I recently completed a piece of research involving students across ten post-primary schools in Ireland, which explored the relationship between religion and the psychological wellbeing of young people in this country.
The study also examined young people’s religious beliefs in more detail. This research emerged through my work in schools as a psychologist, where conversations with young people about mental health repeatedly highlighted religion as an area of influence.
The first phase of the research involved online questionnaires completed by over one hundred students in Transition Year, Fifth Year and Leaving Certificate classes. These questionnaires examined three areas: religiosity, religious coping, and psychological wellbeing. The second phase of the research involved in-depth interviews with a smaller group of students. These conversations provided a richer insight into how religion is experienced in everyday life.
‘Religiosity’ refers to how religious a student is, based on their beliefs, practices, and sense of belonging to a particular tradition. ‘Religious coping’ describes how young people draw on religion in response to life’s challenges. This can take both positive and negative forms.
Positive religious coping includes practices such as personal prayer, meditation, seeking comfort through scripture, practising gratitude and forgiveness, and placing trust in a higher power during difficult times. Negative religious coping, by contrast, can involve feelings of anger towards God, a sense of abandonment, or interpreting life events as punishment.
‘Psychological wellbeing’, or ‘mental wellbeing’, refers to a state of mental and emotional health, including factors such as resilience, sense of purpose and the ability to cope with stress.
The findings revealed a complex but meaningful relationship between religion and mental wellbeing. Students who reported belief in God, and who engaged with that belief in a meaningful way, were more likely to report higher levels of wellbeing.
Similarly, greater use of positive coping strategies was linked to a stronger sense of purpose in life. One student reflected this connection clearly: “I think you can’t have a good mental wellbeing… without being grounded in your own faith and knowing what you believe in, and why you believe in it.”
In contrast, students who relied more on negative forms of religious coping were more likely to report lower levels of psychological wellbeing.
At the same time, the research highlighted how complex religious identity has become among young people in Ireland. While the majority of participants identified as Catholic, belief and practice varied widely. Of those who identified as Catholic, only 62% reported belief in God, meaning that a significant minority identified with the tradition without holding one of its central beliefs.
This reflects a broader pattern often described in Ireland, where religious identity can function as a cultural marker as much as a statement of belief. Many young people continue to identify as Catholic, but engage with religion in a more selective or personal way. For some, this means holding on to certain beliefs or practices while letting others go; for others, it involves identifying culturally with Catholicism without strong personal belief.
The study also examined patterns of religious practice. Among Catholic students, around 30% reported attending Mass weekly, while the largest proportion attended only a few times a year. A notable minority reported never engaging in personal prayer. Among non-religious students, most reported never attending religious services, although a small number attended occasionally, and some reported engaging in personal prayer from time to time.
Belief patterns further highlight this complexity. While Catholic students were more likely to report belief in God and heaven, belief in hell was reported at similar levels across both religious and non-religious groups. There were also differences in how God was perceived. Catholic students were more likely to describe God as loving, while non-religious students were more likely to describe God as strict, suggesting that cultural ideas about religion continue to shape perceptions even among those who do not identify as religious.
Students described a range of ways in which religion supported their wellbeing. For some, prayer functioned as a simple and effective way of managing stress and anxiety. As one student explained: “I can just say the Rosary and it kind of calms me down… I’m not as worried.” Another noted: “If I’m having a very stressful day… I can just sit down and relax and pray.” A further student described prayer in very practical terms, saying that it helps them to “stay grounded” and not become overwhelmed when things feel difficult.
Others spoke about the sense of reassurance that belief can provide. The idea that difficult experiences may have meaning, or that there is some form of purpose, helped some students cope with uncertainty. One participant reflected: “If something bad happens, I feel like it’s happening for a reason… that there is a plan.” Another expressed a similar idea, noting that even when things go wrong, they feel that “something even worse could be happening,” and that this perspective helps them to cope.
Religious practices such as Confession were also described as helpful by some students, particularly as a way of talking through difficulties and “getting things off my chest”. One student explained that it allows them to “explain some of the things I’m going through through faith-based stuff… and clear my conscience,” highlighting the role that structured practices can play in emotional processing.
Faith also played a role during times of grief and loss. One student described how belief helped them cope following bereavement, saying that without religion, they did not think they “would have been able to cope… having God as someone to come to, and believing that my granddad is somewhere better… it definitely gets me through the tough times.” This illustrates how, for some young people, religion provides a framework for understanding and managing loss.
In addition to individual practices, the social dimension of religion was also important. Participation in religious communities or youth groups provided opportunities for friendship and connection, which are themselves important for wellbeing. As one student noted, it “helps me make friends… being social and active with people… and being able to talk about it,” pointing to the role of shared belief or shared space in building relationships.
The findings of this study suggest that religion has the potential to support young people’s mental wellbeing, particularly when it is engaged with in a meaningful and constructive way. At the same time, the research highlights that religion is not experienced uniformly. For many young people in Ireland today, belief, identity and practice do not always align neatly.
For young people, this raises an important question: what coping strategies do I rely on, and how do they affect my psychological wellbeing? For some, religion may form part of that. For others, similar supports may come from different sources.
For those of us who parent, work with or support young people, the findings point to some clear opportunities. Supporting young people to explore and deepen their sense of belief, where it exists, can provide a strong foundation for coping with stress, uncertainty and loss. Encouraging simple practices such as prayer, reflection, or participation in a faith community can offer young people a sense of grounding, perspective and connection that is often difficult to find elsewhere.
There is also value in creating spaces, both in schools and communities, where young people can speak openly about faith, ask questions, and come to a clearer understanding of what they believe and why. As the research suggests, it is this sense of internalised and personally meaningful belief that appears to make the greatest difference to psychological wellbeing.
At a broader level, the findings highlight that religion continues to offer many young people a framework for meaning, a source of comfort in difficult times, and a community in which they can feel supported. In an increasingly uncertain world, these are not insignificant resources. Ultimately, the research suggests that while religion is changing in Ireland, it remains a meaningful and, for many, beneficial part of young people’s lives, particularly when it is lived out in a positive and authentic way.
This research received funding from Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, and the Teaching Council of Ireland.
Dr Lydia Mannion is a Lecturer in Inclusive and Special Education at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, where she works with student teachers at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Previously, Lydia worked as both a primary school teacher and educational and child psychologist.