Religious Participation and DSM-IV Disorders Among Older African Americans: Findings From the National Survey of American Life

Abstract

Objectives-This study examined the religious correlates of psychiatric disorders. Design-The analysis is based on the National Survey of American Life (NSAL). The AfricanAmerican sample of the NSAL is a national representative sample of households with at least one African American adult 18 years or over. This study utilizes the older African American sub-sample (n=837).Methods-Religious correlates of selected measures of lifetime DSM-IV psychiatric disorders (i.e., panic disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress, major depressive disorder, dysthymia, bipolar I & II disorders, alcohol abuse/dependence, and drug abuse/dependence) were examined.Participants-Data from 837 African Americans aged 55 years or older are used in this analysis. Measurement-The DSM-IV World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview(WMH-CIDI) was used to assess mental disorders. Measures of functional status (i.e., mobility and self-care) were assessed using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment ScheduleSecond Version (WHODAS-II). Measures of organizational, non-organizational and subjective religious involvement, number of doctor diagnosed physical health conditions, and demographic factors were assessed.Results-Multivariate analysis found that religious service attendance was significantly and inversely associated with the odds of having a lifetime mood disorder.Conclusions-This is the first study to investigate the relationship between religious participation and serious mental disorders among a national sample of older African Americans. The inverse relationship between religious service attendance and mood disorders is discussed. Implications for mental health treatment underscore the importance of assessing religious orientations to render more culturally sensitive care. Over the last several years, increasing attention has been devoted to examining religious correlates of mental health among various groups of the population (1-4). This literature includes focused epidemiologic studies; large-scale general surveys of the population; smaller, geographically-situated community studies; and research conducted within clinical settings (5-11). This extensive body of research is characterized by differences in theoretical orientations and conceptualizations and measurement of religious involvement and mental health, as well as in research methods, study samples and analytic approaches. Despite these differences, the data overall indicate largely positive associations between various forms of religious involvement (e.g., service attendance, private prayer, religious coping) and diverse indicators of mental health and well-being (i.e., life satisfaction and happiness) and lower rates of depression, suicide, anxiety disorders and other psychiatric outcomes among religious adherents (2). Associations between religious participation and psychiatric disorders likely vary across populations, with particularly robust findings for vu...

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An Evidence-based Review on Religiosity in Psychiatry

“…Eleven of the 19 studies examined a geriatric sample [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44], four papers focused on adolescents [45][46][47][48], and four studies examined adults [49][50][51][52]. Four focused on depression in the medically ill [34][35][36]42], two on religious coping [35,52], two had only female participants [34,46], and two examined on mother-offspring relationships [45,47].…”

“…In contrast, private prayer/Bible reading was unrelated to depression, and religious TV/radio listening was positively related with depression. Finally, Chatters et al [44] examined data on religious involvement and depression from the National Survey of American Life, using a subsample of African American aged 55 years or older; results indicated that religious service attendance was significantly and inversely associated with the likelihood of having a lifetime mood disorder.…”

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“…Research of the relationship between R/S and depression is the most developed. Eleven of the 19 studies examined a geriatric sample [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44], four papers focused on adolescents [45][46][47][48], and four studies examined adults [49][50][51][52]. Four focused on depression in the medically ill [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42], two on religious coping [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52], two had only female participants [34][35][36]…”

“…Four focused on depression in the medically ill [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42], two on religious coping [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52], two had only female participants [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46], and two examined on mother-offspring relationships [45][46][47]. Five of the 19 studies examined psychiatric patients [36][37][38][39][40][41][42]...…”