Religious Transitions, Sexual Minority Status, and Depressive Symptoms from Adolescence to Early Adulthood R. Kyle Saunders 1 , Amy M. Burdette 1 , Dawn Carr 1 , and Terrence D. Hill 2 Abstract Given that sexual minorities have been historically stigmatized within institutions of religion, they may be less likely to exhibit any health benefits from religious participation. In this article, we use data from Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to test whether the effects of religious affiliation (becoming affiliated with a religious group) and disaffiliation (no longer affiliating with a religious group) on depressive symptoms are moderated by sexual minority status from adolescence to early adult- hood. In regression models adjusted for selection effects, we observed that, compared to respondents who were consistently unaffiliated, becoming affiliated was associated with more depressive symptoms from baseline to follow-up among lesbian, gay, and bisexual respondents, but not among heterosexual respondents. We conclude with the implications of our results as they relate to understanding the health impacts of marginalized groups in social institutions and the importance of selection effects. Keywords depression, life course, religion, sexual minorities, transition into adulthood INTRODUCTION Religious transitions, including joining or leaving a particular religious group, can be a significant turning point in the life course. Religious disaffili- ation in particular has been shown to impact social networks, identities, and health (Fenelon and Dan- ielsen 2016; Scheitle and Adamczyk 2010). Under- standing the role of religious transitions on health is critical given that religious disaffiliation is increas- ingly common, particularly among young adults. For example, findings from the General Social Sur- vey (GSS) show a dramatic increase in the percent of adults reporting no religious affiliation, from 6 percent in 1991 to 23 percent in 2018 (Schwadel 2020; Smith et al. 2019). Although these population trends are notewor- thy, researchers have only begun to explore the potential health consequences of religious transi- tions among young adults. Nevertheless, research suggests that religious disaffiliation is associated with worse physical health than remaining 1 Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA 2 The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA Corresponding Author: R. Kyle Saunders, Department of Sociology, Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1058, USA. Email: rks18b@fsu.edu Society and Mental Health 00(0) 1–18 Ó American Sociological Association 2022 DOI: 10.1177/21568693221111847 http://smh.sagepub.com Original Article