Religious involvement and health among African American women on the east side of Detroit.

A significant body of research suggests that religious involvement is related to better mental and physical health (Chatters, 2000). Data presented in this dissertation were collected as part of the East Side Village Health Worker Partnership (ESVHWP), a community-based participatory research project addressing the social determinants of health on Detroit's East Side. This dissertation comprises the following three studies: a quantitative investigation of the relationship between religious involvement and health; a qualitative investigation to enhance understanding of the quantitative findings related to religious involvement and health; and a qualitative investigation to facilitate a more in-depth understanding of the influence of religiosity and spirituality on individuals' lives and health. The quantitative sample includes 679 African American. Religious involvement was assessed by a multidimensional construct consisting of subjective religiosity (importance of faith in one's daily life), organizational religious involvement (frequency of church attendance), and nonorganizational religious involvement (frequency of prayer). Results of multivariate analyses show that, as hypothesized, respondents who prayed less often reported a greater number of depressive symptoms (p < .001), after controlling for sociodemographic variables and physical functioning. While there were no significant associations between the frequency of church attendance and the health outcomes for the full sample, analyses conducted with the sample of church members only (n = 389) revealed a significant association between frequency of church attendance and both depressive symptoms and self-reported general health. The frequency with which church members receive help from fellow congregationalists partially mediates the association between church attendance and depressive symptoms, and between church attendance and general health. Analysis of qualitative data from in-depth interviews conducted with residents on Detroit's east side enhanced understanding of these and other results of the quantitative study by, for example, illustrating the use of individual and collective prayer in times of crisis. The qualitative analyses also indicate distinctions, as well as similarities, in participants' definitions of religiosity and spirituality. Implications of these and other related findings for research and practice are discussed.Ph.D.Ethnic studiesHealth and Environmental SciencesPublic healthPublic policySocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/132907/2/9991003.pd