Religious practices, beliefs, and mental health: variations across ethnicity

• Published in: Ethnicity & health Vol. 17; no. 1-2; pp. 171 - 185
• Main Authors: Sternthal, Michelle J., Williams, David R., Musick, Marc A., Buck, Anna C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis Group 01.02.2012
• Subjects: African Americans; Analysis of Variance; Anxiety; Black White Differences; Chicago; Confidence Intervals; Culture; Depression (Psychology); Ethnic Groups - psychology; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Ethnicity; European Continental Ancestry Group; Health care; Hispanic Americans; Humans; Illinois; Logistic Models; Mental Health; Multivariate Analysis; Philosophy; Psychometrics; Psychosocial Factors; Race; Religion; religion and mental health; Religion and Psychology; Religious beliefs; Self Report; Social Support; Statistics as Topic; U.S.A; United States; Whites; Chicago; United States
• ISSN: 1355-7858; 1465-3419
• DOI: 10.1080/13557858.2012.655264

Objectives. We examined whether Black Americans and Hispanic Americans experienced greater mental health benefits from religious involvement than White Americans, and whether these benefits would be mediated through three psychosocial factors - social support, meaning, and forgiveness. Methods. Utilizing data from a probability sample of Chicago-based adults (n=3103), ethnicity-stratified multivariate regression models estimated the association of religiosity with depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and major depressive disorder (MDD). Models controlled for potential confounders and psychosocial mediators. Results. Contrary to our hypotheses, religiously involved Black Americans and Hispanic Americans did not experience greater mental health benefits than their White counterparts. For White Americans alone, service attendance was inversely related to depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and MDD. Religious saliency was consistently associated with worse mental health for Hispanic Americans only. However, both meaning and forgiveness conferred mental health benefits for all three groups. Conclusions. The benefits of specific aspects of religious involvement vary across ethnicity. Caution is necessary in any effort to bring religion into the health domain. Our findings, if replicated, suggest that initiatives that facilitate a sense of purpose or forgiveness are likely to prove promising in improving mental health, regardless of race or ethnicity.