Racial Discrimination and Trajectories of Problematic Alcohol Use Among African American Emerging Adults: The Role of Organizational Religious Involvement

Racial discrimination jeopardizes a wide range of health behaviors for African Americans. Numerous studies demonstrate significant negative associations between racial discrimination and problematic alcohol use among African Americans. Culturally specific contexts (e.g., organized religious involvement) often function protectively against racial discrimination’s adverse effects for many African Americans. Yet organized religious involvement may affect the degree to which racial discrimination increases problematic alcohol use resulting in various alcohol use trajectories. These links remain understudied in emerging adulthood marked by when individuals transition from adolescence to early adult roles and responsibilities. We use data from 496 African American emerging adults from the Flint Adolescent Study (FAS) to (a) identify multiple and distinct alcohol use trajectories and (b) examine organizational religious involvement’s protective role. Three trajectory classes were identified: the high/stable, (20.76% of sample; n = 103); moderate/stable, (39.52% of sample; n = 196); and low/rising, (39.72% of the sample; n = 197). After controlling for sex, educational attainment, and general stress, the interaction between racial discrimination and organized religious involvement did not influence the likelihood of classifying into the moderate/stable class or the low/rising class, compared with the high/stable class. These results suggest organized religious involvement counteracts, but does not buffer racial discrimination’s effects on problematic alcohol use. Findings emphasize the critical need for culturally sensitive prevention efforts incorporating organized religious involvement for African American emerging adults exposed to racial discrimination. These prevention efforts may lessen the role of racial discrimination on health disparities related to alcohol use.

Inquisitor as Physician: Friars, Inquisitors, Women, and Medical Knowledge in Early Colonial New Spain (1530–1650)

New Spain was the site not only of one of the largest-scale missionary enterprises in Christian history, but also of a prolonged encounter among diverse medical traditions of Mesoamerican, African, and European origin in which male missionaries were central. Given the paucity of licensed physicians in the colony, religious involvement in medical practice remained significant throughout the colonial period. This paper considers the confluence of religion and medicine in the encounters that friars and inquisitors had with women, arguing that in these encounters, missionaries and inquisitors participated in the translation, circulation, and creation of medical knowledge and positioned themselves as both theological and medical authorities, as proponents and translators of Galenic medical theory, and as “confessor-physicians” rather than “confessor-judges.” Women thus played a crucial interlocutory role in the articulation of a colonial religio-medical regime whose primary framers were not physicians, but clergymen.

Identity, Integrity, and Religious Doubt in Later Life

Erik Erikson argued that for religiously involved individuals, the resolution of two stages – Identity vs. Role Diffusion and Integrity vs. Despair – are of critical importance in adult development. Adults typically confront their parents’ religious affiliation in adolescence and young adulthood as they establish themselves as independent actors in the world, and in later life, older adults confront their own lived lives, and evaluate in light of their religious commitments whether they have lived meaningfully and with integrity. To examine Erikson’s views of religious development, we completed open-ended interviews of 278 community-dwelling older adults (55-101 years). In these interviews, participants describe the development of their religious faith, the nature and development of their religious questioning and doubt, and the relationship between their faith and doubt over their life span. Participants were from Northeast U.S., and were denominationally, racially, and ethnically diverse. More extensive religious doubts were reported during young adulthood regarding the meaningfulness of religion in their family of origin. By contrast, religious doubts are reported less during later life, and more emphasis is placed on the value of religious involvement for themselves and their families. This pattern varies between young-old (under 75 years) and old-old (over 76 years): whereas the young-old seem to be working through their religious doubts, the old-old are more focused on the value of their religious faith. These findings are discussed in terms of Erikson’s developmental theory and with respect to cohort differences in religious belief and practice.

