Religious life of individuals with affective disorders.

We inquired into aspects of the family history, the marital status, and the religious practices of groups of normal subjects and patients with affective disorders. Consistent with past findings in the literature, individuals with affective disorders came from homes where one parent was frequently missing. The affective disorders group did not differ significantly from control subjects in their adult religious behavior, but had shown significantly diminished religious interest during adolescence. We suggest that this sample of patients with affective disorders returned to religious commitment after adolescence. A possibly related finding is a higher rate of intact marriage and lower rates of separation and divorce among these patients, as well as upward social mobility.