This study examines how religious and spiritual identities relate to depression and anxiety at baseline and longitudinally. Using data from the Family Foundations of Youth Development Project, which sampled parent-child dyads from the Western United States, we investigated how mental health relates to the conjunction of spirituality and religiosity (S/R), the lack of either, or one separate from the other. At baseline, children identifying as “Spiritual but not Religious” (SBNR) reported the highest levels of anxiety and depression, whereas children who identified as “Religious and Spiritual” (RAS) exhibited the lowest levels of depression. The difference between RAS identity and the SBNR identity was significant across all baseline scales, with SBNR individuals demonstrating greater pathology. Among parents, the "religious but not spiritual RBNS group” was more depressed than the RAS group, and both RBNS and SBNR parents were more anxious than the “not religious, nor spiritual” (NRNS) parents. Longitudinally, SBNR children uniquely showed significant decreases in their depression levels, and no increases in their anxiety levels, likely reflecting a ceiling effect given their initially high symptoms. Regarding adults, all groups except RBNS decreased in depressive symptoms over time. This study highlights the nuanced relationship between psychological well-being and S/R. It offers possible interpretations, intending to alleviate suffering and encourage flourishing by identifying risk and protective factors.