Regular Research ArticlesReligious Participation and DSM-IV Disorders Among Older African Americans: Findings From the National Survey of American Life
Section snippets
Sample
The National Survey of American Life (NSAL): Coping with Stress in the 21st Century was collected by the Program for Research on Black Americans at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research from 2001 to 2003. A total of 6,082 face-to-face interviews were conducted with persons aged 18 or older, including 3,570 African Americans, 891 non-Hispanic Whites, and 1,621 Blacks of Caribbean descent. There are 837 African Americans aged 55 years or older which constitute the sample used
RESULTS
Descriptive characteristics of the older African American sample (N = 837) are presented in Table 1. The average age of the respondents is 66.6 years (SD = 7.3). Roughly 40% are male and about one third employed. The average household income is $32,853 (SD = $32,730), and the average number of years completed in school is 11.5 (SD = 3.0). Around 40% of the respondents are married or living with a partner, 32% are widowed, and 28% are never married, divorced, or separated. More than half (55.6%)
DISCUSSION
The present analysis examined three dimensions of religious involvement to assess their association with DSM-IV disorders among a sample of older African American adults. This analysis controlled for two indicators of functional status, and the number of physical health problems, which are potential confounders in the relationship between religion and psychiatric disorders. Similar to previous research,2 service attendance (i.e., organizational religious participation) was an especially
CONCLUSION
These findings are potentially important for mental health treatment in several ways. A large body of literature documents that religious belief systems have important influences on personal theories (cause and appropriate treatment) of physical and mental disease, as well as the vocabulary of distress that is used to communicate with physicians.2, 35 Knowledge of the patient's religious world view would be especially useful for clinicians who are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of
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This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for data collection (U01-MH57716) with supplemental support from the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Michigan. The preparation of this manuscript was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG18782) (to LMC, RJT) and (P30AG1528) (to RJT, JSJ).