Ethnic and Gender Variation in Religious Involvement: Patterns of Expression in Young Adulthood

Religion After Rape: Changes in Faith and Hindered Acknowledgment

Previous research has demonstrated the dramatic effect trauma can have on religiosity. This study sought to extend this understanding by examining how a specific trauma, rape, influences religious beliefs and behaviors as well as how religiosity influences acknowledgment of rape. Rape acknowledgment is the personal use of the label rape to describe such an experience. The process of acknowledgment and general recovery from rape can include dramatic questioning of one's religious beliefs and marks an important potential point of intervention, especially given the majority of the US identifies as religious. A sample of 310 mostly Christian, college-aged women completed questionnaires about their personal religiosity, attitudes and beliefs, and trauma history. Results indicated those who experienced rape experienced significantly greater change in their religious beliefs compared to those who had experienced other types of traumas (p = .015). The relationship between rape acknowledgment and extrinsic religiosity was significantly mediated by ambivalent sexism (95% CI [0.0016, 0.0694]) and the endorsement of rape myths about women lying about rape (95% CI [0.0021, 0.0691]), such that high religiosity was associated with greater acceptance of these beliefs, which was associated with a lower likelihood of acknowledgment. In all, rape was shown to significantly alter one's participation in their religion and their understanding of their own religiosity, and religious beliefs reflective of certain beliefs fueled a mislabeling of personal experiences of rape. These findings suggest religious guidance should be offered within rape recovery programing, and support for those who experience rape should be provided specifically within religious settings.

Shades of Black: Gendered Denominational Variation in Depression Symptoms Among Black Christians

Religion and spirituality (R/S) play a central role in shaping the contextual experiences of many Black people in the United States. Blacks are among the most religiously engaged groups in the country. Levels and types of religious engagement, however, can vary by subcategories such as gender or denominational affiliation. Although R/S involvement has been linked to improved mental health outcomes for Black people in general, it is unclear whether these benefits extend to all Black people who claim R/S affiliation irrespective of denomination and gender. Data from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) sought to determine whether there are differences in the odds of reporting elevated depressive symptomology among African American and Black Caribbean Christian adults across denominational affiliation and gender. Initial logistic regression analysis found similar odds of elevated depressive symptoms across gender and denominational affiliation, but further analysis revealed the presence of a denomination by gender interaction. Specifically, there was a significantly larger gender gap in the odds of reporting elevated depression symptoms for Methodists than for Baptists and Catholics. In addition, Presbyterian women had lower odds of reporting elevated symptoms than Methodist women. This study's findings highlight the importance of examining denominational disparities among Black Christians, and suggest that denomination and gender may work in tandem to shape the R/S experiences and mental health outcomes of Black people in the United States.

Depression in the African American Christian Community: Examining Denominational and Gender Differences

Depression among African American adults can diminish their daily functioning and quality of life. African American communities commonly uses religion and spirituality (R/S) to cope with life stressors; however, it is unclear whether R/S contribute to mental health risk or resilience. Since men and women differ in their R/S participation and Christian denominations have varying gender roles and expectations, it is critical to determine if they experience similar mental health effects. This study examines whether self-reported denominational affiliation predicts dissimilar odds of reporting elevated depressive symptoms among African American young adults and if these effects are different for women and men, using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Results indicate that the odds of having elevated depressive symptoms are three times higher for Catholic women compared to Baptist women, but no denominational differences were found among men. This study highlights how unique denominational and gender subcultures within African American Christian communities may predict depression outcomes. Healthcare professionals and church-based outreach programs should consider the role of denomination and gender when designing and participating in efforts to support mental health equity.

The relationship between religiosity/spirituality and quality of life among female Eritrean refugees living in Norwegian asylum centres

BACKGROUND

Women are more vulnerable to mental health problems than men after migration, but little is known about the influence of religiosity/spirituality on their quality of life. The purpose of this study was to explore religiosity/spirituality, in relationships with various domains of quality of life, among female Eritrean refugees staying in Norwegian asylum centres.

METHOD

A questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics was used together with the World Health OrganizationQuality of Life - Spirituality, Religiosity and Personal Beliefs (WHOQOL-SRPB) questionnaire, which assesses religiosity/spirituality and domains of quality of life. A total of 63 adult female Eritrean refugees who had been granted asylum but were still living in asylum reception centres located in southern and central Norway participated.

RESULTS

Religiosity/spirituality was independently associated with psychological quality of life (B = 0.367, p < .001), level of independence (B = 0.184, p = .028), social quality of life (B = 0.500, p = .003), environmental quality of life (B = 0.323, p < .001) and overall quality of life (B = 0.213, p < .001), but not with physical quality of life (B = 0.056, p = .679). There were no significant differences between religious affiliations on religiosity/spirituality or quality of life measures.

CONCLUSION

Consistent with previous research, this study highlights the correlation between religiosity/spirituality and overall quality of life. We recommend a longitudinal follow-up study of similar populations, after they are resettled and integrated into their host countries, to understand the associations between quality of life and religiosity/spirituality over time.

