Interesting Findings

During the research programme we produced regular newsletters for all involved in the research (but not publicly available). Unfortunately, these paused after issue no. 11 due to illness. We have now revised the study website and are including here some of the findings of interest that were included in the early Newsletters. These include various results concerning Religious Beliefs and Behaviours (RSBBs) that have not necessarily yet been included in a publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Correlations within families

Shortly before the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, questionnaires concerning their RSBBs were received from the study parents and their adult offspring. The results were used to calculate the correlations between the answers of pairs of individuals within the same families.

Table 1 shows the correlation coefficients obtained by comparing the responses of the mothers (mean age 56 years) with those of their partners (mean age 58).  There are many interesting points to note in this table. For instance, that the correlations between the mothers and their partners are equally high for the frequency of attending religious services and the frequency of reading religious texts or documents, but there is no relationship between the pair  concerning whether they had ever lost their faith. Others may be interested in the fact that there are no negative correlations. It should be noted that these are initial analyses, but we hope that they are intriguing enough to whet the appetites of our co-investigators.

Table 1. Correlation coefficients comparing mothers’ responses with those of their partners.

Questions asked
Do you believe in God or some Divine power?	0.377
Do you feel that God (or some divine power) has helped you at any time?	0.380
Would you appeal to God for help if you were in trouble?	0.325
Do you ‘pray’ even if not in trouble?	0.382
How often do you go to a place of worship or other religious meetings?	0.650
How often do you spend time in private religious activities, such as prayer, meditation, or holy scripture study?	0.490
How often do you listen to/watch religious programming on the radio/ television/social media?	0.353
How often do you read religious related texts or publications	0.648
In my life, I experience the Presence of the Divine (e.g. God)	0.467
My religious beliefs are what really lie behind my whole approach to life	0.421
I try hard to carry my religion over into all other dealings in life.	0.442
I attend a place of worship mainly because it helps me make friends:	0.420
I pray mainly to gain relief and protection.	0.238
Did you ever have a religious or spiritual experience that changed your life?	0.311
Have you ever had a significant gain in your faith?	0.332
Have you ever had a significant loss of faith?	0.066
To what extent do you consider yourself a religious person?	0.391
To what extent do you consider yourself a spiritual person?	0.359
How important to you is religion or spirituality?	0.474
N	1583

 Parent-offspring correlations

In Table 2 we compare the answers of each parent with those of their offspring (aged 27-29) in 2020. The data comprise the correlation coefficients, where a value of 1 indicates a perfect match, and -1 a perfect reverse in answers. This shows:

1. The highest correlations are between mother and daughter (0.639 for time spent in private religious activities; and 0.522 for frequency of attendance at a place of worship)
2. Frequency of attendance at a place of worship was also high for father and daughter (0.515) and father and son (0.500).
3. The other item that showed relatively high correlations concerned the amount of time spent reading religious texts: father and son (0.516); mother and son (0.388); father and daughter (0.434).
4. There were no negative correlations.

 

Table 2. Correlation coefficients of the RSBB questions asked in 2020, comparing answers of study parents with their adult offspring

Questions asked	Mother & Daughter	Mother & Son	Father & Daughter	Father & Son
Do you believe in God or some Divine power?	0.384	0.317	0.312	0.323
Do you feel that God (or some divine power) has helped you at any time?	0.394	0.302	0.297	0.347
Would you appeal to God for help if you were in trouble?	0.327	0.270	0.269	0.274
Do you ‘pray’ even if not in trouble?	0.327	0.230	0.333	0.340
How often do you go to a place of worship or other religious meetings?	0.522	0.409	0.515	0.500
How often do you spend time in private religious activities, such as prayer, meditation, or holy scripture study?	0.639	0.269	0.363	0.333
How often do you listen to/watch religious programming on the radio/ television/social media?	0.243	0.247	0.269	0.221
How often do you read religious related texts or publications?	0.442	0.388	0.434	0.516
In my life, I experience the Presence of the Divine (e.g. God)	0.403	0.279	0.412	0.325
My religious beliefs are what really lie behind my whole approach to life	0.378	0.336	0.351	0.291
I try hard to carry my religion over into all other dealings in life.	0.377	0.256	0.388	0.334
I attend a place of worship mainly because it helps me make friends:	0.382	0.308	0.322	0.272
I pray mainly to gain relief and protection.	0.254	0.203	0.205	0.086
Did you ever have a religious or spiritual experience that changed your life?	0.219	0.207	0.174	0.201
Have you ever had a significant gain in your faith?	0.165	0.182	0.165	0.142
Have you ever had a significant loss of faith?	0.117	0.163	0.049	0.123
To what extent do you consider yourself a religious person?	0.410	0.325	0.368	0.352
To what extent do you consider yourself a spiritual person?	0.322	0.201	0.292	0.245
How important to you is religion or spirituality?	0.415	0.280	0.366	0.343
N	1583	913	815	516

