Linda M. Chatters

Black and white differences in religious participation : A multisample comparison

This study investigated race differences in religious involvement across several national probability samples. It employed various measures of religious involvement, and controlled for key sociodemographic variables. The findings reveal that African Americans exhibit higher levels or religious participation than do whites regardless of sample or measures.

Subjective Religiosity among African Americans: A Synthesis of Findings from Five National Samples:

Demographic correlates of subjective religiosity are examined using data from five large national probability samples (i.e., Americans Changing Lives, n = 3,617; General Social Survey, n = 26,265; Monitoring the Future, n = 16,843; National Black Election Survey, n = 1,151; and National Survey of Black Americans, n = 2,107). In analyses of data involving both Black and White respondents, race emerges as a strong and consistent predictor of various indicators of subjective religiosity with Black Americans, indicating that they had significantly higher levels of subjective religiosity than Whites. Analyses using African American respondents only indicate that subjective religious involvement varies systematically by gender, age, region, and marital status. The findings are discussed in relation to research on religious participation among African Americans and future research and theory concerning the meaning of religion within discrete subgroups of this population.

Family life in Black America

Foreword - Andrew Billingsley Introduction - Robert Joseph Taylor, Linda M Chatters and James S Jackson Recent Demographic Trends in African American Family Structure - Robert Joseph Taylor et al The Effects of Mate Availability on Marriage among Black Americans - K Jill Kiecolt and Mark A Fossett A Contextual Analysis Gender, Age and Marital Status as Related to Romantic Involvement among African American Singles - M Belinda Tucker and Robert Joseph Taylor Life Stress and Psychological Well-Being among Married and Unmarried Blacks - Verna M Keith Religious Involvement and the Subjective Quality of Family Life among African Americans - Christopher G Ellison Multiple Familial-Worker Role Strain and Psychological Well-Being - Ruby L Beale Moderating Effects of Coping Resources among Black Americans Parents Informal Ties and Employment among Black Americans - Robert Joseph Taylor and Sherrill L Sellers Families, Unemployment and Well-Being - Clifford L Broman Differences among Africian American Single Mothers - Rukmalie Jayakody and Linda M Chatters Maritial Status, Living Arrangements and Family Support Childrearing, Social Support and Perceptions of Parental Competence Among African American Mothers - Cleopatra Howard Caldwell and Lilah Koski Strategies of Racial Socialization Among Black Parents - Michael C Thornton Mainstream, Minority & Cultural Messages Instrumental and Expressive Family Roles Among African American Fathers - Phillip J Bowman and Tyrone A Forman Family Roles and Family Satisfaction Among Black Men - Robert Joseph Taylor and Waldo E Johnson, Jr Living Arrangements of African-American Adults - Andrea G Hunter Variations by Age, Gender and Family Status Husbands, Wives, Family and Friends - H W Neighbors Sources of Stress, Sources of Support Changes Over Time in Support Network Involvement among Black Americans - Robert Joseph Taylor, James S Jackson and Linda M Chatters

Psychological Distress among Black and White Americans: Differential Effects of Social Support, Negative Interaction and Personal Control*

This study examines the relationships among social support, negative interaction, financial strain, traumatic events, personal control, personality, and psychological distress among African American and white adults. These analyses: (1) test the overall adequacy of various models (i.e., main, mediator, and artifactual effects) of these effects, (2) examine the role of social support and negative interaction within the context of financial strain and traumatic events, and (3) verify possible indirect effects of social interaction on distress by assessing their impact on personal control. Data from The National Comorbidity Survey were used to examine these relationships using structural equation modeling techniques. Findings indicated different models of these relationships for African Americans and whites. Overall, personal control mediated the relationship between negative interaction and psychological distress. For whites, negative interaction was an overall stronger predictor of distress and contributed to the impact of financial strain and traumatic events on psychological distress. Among African Americans, social support was a stronger predictor of distress. The findings suggest that the underlying models of these relationships are different for African Americans and whites.