Defining Spirituality in Healthcare: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Framework

Objective: To investigate the definitions of spirituality in the healthcare field, identifying its main dimensions and proposing a framework that operationalizes the understanding of this concept. Methods: This is a systematic review following the PRISMA guideline (PROSPERO: CRD42021262091), searching for spirituality definitions published in scientific journals. Searches were carried out in PubMed (all articles listed up to October 2020) and in the reference lists of the articles found in the database, followed by selection under specific eligibility criteria. Results: From a total of 493 articles, 166 were included in the final analysis, showing that there is a large body of scientific literature proposing and analyzing spirituality definitions. In these articles, 24 spirituality dimensions were found, most commonly related to the connectedness and meaning of life. Spirituality was presented as a human and individual aspect. These findings led us to construct a framework that represents spirituality as a quantifiable construct. Conclusions: Understanding spirituality is an important aspect for healthcare research and clinical practice. This proposed framework may help to better understand the complexity of this topic, where advances are desirable, given the relevance it has acquired for integral health care.

Denominational Differences in Obesity Among Black Christian Adults: Why Gender and Life Stage Matter

Religiosity is a potential social determinant of obesity risk among black Americans, a group that tends to be highly religious and disproportionately suffers from this disease. Although religious engagement differs within this group, researchers often classify black Protestants into broad categories, making it challenging to determine which subgroups experience the worst outcomes. Using data from the National Survey of American Life, this study investigated whether black adults from various Christian denominations had comparable odds of having obesity and if these findings were consistent across life stage (i.e., young, middle, and late adulthood). Results suggest that for middle-aged Pentecostal women, and men and women who attend church most frequently, the odds of having obesity were comparably higher than their respective counterparts. These findings indicate that, even when denominational consolidation is appropriate in other religious research contexts, researchers should consider diaggregating black Christians by denomination when examining the relationship between religion and health.

Of Pride and Prejudice—A Cross-National Exploration of Atheists’ National Pride

This paper explores how atheism relates to national pride. Previous research reports the strong positive relationship between religiosity and national pride. Inversely, it can be assumed that atheists feel less national pride. Whether this assumption holds true and whether the perceived relevance of religiosity for values perceived as fundamental for national pride is a national-specific or a global phenomenon will be investigated here by examining attitudes towards atheists and assessing cross-nationally how proud atheists truly are of their countries. The data reveals cross-country differences in both respects. In highly religious countries, prejudice against atheists is pronounced, while atheists’ feelings of national pride indeed tend to be weaker. But what exactly predicts atheists’ feelings of national pride? For a Multilevel Analysis of this question, this article uses the ONBound database offering cumulated and harmonized data from international survey programs as well as linked country-level data on national identities and religion. Results identify countries’ ideological background as one of the crucial country-level predictors for national pride among atheists. In highly religious countries, people who deny religion also seem to possess ambivalent feelings towards their country. In turn, if the state ideology opposes religion, atheists tend to support the combination of anti-religiousness and patriotism.

Religious Pathways from Adolescence to Adulthood

Prior research suggests the significance of religion for development and wellbeing in adolescence and beyond. Further, new developments and applications of statistical methods have led to ways of better accounting for the multidimensional nature of religiosity (e.g. latent class analysis), as well as the dynamic aspects of religiosity (e.g. latent growth curve models). Yet, rarely if ever are both features of religiosity incorporated and examined together. Therefore, we propose and conduct a latent class analysis using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to identify seven distinct pathways of religiosity that involve independently changing levels of religious affiliation, religious service attendance, personal importance of religion, and prayer from adolescence to adulthood. We also show how individuals' religious pathways are related to gender, race, parents' education, their own education, and family formation experiences in the transition to adulthood. Our findings inform the study of how multiple dimensions of religiosity take shape across adolescence and the transition to adulthood, and suggest a new way for measuring the dynamics of religiosity in studies of the impact of religion across the life course.

A Person-Centered Examination of Adolescent Religiosity Using Latent Class Analysis

Empirical studies of religion's role in society, especially those focused on individuals and analyzing survey data, conceptualize and measure religiosity on a single measure or a summary index of multiple measures. Other concepts, such as "lived religion," "believing without belonging," or "fuzzy fidelity," emphasize what scholars have noted for decades: humans are rarely consistently low, medium, or high across dimensions of religiosity including institutional involvement, private practice, salience, or belief. A method with great promise for identifying population patterns in how individuals combine types and levels of belief, practice, and personal religious salience is latent class analysis. In this paper, we use data from the first wave of the National Study of Youth and Religion's telephone survey to discuss how to select indicators of religiosity in an informed manner, as well as the implications of the number and types of indicators used for model fit. We identify five latent classes of religiosity among adolescents in the United States and their socio-demographic correlates. Our findings highlight the value of a person-centered approach to understanding how religion is lived by American adolescents.

Constructing Profiles of Religious Agreement and Disagreement Between Adolescents and Mothers: A Research Note

This research note describes the use of latent class analysis to examine how three dimensions of religiosity-the importance of religion (religious salience), attendance at religious services, and frequency of prayer-cluster together to form unique profiles. Building upon recent research identifying different profiles of religiosity at the level of the individual, we used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to identify dyadic profiles of religious concordance or discordance between 14,202 adolescents and their mothers. We identified five profiles: one concordant (27% of sample), two discordant (25% of sample), and two of mixed concordance/discordance (49%). The profiles distinguish between various levels of adolescent/mother relations, suggesting that they may represent distinct family dynamics. They also distinguish between several variables (race, adolescent age, geographical region) in predictable ways, providing additional demonstration of the categories' meaningfulness.