The Relationship between Religiosity and Cognitive Function among Chinese Older Adults in Chicago

Evidence suggests religiosity may be related to cognitive decline in older adults living in the US and China. However, the relationship between religiosity and cognitive function has not been tested in a Chinese community in the US. Immigration and isolation often cause diasporas to differ from communities where they currently reside and their origin. This study aims to determine the relationship between religiosity, cognitive function, and demographic attributes in a sample of older Chinese adults age 60 to 105 living in the Chicago area (N = 3157). Regression analysis showed participation in organized religion significantly predicted higher global cognitive function (β = 0.031, p < 0.001, N = 3051). Of all cognitive function measures including episodic memory (East Boston Memory Immediate and Delayed Recall Test), perceptual speed (Symbol Digit Modalities Test), working memory (Digit Backwards Test), cognitive impairment (Mini Mental State Examination), and a composite measure of (global cognition), the importance of religion only significantly predicted greater working memory capacity (β = 0.045, p = 0.003, N = 3058). Practicing religion at home had a nonsignificant relationship with all measures of cognitive function. All analyses controlled for the following covariates: gender, education, income, number of children, marital status, and health insurance coverage status. Findings suggest that among aspects of religiosity, organized religious involvement may have a positive association with higher cognitive function. Future research should explore between-population differences in the relationships of social factors, religiosity, and cognition function to determine what practices can best benefit older adults in various communities.

It's Not Healthy Fellowship: Negative Interactions and the Implications for Middle- and Old-Age Black Men

Despite the benefits of social support on the well-being of Black men across the life course, scholars are more closely examining the potentially negative outcomes associated with some social networks. As one social support system, the Black church frequently serves middle and old age Black men who identify as religiously involved. Yet, higher levels of religious involvement have also been associated with more church-related negative interactions. The present study utilizes a grounded theory approach to examine the negative interactions of religious middle and old age Black men. A semi-structured interview protocol is used to gather data from 35 Black men between the ages of 45 and 76. Analyses reveal that church-related negative interactions broadly fall within the following themes: (1) Ageism Within Intergenerational Churches, (2) People are Messy, and (3) Issues with Leadership. Since negative interactions can be more detrimental than social support is beneficial, health-related implications are discussed.

Faith and FACES: Black Parents’ Perceptions of Autism, Faith, and Coping

Faith, spirituality, and religious involvement can promote stress-related coping for parents raising children with autism, yet little research has explored religious coping in Black parents raising children with autism. Given the high levels of religiosity and increased incidence of autism in Black families, the purpose of this qualitative study was to highlight perceptions of Black parents raising children with autism on mental health and religious coping within the context of a parent advocacy intervention efficacy study. We used a grounded theory method with structural coding of group session transcripts and written responses to center the voices of seven Black parents raising children with autism. Three significant findings emerged: (a) mental health conceptualization; (b) double disenfranchisement; and (c) communal coping.

Prospective associations between multidimensional religiosity/spirituality and cardiovascular risk factors in the English longitudinal study of ageing