African American religious participation: A multi-sample comparison

Sociodemographic correlates of religious participation among African Americans are examined using data from seven national probability surveys. Dependent variables included indicators of organizational (i.e., religious service attendance), nonorganizational (e.g., frequency of prayer, frequency of reading religious materials, watching/listening to religious programming), and subjective (e.g., spiritual comfort and support, importance of religious or spiritual beliefs, importance of religion) religious participation. Regression analyses indicate that religious participation varies systematically by gender, age, region, marital status, and denominational affiliation. The findings are discussed in relation to research on religious participation among African Americans.

Emotional Support From Parents Early in Life, Aging, and Health

The purpose of this study is to estimate the relationship between receiving emotional support from parents early in life and an individuals health in adulthood. Analysis of data from a nationally representative sample of adults ages 25-74 years suggests that a lack of parental support during childhood is associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms and chronic conditions in adulthood. These associations between early parental support and adult health persist with increasing age throughout adulthood. Personal control, self-esteem, and social relationships during adulthood account for a large portion of these long-term associations. These findings underscore the importance of adopting a life course perspective in studying the social determinants of health among adults.

Religious Involvement, Social Support, and Health Among African-American Women on the East Side of Detroit

BACKGROUND: A significant body of research suggests that religious involvement is related to better mental and physical health. Religion or spirituality was identified as an important health protective factor by women participating in the East Side Village Health Worker Partnership (ESVHWP), a community-based participatory research initiative on Detroit’s east side. However, relatively little research to date has examined the mechanisms through which religion may exert a positive effect on health.OBJECTIVE: The research presented here examines the direct effects of different forms of religious involvement on health, and the mediating effects of social support received in the church as a potential mechanism that may account for observed relationships between church attendance and health.DESIGN: This study involved a random sample household survey of 679 African-American women living on the east side of Detroit, conducted as part of the ESVHWP.MAIN RESULTS: Results of multivariate analyses show that respondents who pray less often report a greater number of depressive symptoms, and that faith, as an important source of strength in one’s daily life, is positively associated with chronic conditions such as asthma or arthritis. Tests of the mediating effect of social support in the church indicated that social support received from church members mediates the positive relationship between church attendance and specific indicators of health.CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that one of the major ways religious involvement benefits health is through expanding an individual’s social connections. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

Black Americans' Perceptions of the Sociohistorical Role of the Church

Both historically and contemporaneously, the church has had an impact upon virtually every aspect of black American life. The importance and influence of the church on the social, economic, and political development of black communities has been well documented (Drake and Cayton, 1945; Frazier, 1974; Morris, 1981; Woodson, 1939; Young, 1932). The significance of the church may be attributed largely to its position as one of the few institutions within the black

Patterns of Informal Support from Family and Church Members among African Americans

This article investigates sociodemographic and family and church factors as correlates of support from family and church members among a representative sample of African Americans. Overall patterns of family and church support indicate that slightly more than half of respondents receive assistance from both family and church networks, one quarter receive assistance from family only, and roughly equal percentages (9%) receive help from either church members only or do not receive help from either group. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to examine sociodemo graphic (i.e., age, marital status, gender, region, education, income, and urbanicity) and family and church factors (i.e., family closeness, family contact, parental status, and church participation) as predictors of specific patterns and sources of support. The findings indicated significant age, gender, and marital and parental status differences in patterns of support from family and church. Perceptions of family closeness, degree of interaction with family, and overall levels of participation in church activities were associated with distinctive patterns of assistance.

Public Health and Health Education in Faith Communities

This special issue of Health Education & Behavior is devoted to broadly examining the interconnections among public health, health education, and faith-based communities. In addition to a focus on questions related to the practice of public health and health education within religious settings (e.g., program development, implementation, and evaluation), the articles in this issue examine a broad range of both substantive and methodological questions and concerns. These articles include contributions that address (1) various theoretical and conceptual issues and frameworks explaining the relationships between religious involvement and health; (2) substantive reviews of current research in the area; (3) individual empirical studies exploring the associations between religious involvement and health attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors; (4) evaluations of health education programs in faith communities; and (5) religious institutions and their contributions to the development of health policy. The articles comprising the issue are selective in their coverage of the field and provide different and complementary perspectives on the connections between religious involvement and health. It is hoped that this approach will appeal to a broad audience of researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and others from health education, public health, and related social and behavioral science disciplines.