A decline in church attendance after the repeal of Sunday shopping restrictions may be linked to higher mortality rates among middle-age Americans, according to new academic research.
An analysis by StudyFinds focuses on changes that followed the repeal of blue laws, which once limited most U.S. retail activity on Sundays.
When states eliminated those restrictions in the 1980s and early 1990s, researchers found that weekly church attendance among middle-age adults fell by 5 to 10 percentage points.
The study also identified a subsequent rise in deaths from suicide, drug poisoning, and liver disease.
In states that repealed blue laws, mortality from those causes increased by about 2 deaths per 100,000 people in the affected age group.
Researchers from Wellesley College, the University of Notre Dame, and Ohio State University examined data from 24 states between 1969 and 2000.
Mortality data came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while religious participation was measured using the General Social Survey.
The researchers found that the timing of blue-law repeals mattered.
States that lifted restrictions earlier experienced earlier declines in church attendance, followed by increases in deaths of despair. States that repealed blue laws later showed similar patterns at later dates.
The study estimates that declining religious participation could explain roughly 40% of the increase in deaths of despair observed among middle-age Americans by the mid-1990s, before the introduction of OxyContin and the later expansion of opioid use.
Suicide accounted for the largest share of the increase, while deaths linked to liver disease and drug poisoning also rose.
Other major causes of death, such as heart disease and cancer, did not show consistent changes linked to the repeal of blue laws.
The researchers examined whether people replaced church participation with other forms of social engagement.
They found little evidence of increased involvement in civic groups or changes in socializing with family or friends, suggesting that religious communities provided social support not easily replaced elsewhere.
The decline in church attendance was most pronounced among white Americans without college degrees, a group that later experienced some of the highest increases in deaths of despair.
States with higher religious participation tended to show lower mortality rates, while states with sharper declines saw larger increases.
The authors caution that the findings show strong associations rather than definitive causation.
They note that the analysis is limited to data ending in 2000 and thus does not reflect later developments in the opioid crisis.
Even so, the research suggests that policy changes affecting social institutions may have more pronounced public health implications than initially anticipated.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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