 

Biomarkers indicating Inflammation

For this programme of work, it was thought important to consider whether any of the findings we may show linking health and RSBB should be investigated to determine whether inflammation might be an important mediator or mitigator of such an association. To this end, the programme has funded the assays of stored blood samples collected from G0 mothers and their G1 offspring at various time-points. Neil Goulding reports on the data available in full https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.18482.2, in a published Data Note, but in brief:

Proteomics is the identification, detection and quantification of proteins within a biological sample. The complete set of proteins expressed by an organism is known as the proteome. The availability of new high-throughput proteomic technologies, such as Olink Proteomic Proximity Extension Assay (PEA) technology has enabled detailed investigation of the circulating proteome in large-scale epidemiological studies. In particular, the Olink® Target 96 inflammatory panel (https://www.olink.com/products-services/target/inflammation/) allows the measurement of 92 circulating inflammatory proteins.

In this Data Note, we describe the proteomic data available in ALSPAC. Ninety-two proteins were analysed in 9000 blood plasma samples using the Olink® Target 96 inflammatory panel. Samples were derived from 2968 fasted mothers (mean age 47.5; Focus on Mothers 1 (FOM1)), 3005 non-fasted offspring at age 9 (Focus@9) and 3027 fasted offspring at age 24 (Focus@24). Post sample filtering, 1829 offspring have data at both timepoints and 1112 of those have data from their mother available (Fig A).

Figure A: A Venn diagram of the longitudinal and family overlap in samples analysed by Olink. (a) All 9000 ALSPAC samples sent to Olink and (b) The 8983 samples in the filtered dataset.

We performed quality control analyses using a standardised data processing workflow (metaboprep (https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btac059)) to produce a filtered dataset of 8983 samples for researchers to use in future analyses, which are available within the ALSPAC database. Initial validation analyses indicate that IL-6 measured using the Olink® Target 96 inflammatory panel is highly correlated with IL-6 previously measured by clinical chemistry (Pearson’s correlation = 0.77) and we are able to reproduce the reported positive correlation between body mass index (BMI) and IL-6 (Fig B). The pre-processing and validation analyses indicate a rich proteomic dataset to further characterise the role of inflammation in health and disease.

Figure B: Scatter plots showing the comparison of BMI (body mass index) and Olink IL-6. Analyses are displayed for each age group – mothers, children (age 9) and young adults (age 24)) and IL-6 from children’s clinical chemistry assays, in picograms per millilitre (pg/ml). The red dotted lines represent the univariable linear regression of all log2 IL-6 Olink NPX data or IL-6 clinical chemistry on BMI data.

What beliefs/religions other than Christianity are involved?

Mainstream religious behaviours and beliefs have been shown to have positive effects on health and well-being, but there has been increasing secularisation in the UK over time.  With concurrent increases in atheism and agnosticism there are a growing number describing themselves as ‘spiritual but not religious’ or have sought alternative forms of belief such as those considered ‘New Age’ or ‘Pagan’ along with many who have formed their own beliefs by taking elements of different belief systems – these are collectively known as Non-Mainstream Beliefs (NMBs).

In the ALSPAC questionnaires we asked: “What sort of faith/belief would you say you have nowadays?”, with the options:’ None, Church of England, Roman Catholic, Jehovah’s Witness, Methodist, Baptist/Evangelical, Other Christian – please describe (e.g. Christian Science, Mormon, Presbyterian, Orthodox), Jewish, Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Rastafarian, Other (please describe)’.

The reported increases in agnostics, atheists and NMBs nationwide are also reflected in ALSPAC data where initial counts indicate about 3% of parent participants consistently stated they had ‘other’ beliefs. This is higher than reported in Avon or England & Wales census data (see Table 3).  For the offspring cohort at age 28/29 the figure is over 5%.

Table 3: Comparison of beliefs in ALSPAC parents (preliminary data) with Avon and National Census data (%). Note that the religion question is optional in the census and was first asked in 2001. Avon = Bristol City, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset figures combined.

 

Stated beliefs	ALSP 1990-1 N= 22,471	ALSP 2000 N= 11,648	ALSP 2020 N= 6965	Avon 2001 N = 814,820	Avon 2011 N = 893,567	Avon 2021 N = 979,623	Engl & Wales 2001	Engl & Wales 2011	Engl & Wales 2021
Not stated	2.8	4.2	1.2	8.3	8.1	6.5	7.7	7.2	6.0
None	20.0	18.0	30.9	20.0	33.8	48.4	14.8	25.1	37.2
Other NMBs	3.4	2.4	3.8	0.3	1.2	0.8	0.3	0.4	0.6
Christian	73.2	74.4	62.8	68.0	53.8	38.9	71.8	59.3	46.2
Other mainstream beliefs*	1.3	0.9	1.3	1.9	4.1	5.6	5.4	8.0	10.1

*Combined Buddhism, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Judaism.

