The dimension of religious community encompasses and includes “support, involvement, and relationships grounded in a congregation or less formal religious group” We have mentioned the increase in life expectancy among persons who attend worship services more than once a week. We now turn to the question of whether those who faithfully attend also have higher marital stability and quality

One recent study reported “that with the exception of two reli-gious groups (nontraditional conservatives and non Christian faiths), holding any religious affiliation is associated with reduced odds of marital infidelity compared to those with no religious affiliation”

Another study addressed Internet pornography, a growing concern because of its negative effects on the marital relationship and family ties, and found that greater church attendance was related to lower rates of pornography use

he religious practice of prayer in marriage. Over the past 15 years, prayer has received increased attention in connection with marriage. A qualitative study by Butler and colleagues (1998) produced several findings that were substantiated and supported in a quantitative follow up study with 217 religious spouses (Butler, Stout, & Gardner, 2002). These findings included participants’ statements of belief that prayer enhanced experiences of emotional validation; promoted accountability toward deity; de-escalated negative interactions, contempt, hostility, and emotional reactivity; enhanced relation-ship behavior; facilitated partner empathy; increased self-change focus; encouraged reconciliation and problem solving; and promoted a sense of guidance from God (Butler et al., 2002).

Studies indicate that mothers in more positive mother–child relationships are more likely to transmit their religious beliefs to their adolescent children and that agreement between mothers and their children on religious issues protects against child depression. These studies mesh with an extensive review of 64 studies, 60 of which reported linkages between higher religious involvement and lower depression (Koenig et al., 2001). Parental mental health is often a significant benefit to children, who appear to reap secondary benefits. Benefits of mental health extend to (and perhaps from) healthy marriages as well (Waite & Gallagher, 2000