Do religious people handle suffering more effectively than non-religious?

You know this conversation really struck me as one with two very different sides to it. Firstly, that suffering acts as a reminder to people that they're human, acting as a penance dealt by whatever god they believe in. This kind of suffering helps "build character" and helps religious people find hope for deliverance from pain.

And then there's the other side, that suffering is, in essence, bad, and that all the suffering in the world doesn't make you a better person.

Religious people who handle suffering find a silver lining amongst all the bad, and I feel like a religious community is more intimate and supportive than a secular one, their common bond being faith. And it's this faith they hold on to when they suffer. And even if they are misguided in viewing their pain as a punishment, at least it gives a reason for it. When something bad happens, don't we always ask why? Maybe religious poeple can handle and thus overcome suffering more effectively because they have an explanation supported by a group of like-minded people.