Religious belief is better for mental health | The Jerusalem Post

Jpost · 🇮🇱 public Israel · Aug 22, 2026 · 1421 words · By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

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What to know about Religious belief is better for mental health

Do religious people tend to cope better with stress, trauma, and the temptations of the digital age than non-believers?

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Do religious people tend to cope better with stress, trauma, and the temptations of the digital age than non-believers?

Why it matters

Does being observant serve as a protective shield that can cultivate a stronger sense of purpose, spending less time on social media, and reduced exposure to harmful online content?

Common ground

In a new study by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), researchers suggest the answer may lie in psychological resources, mindsets, and habits that can come from religiosity.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Religious belief is better for mental health?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Cherniak, a clinical psychologist who also received rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva University in New York?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.jpost.com/science/article-906142

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7

help Insufficient Evidence 1

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “Cherniak, a clinical psychologist who also received rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva University in New York.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm Dr. Aaron Cherniak's rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva University.

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Claim 2: “In a new study by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), researchers suggest the answer may lie in psychological resources, mindsets, and habits that can come from religiosity.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (The Jerusalem Post, All Israel News, and other web results) describe a study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) regarding the link between religiosity, psychological resources, and mental health.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The African Hebrew Israelites in Israel comprise a new religious movement that is now mainly based in Dimona. Officially self-identifying as the African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem, they orig…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Hebrew_Israelites_in_I…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; Hebrew: הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הָעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם, romanized: HaUniversita HaIvrit b'Yerushalayim) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerus…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_University_of_Jerusalem

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The list of Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni includes notable graduates, professors, and administrators affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Four of Israel's prime ministers gradua…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hebrew_University_of_J…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “Its protective effect remained significant only for problematic substance use”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources explicitly state that the protective effect of religiosity remained significant specifically for problematic substance use even after adjustments.

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web search NEUTRAL — The findings indicate that when existential meaning and digital habits are taken into account, the direct protective effects of religion remain for substance use but disappear for general mental healt…
https://www.psypost.org/religions-mental-health-benefits-are…

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web search NEUTRAL — But religiosity itself largely lost its independent association with these outcomes after researchers accounted for participants’ sense of meaning in life and their digital habits.Religiosity retained…
https://unitedwithisrael.org/media-and-meaning-israeli-study…

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web search NEUTRAL — Its protective association remained significant for problematic substance use, but the relationship with behavioral addictions reversed direction. After adjustment for meaning and digital habits, reli…
https://health.yahoo.com/conditions/mental-health/articles/f…

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Claim 4: “Published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, the study was led by Dr. Aaron Cherniak, Dr. Dvora Shmulewitz, and Prof. Mario Mikulincer from HUJI’s psychology department and the Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health (ICAMH).”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web sources explicitly name the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction as the publisher and identify Dr. Aaron Cherniak, Dr. Dvora Shmulewitz, and Prof. Mario Mikulincer as the leads from HUJI and ICAMH.

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web search NEUTRAL — Published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction , the study was led by Dr. Aaron Cherniak, Dr. Dvora Shmulewitz, and Prof. Mario Mikulincer from HUJI’s psychology department and …
https://www.jpost.com/science/article-906142

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web search NEUTRAL — The study was led by Dr. Aaron Cherniak, Dr. Dvora Shmulewitz and Prof. Mario Mikulincer of HUJI’s psychology department and the findings were published in the "International Journal of Mental Health …
https://allisraelnews.com/israeli-study-finds-link-between-r…

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web search NEUTRAL — Published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, the study was led by Dr. Aaron D. Cherniak, Dr. Dvora Shmulewitz, and Prof.
https://austfhu.org.au/faith-purpose-and-less-doomscrolling-…

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Claim 5: “One of the study’s most dramatic findings is that once researchers accounted for meaning in life and digital habits, religiosity no longer independently predicted better mental health outcomes.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (United with Israel and others) confirm that once meaning in life and digital habits were accounted for, religiosity's independent prediction of better mental health largely disappeared.

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web search NEUTRAL — Red haired hottie with small natural tits is anal busted on the casting couch. Watch the full video from the backroom in 1080p here.
https://pornone.com/anal/brielle-getting-anal-in-casting/670…

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web search NEUTRAL — This gorgeous babe Brielle Woods only craves one thing more than anal: getting her ass filled with thick, creamy jizz. This bitch is so beautiful and so good at ploughing this man with her butt that h…
https://anal.media/video/messy-anal-creampie-amateur-brielle…

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web search NEUTRAL — Watch Brielle Woods Pornstar free porn videos online on your desktop or mobile phone. Free full length XXX movies. Share your own sex videos on Upornia.com.
https://upornia.com/model/brielle-woods/videos/1/

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Claim 6: “Participants represented a broad cross-section of Jewish Israeli society, including secular, traditional, religious, and haredi (ultra-Orthodox) communities.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results explicitly state that participants represented a broad cross-section of Jewish Israeli society, including secular, traditional, religious, and haredi communities.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the so…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A number of Jewish illuminated manuscripts include representational art and illustrations, with many containing religious or biblical undertones, while others focus on law, philosophy, science, or soc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_illuminated_man…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “The researchers identified three factors that consistently emerged in the study as the strongest predictors of better mental health: a stronger sense that life has meaning and purpose; less time spent on social media; and less exposure to harmful online content, including graphic war-related material and hate speech.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the general study is corroborated, the specific list of 'three strongest predictors' is not explicitly detailed in the provided evidence snippets, although related themes (meaning in life, digital habits) are mentioned in other claims' evidence.

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web search NEUTRAL — Social Media Use in Organizations – Exploring the Affordances of Visibility...
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23808985.2013.11…

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web search NEUTRAL — If you are suffering with a severe and enduring mental health issue, please contact your doctor and only use the ideas from these videos under the guidance of a qualified psychologist/counsellor who c…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFnT8V6kj4E

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web search NEUTRAL — Mental health refers to your emotional and psychological well-being. Having good mental health helps you lead a happy and healthy life. Learn more about the different types of metal illnesses, includi…
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health

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Claim 8: “Religious participants reported lower rates of substance abuse, symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and behavioral addictions compared to the secular respondents.”

CORROBORATED

Both The Jerusalem Post and The Media Line report that religious participants showed lower rates of substance abuse, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and behavioral addictions compared to secular respondents.

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web search NEUTRAL — Religious participants reported lower rates of substance abuse, symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress , and behavioral addictions compared to the secular respondents.
https://www.jpost.com/science/article-906142

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web search NEUTRAL — Religious participants, by contrast, reported lower rates of substance misuse and behavioral addictions, as well as fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress.
https://themedialine.org/life-lines/religious-israelis-repor…

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web search NEUTRAL — A new study from Critical Reviews In Food Science And Nutrition.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2020.1…

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Claim 9: “It examined responses of 3,000 Israeli Jewish adults collected in February, 2025 to explore how religiosity, meaning in life, social media use, and exposure to disturbing online content relate to addiction and mental health.”

CORROBORATED

The Jerusalem Post and other sources confirm the study examined approximately 3,000 Israeli Jewish adults in February 2025, focusing on religiosity, meaning in life, social media, and mental health.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Center for Jewish Art (CJA) is a research institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, devoted to the documentation and research of Jewish visual culture. Established in 1979, it documented an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Jewish_Art

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.