 

Yaz Iles-Caven has coded text responses to the ‘Other Christian’ and ‘Other beliefs’ options in the questionnaires completed by the parents in pregnancy, at 6 and 9 years after the birth as well as the latest 2020 sweep.  This has proved quite a challenge with over 40 Christian denominations and about 100 different ‘other’ beliefs reported (Table 4).  These denominations and beliefs and the coding thereof are described in detail: https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.20209.1 and will allow researchers to consider these diverse beliefs or denominations in future analyses regarding health or well-being outcomes. An appendix to this paper is a glossary with brief descriptions of each religion/belief.

Table 4. Diversity of beliefs in Bristol city from Census data collected in 2011 and 2021.

Stated beliefs	2011 Bristol N = 428,234 (%)	2021 Bristol N = 472,400 (%)	Stated beliefs	2011 Bristol	2021 Bristol
Religion not stated	34,782 (8.1)	30,706 (6.5)	Jain	30	30
No religion	154,096 (36.0)	241,800 (51.2)	Heathen (pagan, neo-pagan)	21	34
Agnostic	506 (0.1)	610 (0.1)	Zoroastrian	21	30
Atheist	476 (0.1)	207 (0.0)	Shamanism	17	11
Christian	200,254 (46.8)	152,126 (32.2)	Occult	15	15
Islam	22,016 (5.1)	31,776 (6.7)	New Age	13	1
Hindu	2,712 (0.6)	3,545 (0.7)	Traditional African Religion	13	9
Buddhist	2,549 (0.6)	2,710 (0.6)	Scientology	12	9
Sikh	2,133 (0.5)	2,247 (0.5)	Shintoism	11	16
Judaism	777 (0.2)	1,228 (0.3)	Theism	11	7
Total NMBs:	5,363 (1.2)	3,662 (0.8)	Deist	10	15
Jedi Knight	2,310	0	Universalist	9	6
Pagan	575	820	Witchcraft	7	13
Mixed religion	415	133	Animism	5	19
Spiritualist	376	252	Free Thinker	5	0
Spiritual	269	587	Reconstructionist	5	10
Rastafarian	243	148	Church of All Religions	4	1
Humanist	190	121	Ravidassia	4	0
Other religions	189	787	Realist	4	3
Wicca	99	99	Thelemite	4	5
Baha’i Faith	83	92	Eckankar	3	3
Taoist/Daoist	81	71	Native American Church	3	1
Believe in God	80	28	Vodun	2	0
Heavy Metal	61	0	Brahma Kumari	1	1
Druid	47	22	Confucianist	1	0
Pantheism	44	54	Mysticism	1	3
Own belief system	34	38	Unification Church (Moonies)	1	1
Satanism	34	114	Yazidi*	0	42
Alevi*	0	11

*Relatively recent refugee populations

 Life events and RSBB

 

 

Throughout the 30+ years of the ALSPAC follow-up, the participants have been asked about the traumatic events they may have experienced at various time-points. Jimmy Morgan has been involved in several studies. One set of analyses used data collected from the study mothers, 8 months after their baby (G1) was born concerning 43 traumatic events. For each event they reported they were asked how much they had been affected by it – from which a score was created, ranging from 0 to 4 (the maximum). The mean scores for each life event are shown in Table 5, ranked by severity of the mean score. Not unexpectedly, death of a partner or of a child scored highest. The analyses then addressed the question as to whether the effect size was reduced if the mother had a religious belief or attended a place of worship, but there were no convincing signs of such an effect.

 

 

 

Table 5: Table of mothers’ traumatic life events in the 8 months after the birth with number of observed events, mean severity score and standard deviation of severity score. Severity score of 1 = Not affected at all, 4 = Severely affected.

