Religion in Shaping Public Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic Across US Counties
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19217871 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mehdi Hajilo (0000-0001-6240-4463, Southwest Tennessee Community College, corresponding author), Simranjit Steel (University of Memphis), Wesley James, W L James (Southwest Tennessee Community College) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0147-2011 • E-ISSN: 1936-4725 |
| Publisher | Springer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12115-026-01233-w |
| OpenAlex | W7164316282 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 93 |
Public health outcomes are shaped by social and cultural factors, including religion. In the USA, where religious adherence is widespread, these beliefs may influence health behaviors. This study examines county-level associations between religious adherence and COVID-19 vaccination and mortality using hot spot analysis, ordinary least squares (OLS), and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) in ArcGIS Pro, while accounting for key demographic controls. Results show that the relationship between religion and COVID-19 outcomes is highly localized and context dependent, showing no consistent national pattern. A similar context-specific pattern is observed for income and poverty, whose effects vary across regions and local environments. In contrast, race, education, and gender demonstrate robust and consistent associations with COVID-19 outcomes at the national level. Interpreted through the lens of health behavior models, higher educational attainment is strongly linked to increased vaccine uptake and reduced mortality, underscoring education’s protective determinant, reinforcing its central role in enhancing health literacy and promoting adherence to public health measures. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between locally contingent influences and structural determinants when evaluating health disparities. This also carries theoretical significance by emphasizing the multi-level nature of health determinants, which operate at the local (religion, poverty), regional (income), and national (race, education) scales. Addressing these disparities requires a comprehensive, multi-dimensional approach from those responsible for public health decision-making
Context (archaeology) · Educational attainment · Health equity · Health literacy · Ordinary least squares · Pandemic · Public health · Social determinants of health · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
The Secular Paradox
Religion, spirituality, and medicine
Spirituality, religiousness, and mental health
Analytic Thinking Promotes Religious Disbelief
Increasing Vaccination
Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory
MGWR
In crisis, we pray
Beyond Tuskegee — Vaccine Distrust and Everyday Racism
Hope and well-being in vulnerable contexts during the Covid-19 pandemic
The psychological roots of anti-vaccination attitudes
Inference in Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression
The Religion-Health Connection
Geographical approaches to religion in the past
The Impact of Covid-19 and Religious Restrictions on the Well-Being of Ghanaian Christians
Sin and Self-Functioning, Part 1
Covid-19, Mental Health, and Religious Coping Among American Orthodox Jews
Covid-19, Religious Coping, and Weight Change in the Orthodox Jewish Community
Religion and Faith Perception in a Pandemic of Covid-19
Trust in God and/or Science? Sociodemographic Differences in the Effects of Beliefs in an Engaged God and Mistrust of the Covid-19 Vaccine
Religion in the US during the time of a Pandemic
HPV Vaccine Decision-Making and Acceptance
The Importance of Spiritual Consumption, Religious Expression and Subjective Well-Being among Christians in the US during Covid-19
Religion as a Health Promoter During the 2019/2020 Covid Outbreak
Trusting in God
Spiritual Health and the Covid-19 Pandemic
Religiosity of Latinas Living in the USA Curbs Depression and Anxiety During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Religious Leaders’ Perspectives on Rural Communities’ Responses During the Covid-19 Pandemic in the USA
Rival Jerusalems
Public Religions in the Modern World
Covid-19's Impact on the African American Community
Secularization and the Role of Religion in State Institutions
Spillover of Vaccine Hesitancy into Adult Covid-19 and Influenza
Climate Changes, Natural Resources Depletion, Covid-19 Pandemic, and Russian-Ukrainian War
Religious subgroups influencing vaccination coverage in the Dutch Bible belt
Racial differences in institutional trust and Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal
Covid-19 Information Sources and Misinformation by Faith Community
Right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation predict rejection of science and scientists
Secular values and the location of religion
Investigating Neighborhood and Area Effects on Health
A Test of Three Theories of Anti-Science Attitudes
The Role of Religious Belief in Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy
Religiosity in the major religious cultures of the world
Using social and behavioural science to support Covid-19 pandemic response
St Kilda and the Sublime
Religions, natural hazards, and disasters
Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR)
Place effects on health
Conservative Protestant Congregations and Racial Residential Segregation
Politicization of Science in the Public Sphere
God will protect us
Ecological Fallacies and the Analysis of Areal Census Data
Religious narratives and their implications for disaster risk reduction
Validation of "Trust/Mistrust in God Scale" for Spanish Cancer Patients
Black Church Culture and Community Action
How Culture Wars Delay Herd Immunity
A Cultural Sociology of Religion
Culture Wars and Covid-19 Conduct
The Growing Social and Moral Conflict Between Conservative Protestantism and Science
Religious Institutions and Political Participation in America
Hidden in Plain Sight
Political Identity and Confidence in Science and Religion in the United States
Historical events as transformations of structures
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |