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Jews are less likely to commit suicide, according to a new study.

Statistics show that show that religious Jewish teens were 45 percent less likely to exhibit suicidal behaviors compared to their secular Jewish peers.

Researchers said the latest findings suggest that practicing religion can help protect adolescents against suicide.

"Death by suicide is one of the most common causes of death in the adolescent population, and it is potentially preventable,". Dr. Ben Amit of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine and Clalit Health Service's Geha Mental Health Center, said in a news release. "This has led us, like many other researchers, to try to better understand the reasons leading to adolescent suicide - to reduce its occurrence."

"Using statistical tools, we demonstrated that the protective effect of the practice of Judaism was not associated with a decreased risk of depression. Instead, it enhanced effective coping mechanisms," Amit explained. "This stands in direct contrast to studies of religious Christian teenagers who reported feeling less depressed than their secular peers. According to our study, religious Jewish teens appear less likely than secular ones to be at risk of suicide even though they are still likely to be depressed."

"Recognizing the risk factors and mechanisms associated with self-harm and suicide is important in the prevention of adolescent suicide. As this is the first study demonstrating a protective effect for religiosity against suicide in Jewish adolescents, we believe it may provide valuable insight for both clinicians and policymakers dealing with Jewish adolescents, in Israel and worldwide," he added.

"For many of these teens, suicide is simply about losing hope," co-researcher Dr. Gal Shoval concluded. "We know from working with suicide survivors that even when they were 99 percent sure they were going to kill themselves, they still sought hope. Jewish faith and community may be their most important source of hope."

The findings were published in the journal European Psychiatry.