. The researchers did not conclude that social media or disturbing content directly caused these outcomes, because the study was observational and measured participants at one point in time. People who are already distressed may seek out more alarming information, while repeated exposure may also intensify fear and emotional exhaustion.
The study’s findings are especially relevant during periods of collective trauma, when digital platforms can deliver an almost continuous stream of graphic images, alarming updates, and hostile commentary. Unlike traditional news consumption, social-media exposure is often personalized by algorithms that prioritize emotionally intense material because it attracts attention. Repeated exposure can contribute to heightened arousal, intrusive thoughts, sleep disruption, and a sense that danger is constant, even when a person is physically far from the immediate threat.
The researchers also identified an important exception. After meaning in life and digital habits were considered, religiosity no longer independently predicted most mental-health outcomes, but it remained significantly associated with lower problematic substance use. This result suggests that religious communities may offer additional safeguards against alcohol and drug misuse through shared behavioral norms, social accountability, structured routines, and access to supportive relationships. Such mechanisms could operate differently from the personal sense of purpose or media habits measured in the study.
“Our findings suggest that religiosity itself is not the whole story,” Cherniak said. “Much of its protective effect appears to come from the extent it can help people cultivate meaning in life and reduce potentially harmful digital exposure. The encouraging implication is that these are factors anyone can strengthen, regardless of whether they are religious.” The researchers argue that prevention programs could therefore focus on practical, broadly accessible resources: helping people develop meaningful goals, establish healthier boundaries around digital media, and limit exposure to graphic or hateful content during crises.
The research examined common underlying vulnerability across multiple conditions rather than treating each diagnosis as entirely separate. This approach allowed the team to investigate why the same psychological and behavioral factors may be linked to addiction, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress at the same time. Because the study relied on self-reported survey data and cannot establish cause and effect, further research will be needed to determine whether changes in meaning, media use, or exposure to harmful content lead to measurable improvements in mental health. Even so, the findings point to a potentially powerful shift in prevention: resilience may be strengthened not only through clinical treatment, but also through purposeful living and more deliberate digital habits.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Association of Religiosity, Meaning in Life, and Social Media Use with Common Mental Health Disorders
News Publication Date: 18-Jul-2026
Web References: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-026-01699-z
References: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, DOI: 10.1007/s11469-026-01699-z
Image Credits: Cherniak
Keywords: Mental health, religiosity, meaning in life, social media, digital wellbeing, addiction, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, psychological resilience, harmful online content, Israel, collective trauma