Background Religiosity/Spirituality (R/S) is usually associated with improved cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes. If such findings are genuine, they may be explained by the relationship between different R/S dimensions and CVD behavioural and biological risk factors. However, previous studies were mostly cross-sectional, used attendance as main R/S measure and dealt with cofounders inadequately. Hence, more longitudinal research is needed. Purpose This study explored whether multidimensional R/S predicted improvements in future CVD behavioural and physiological risk factors. Methods Participants were 6,844 adults aged 50+ from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Smoking, exercising, drinking, eating fruits/vegetables and R/S were evaluated by self-report at waves 5 (2010/11) and 7 (2014/15). Physical examination and blood samples at waves 4 (2008/09) and 6 (2012/13) involved measurement of blood pressure (BP), body-mass index (BMI), C-reactive Protein (CRP), fibrinogen and HbA1c. Hierarchical multiple regressions controlled for age, gender, wealth, education and ethnicity. Models assessing biomarkers were further adjusted for the four health behaviours and BMI. Data on HbA1c, drinking and eating fruits/vegetables were log-transformed to ensure normal distribution. Results Greater reported spirituality (B=−0.018; CI: −0.035, −0.002; p=.029), praying/meditating daily (B=−0.017; CI: −0.033, −0.002; p=.025) and involvement in organised religion (B=−0.018; CI: −0.033, −0.003; p=0.017) were independently associated with lower fibrinogen at wave 6. Daily prayer/meditation also predicted a higher intake of fruits and vegetables at wave 7 (B=0.004; CI: 0.000, 0.008; p=0.049). However, frequent attendance (OR=0.846; CI: 0.730, 0.982; p=0.027), importance of faith (OR=0.935; CI: 0.879, 0.994; p=0.031) and religious purpose (OR=0.939; CI=0.884, 0.997; p=0.040) independently reduced the odds of meeting exercise recommendations at wave 7. Similarly, frequent attendance predicted higher HbA1c at wave 6 (B=0.002; CI: 0.000, 0.005; p=0.033). R/S was associated with lower systolic and diastolic BP, lower alcohol consumption and greater sedentary behaviour, but these relationships were explained by covariates. Smoking and CRP were unrelated to R/S. Conclusions We found that higher R/S offered partial future cardiovascular protection as it was independently associated with lower fibrinogen and greater intake of fruits and vegetables. However, somewhat unexpectedly, higher R/S also aggravated some CVD risk factors such as HbA1c and engagement in moderate/vigorous exercise. Besides, R/S was associated with lower BP and alcohol consumption at follow-up, but this relationship did not survive adjustment for covariates. Finally, we found no prospective association between R/S and smoking status and CRP. R/S is complicated, and further research should include measures of adverse aspects of religious involvement to clarify the drivers of these detrimental effects of R/S on CVD risk factors. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): National Institute on AgeingUK Government Departments

Is Secularization an Age-Related Process?

Secularization has been studied for decades by sociologists of religion. Long-running surveys in the United States and Europe show steady generational decline in religious affiliation and participation, and yet this trend has largely been ignored by gerontologists and life course researchers. We examined data from the Health and Retirement Study, hypothesizing between-cohort declines in religious participation. Based on data from a sample stratified by 10-year birth cohorts, we identified variation in patterns of religious involvement from 2004 to 2016. Measures of attending religious services, feeling religion is very important, and having good friends in the congregation show age-graded patterns; older cohorts have a higher level of religiosity than those following them, with only minor exceptions. For all three measures, differences by cohort within waves of data are statistically significant. We confirm, with longitudinal data, the findings of repeated cross-sectional surveys in the United States showing a generational pattern of decline in religiousness. The consequences of this loss of a common social tie for future older cohorts are unknown, since current older cohorts still maintain a high level of religious participation. However, future generations of older adults are likely to be less familiar with social support from religious institutions, and those institutions may be less available to provide such support as the apparently inexorable processes of secularization continue.

The New Sociology of Religion

The new sociology of religion differs from the classical and mainstream sociology, which was in force until the end of the last century, in that it no longer considers religion only as an independent variable, but places it together with other dependent variables, so that it becomes possible to investigate new themes, especially those that do not consider religious involvement—from atheism to the phenomenon of ‘nones’ (non-believers and non-practicing), from spirituality to forms of para-religions and quasi-religions and the varied set of multiple religions.

A ‘dark side’ of religion? - Associations between religious involvement, identity and domestic violence determinants

This study investigates associations between religious involvement and identity and determinants of domestic violence using nationally representative cross-sectional data from n=1287 Australian adults in the 2018 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA). Linear regression models were used to analyse the association of religious involvement (frequency of service attendance and prayer) and identity (religious, spiritual, or both) with determinants of domestic violence (patriarchal beliefs, failure to acknowledge domestic violence as an issue, and trust in faith leaders’ responses to domestic violence). Results showed that religious service attendance, frequency of prayer, and spiritual/religious identity were associated with more patriarchal beliefs about gender roles. There was no evidence that religious involvement or identity were associated with failure to acknowledge domestic violence as a national issue. In contrast, frequent (but not infrequent) religious involvement and religious identity were associated with failure to acknowledge domestic violence in participants’ own faith communities. Addressing patriarchal beliefs and acknowledgement of domestic violence within faith communities among those who regularly attend services, pray and identify as religious, are key targets for action to address domestic violence and improve population health.