Robert Joseph Taylor

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.

Turning to prayer: Social and situational antecedents of religious coping among African Americans

Although observers have long suggested that prayer is an important coping behavior for African Americans, there has been little research on the social and situational antecedents of such religious coping in this population. This study develops a series of theoretical arguments linking four sets of factors - religiosity, problem domain, social and psychological resources, and social location - with religious coping. Relevant hypotheses are then tested using data from a large national probability sample of African Americans. Findings confirm the general importance of religious coping among African Americans. Further, while multiple dimensions of religiosity are important predictors of the use of prayer in coping, this practice is also most likely among persons dealing with health problems or bereavement, persons with low general personal mastery, and females. A number of promising directions for further research on religious coping among African Americans, and in the general population are discussed.

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.

Receipt of Support from Family among Black Americans: Demographic and Familial Differences.

The impact of familial and demographic factors on the receipt of support from family members was examined among a sample of blacks (National Survey of Black Americans). The findings indicated that income, age, family contact, subjective family closeness, and proximity of relatives were determinants of receiving support. In addition, an interaction was revealed between age and the presence of a child in determining support from family members. The findings substantiate the importance of adult children in the informal social support networks of elderly blacks. The use of multivariate analyses extends previous work in this area and suggests that these relationships are more complex than originally thought.

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

Anxiety disorders among African Americans, blacks of Caribbean descent, and non-Hispanic whites in the United States

The central aim of this study is to estimate prevalence, ages of onset, severity, and associated disability of anxiety disorders among African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and non-Hispanic whites in the U.S. Results indicated that whites were at elevated risk for generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety compared to Caribbean Blacks and African Americans. Black respondents were more likely to meet criteria for PTSD. When African American and Caribbean Black respondents met criteria for an anxiety disorder, they experienced higher levels of overall mental illness severity and functional impairment compared to whites. White respondents were at greater risk to develop generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and panic disorders late in life. Risk of developing PTSD endured throughout the life course for blacks whereas whites rarely developed PTSD after young adulthood. These results can be used to inform targeted interventions to prevent or remediate anxiety disorders among these diverse groups.

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.