Aaron B. Franzen

Social Context and College Completion in the United States The Role of Congregational Biblical Literalism

Prior research has documented the influence of religion on a variety of stratification processes. Largely absent from this research, however, are explicit examinations of the role religious contexts play in educational outcomes. In this study, we focus on the congregation-level prevalence of a salient religious belief: biblical literalism. Using national multilevel data (U.S. Congregational Life Survey [USCLS]; N = 92,344), we examine whether individuals’ likelihood of completing college is dependent on the percentage of fellow congregation members who are biblical literalists. We find that college completion is tied to congregational literalism in important ways. Net of individual biblical literalism and other controls, congregational literalism decreases the likelihood of completing college. In addition, while congregational biblical literalism decreases the likelihood of college completion for both biblical literalists and non-literalists, the relationship is strongest for non-literalists such that in highly literalist congregations, non-literalists’ likelihood of college completion more closely resembles that of literalists.

Stress Buffer or Identity Threat? Negative Media Portrayal, Public and Private Religious Involvement, and Mental Health in a National Sample of U.S. Adults:

Guided by the stress process tradition, complex links between religion and mental health have received growing attention from researchers. This study gauges individuals’ public and private religiosity, uses a novel measure of environmental stress—negative media portrayal of religion—and presents two divergent hypotheses: (1) religiosity as stress-exacerbating attachment to valued identities producing mental health vulnerability to threat and (2) religiosity as stress-buffering social psychological resource. To assess these hypotheses, we analyze three mental health outcomes (generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and general mental health problems) in national U.S. data from 2010 (N = 1,714). Our findings align with the stress-buffering perspective. Results show that individuals low in public and private religiosity tend to have worse mental health with greater negative media portrayal. High public or private religiosity tends to nullify the relationship between negative media portrayal and mental health.

College Graduates, Local Retailers, and Community Belonging in the United States

How do communities retain their highly educated residents? Do local retailers play a role? This study addresses these questions using confidential U.S. census data on locally-oriented retail employment and county-level public-use files. Hierarchical linear modeling is employed to test hypotheses derived from prior research on civic community and migration. The results confirm that state-level local retail employment buffers the extent to which county-level college graduation is associated with county nonmigration. This finding is consistent with civic community theory, suggesting that locally-oriented retailers are a valuable resource for promoting residential stability.

Influence of Physicians’ Beliefs on Propensity to Include Religion/Spirituality in Patient Interactions

This study examines physicians’ beliefs, their perceptions of whether religion impacts health outcomes, and their propensity to discuss religion/spirituality with patients. It is not uncommon for patients to want religious/spiritual conversations, but the occurrence is infrequent. This study adds to knowledge regarding which physicians include these topics. Using a nationally representative sample of physicians and a mediated bi-factor structural equation model, the author finds that “religious and spiritual” physicians connect religion and patient health more than other religious/spiritual orientations. As a result, “religious and spiritual” physicians include religion/spirituality most often (indirect path). After this variation is accounted for, “spiritual but not religious” physicians still include this content, but the “religious but not spiritual” and “neither religious nor spiritual” physicians tend to avoid talking about religiosity/spirituality with patients.

Neighborhood perception and self-rated health among Mexican American older adults

The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between neighborhood perception and poor self‐rated health among older Mexican Americans, adjusting for important background characteristics, such as neighborhood ethnic composition and other health conditions.