Outcome	Obs	Mean	SD
Partner Died	10	4.000	0
Child Died	12	3.417	1.165
Became homeless	126	3.389	0.971
Miscarried	102	3.265	0.984
Attempted suicide	32	3.219	1.157
Physically cruel to child	61	3.197	0.98
Separated from partner	515	3.122	1.073
Partner emotionally cruel to child	140	3.100	0.892
Partner rejected pregnancy/ child	172	3.076	1.16
Partner emotionally cruel to mother	945	3.025	0.968
Partner hurt mum	262	3.015	1.017
Had termination of pregnancy	50	3.000	1.088
Emotionally cruel to child	145	2.986	0.92
Partner lost job	801	2.981	0.987
Partner hurt child	27	2.963	1.091
Major financial problems	1650	2.932	0.96
Very ill	755	2.866	1.068
Pregnant	543	2.842	1.09
Partner in trouble with law	174	2.753	1.164
In hospital	669	2.716	1.153
Divorced	86	2.709	1.157
Had an Accident	241	2.651	1.014
Moved house	1366	2.611	1.127
Income reduced	4403	2.600	0.971
Partner went away	1050	2.581	1.124
Friend or Relative Died	1934	2.551	1.038
Problems at work	938	2.500	0.949
Child was ill	3576	2.473	1.05
Returned to work	3637	2.460	1.066
Partner problems at work	2434	2.454	0.941
Pet died	711	2.449	1.057
Friend or relative was ill	2233	2.419	1.039
Got married	195	2.410	1.212
Partner started new job	1073	2.405	1.087
Lost job	292	2.380	1.147
House or car burgled	1176	2.347	0.994
Started new job	1160	2.314	1.074
Trouble with police/law	51	2.275	1.115
Convicted of an offence	30	2.267	1.258
Argued with family/friends	1663	2.256	1.035
Took exam	335	2.122	1.111
Partner was ill	1815	2.104	0.956
Argued with partner	6413	2.090	1.031

(Obs = Observations; SD = Standard Deviations)

 

Cleanliness is next to Godliness – or is it? What does ALSPAC indicate?

Although this phrase is quite well known – a quick Google search indicates that although there is much in the Old Testament indicating that those of the Jewish faith should undergo ablutions and washings; in the New Testament the emphasis is more on being inwardly rather than externally pure and clean. However, John Wesley, a profound opponent of slavery and the founder of the Methodist Church in Britain, is reported to have used the phrase in a sermon in the 18th century. 

He wrote: “Slovenliness is no part of religion. Cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness“.

For some light relief, Jean Golding and Steve Gregory decided to ascertain whether those with strong evidence of religious or spiritual faith were more likely to keep their homes cleaner than those with little evidence of such faith.

They examined information given at various time points by the mothers and used ALSPAC’s longitudinal nature to address the questions:

• Are women with a strong faith more likely subsequently to keep their homes ultra-clean?

and/or

• Are women who keep their homes very clean more likely to demonstrate a strong faith later in life?

We looked not only at how clean they judged their own home to be compared with those of women with a similar sized family as a subjective measure, as well as more objective results derived from a score created on the frequency with which they used bleach (data not shown).

Results

• Are women with a strong faith more likely to keep their homes ultra-clean subsequently?

We considered early measures of belief in God or a Divine power obtained in pregnancy and considered the proportion who subsequently (10 years after the child was born) stated that their home was much cleaner than the homes of their peers. Of those who had a religious or spiritual belief in pregnancy, 7.1% subsequently claimed that they had a much cleaner home compared with 7.9% of those without such a belief in pregnancy (P = 0.14).

As a second measure of religiosity, we considered the women who attended a place of worship at least once a month during pregnancy, 5.8% of whom said they had a much cleaner home than their peers, compared with 7.8% who attended less frequently (P < 0.001).

Thus, although religious/spiritual belief was not associated with later cleanliness, the frequent attendees at a place of worship were less likely than expected to have a clean home at a later date.

• Were women who kept their homes very clean more likely to demonstrate a strong faith later in life?

Next, we considered the women who reported that their homes were much cleaner than those of their peers when their study children were aged 9 (in 2000-1) and determined whether there were indications that these women were more likely to show signs of religiosity in 2020. Table 6 indicates that the results vary in regard to the question asked, with cleanliness being associated at P<0.001 with certainty of belief in God many years later.

Table 6. The proportion of women who indicated different aspects of religiosity and spirituality in 2020-2, according to whether they had declared in 2000-2001 that they had much cleaner homes than their peers.

Time point	Religiosity measure	Much cleaner 2000-1	Not much cleaner 2000-1	P
2020	Belief in God or a Divine power	49.6%	42.8%	.072
2020	Stated she was very or moderately religious	18.7%	16.1%	.128
2020	Stated she was very or moderately Spiritual	26.0%	27.9%	.984
2022	She knows God exists and has no doubt about it	19.9%	12.9%	<.001

 

This suggests that if the mother felt her home was exceptionally clean, years later she was more likely to have a strong religious belief rather than a spiritual belief.

Some Caveats

These analyses started as a light-hearted investigation, but we have obtained results that were unexpected, counter-intuitive and difficult to interpret. Why would mothers who attended a place of worship be less likely to have a clean home later. And why would mothers whose homes were ultra-clean be firmly convinced of a belief in God subsequently?

The data we have outlined here are preliminary and not adjusted for confounders, but the pattern we have shown for the mother who claims that her home is ultra-clean is also mirrored by the pattern shown with the somewhat more objective measure of the use of bleach. Ideas as to what may be the explanation for this, and suggestions as to whether this is worth investigating further would be welcome.