Race/ethnicity, socioeconomic characteristics, coethnic social ties, and health: evidence from the national Jewish population survey

The resilience of Jewish communities living in the diaspora: a scoping review

Introduction

Throughout history, Jewish communities have been exposed to collectively experienced traumatic events. Little is known about the role that the community plays in the impact of these traumatic events on Jewish diaspora people. This scoping review aims to map the concepts of the resilience of Jewish communities in the diaspora and to identify factors that influence this resilience.

Methods

We followed the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology. Database searches yielded 2,564 articles. Sixteen met all inclusion criteria. The analysis was guided by eight review questions.

Results

Community resilience of the Jewish diaspora was often described in terms of coping with disaster and struggling with acculturation. A clear definition of community resilience of the Jewish diaspora was lacking. Social and religious factors, strong organizations, education, and communication increased community resilience. Barriers to the resilience of Jewish communities in the diaspora included the interaction with the hosting country and other communities, characteristics of the community itself, and psychological and cultural issues.

Discussion

Key gaps in the literature included the absence of quantitative measures of community resilience and the lack of descriptions of how community resilience affects individuals' health-related quality of life. Future studies on the interaction between community resilience and health-related individual resilience are warranted.

Disentangling the complexities of modelling when high social capital contributes to indicating good health

The association between social capital and health is under continuous research. Based both on theoretical frameworks and previous empirical studies, the magnitude and sign of this association are ambiguous. Our main goal is to empirically investigate under which conditions is social capital relevant to obtain good or very good self-rated health, while acknowledging that different paths can lead to this outcome. The data used in this study come from the European Social Survey 2018 (47,423 observations for 29 European countries) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis was adopted. Our results show that neither the presence of social capital (as measured in this study - 'Generalised trust' and/or 'Informal social connections'), nor its absence, is a necessary condition for good or very good self-rated health. While not being necessary, there are contexts where social capital is relevant for health and, whenever it is present, it positively contributes to good or very good self-rated health. However, our results further suggest that social capital alone is not sufficient to be healthy. The relevance of social capital is contingent on the presence, or absence, of other conditions. What works for some individuals does not work for others. And for any given individual, rarely there is only one way to be healthy. Additionally, our findings suggest that the impact of belonging to a minority ethnic group on health might be stronger than what has been hitherto recognised.

Use of race, ethnicity, and ancestry data in health research

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry are common classification variables used in health research. However, there has been no formal agreement on the definitions of these terms, resulting in misuse, confusion, and a lack of clarity surrounding these concepts for researchers and their readers. This article examines past and current understandings of race, ethnicity, and ancestry in research, identifies the distinctions between these terms, examines the reliability of these terms, and provides researchers with guidance on how to use these terms. Although race, ethnicity, and ancestry are often treated synonymously, they should be considered as distinct terms in the context of health research. Researchers should carefully consider which term is most appropriate for their study, define and use the terms consistently, and consider how their classification may be used in future research by others. The classification should be self-reported rather than assigned by an observer wherever possible.

Does social capital buffer or exacerbate mental health inequality? Evidence from the China Family Panel Study (CFPS)

Background

Health inequality, including physical and mental health inequality, is an important issue. What role social capital plays in mental health inequality is still ambiguous, especially in developing countries. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between social capital and mental health inequality in China.

Method

Both family-level and community-/village-level social capitals are included in our analysis. Data is mainly extracted from the China Family Panel Studies in 2018, and lagged term of social capital in CFPS 2016 was used to link with other variables in 2018. Depressive symptoms and subjective well-being are set as indicators of mental health. A series of OLS regression models were conducted to estimate the effects of social capital on mental health and mental health inequality.

Results

Higher levels of social capital and income are related to a lower level of depressive symptoms and a higher level of subjective well-being. The positive coefficient of interaction term of family-level social capital and income level in the urban area indicates that the inhibiting effect of social capital on depressive symptoms is pro-poor. The negative coefficient of interaction term of village-level social capital and income level in the rural area suggests that the promoting effect of social capital on subjective well-being is pro-poor, too.

Conclusion

The results show that severe mental health inequality exists in China; family-level social capital can buffer depressive symptom inequality, and village-level social capital can buffer SWB inequality. Although the amount of social capital of the poor is less than the rich, the poor can better use social capital to improve their mental health. Our study advocates enhancing social participation and communication for the poor to reduce mental health inequality.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12939-022-01642-3.

COVID-19, Religious Coping, and Weight Change in the Orthodox Jewish Community

Given links between stress and obesity, it is likely that individuals gained weight during the COVID-19 lockdown. Research suggests that religiosity facilitates coping, which may have lessened the relationship between stress and weight gain during the COVID-19 lockdown. We examined this relationship among Orthodox Jews (n = 731). Results indicated that stress was marginally associated with weight gain, and that this was moderated by intrinsic religiosity (IR). For those with low IR, stress correlated with weight gain, while for those with mean or higher IR, stress and weight change were unrelated. Results suggest that for some, religiosity may moderate links between stress and weight gain during times of crisis.

Small but protective social capital against suicide ideation in poor communities: A community-based cross-sectional study

Coupled with the lowest level of social connectedness, South Korea has the highest suicide rate among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. A possible link between community and suicide is social capital imprinted in social connectedness. This study explores whether social capital is protective against suicide ideation in relation to the poverty level of communities, and whether the associations are specific to certain elements of social capital.A total of 908 participants were included to assess cross-sectional association of social capital at individual level with suicide ideation by comparing between poor (government-leased apartments) and non-poor communities (nongovernment-leased apartments). Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine various social capital dimensions in relation to suicide ideation.Suicide ideation was far higher among those living in the poor communities (poor communities 12%; non poor communities 6.3%) and the level of social capital was lower in the poor communities. Nevertheless, the protective effect of social capital, in particular, the cognitive dimension against suicide ideation was demonstrated only in the poor communities (eg, odds ratio = 0.27, 95% confidence interval: 0.12-0.58 for trust in the poor communities). Low income was significantly associated with suicide ideation only in the poor communities, but depression and resilience were associated with suicide ideation both in the poor and non-poor communities.To increase the reliability of the results, established measures based on relevant literature were utilized, but measures on bridging social capital and social network might have relatively low reliability.As to protection against suicide ideation, the extent of reliance on social capital was higher in poor communities than in non-poor communities, in particular, the cognitive dimension was likely to activate in this regard.

COVID-19, Mental Health, and Religious Coping Among American Orthodox Jews

The COVID-19 pandemic presents potential mental health challenges, and the American Orthodox Jewish population has been particularly affected by the virus. The current study assessed the impact of the pandemic and explored the relationships between exposure, religiosity, and distress in a sample of n = 419 American Orthodox Jews. Results indicated high levels of exposure, concern, and compliance with medical guidelines; however stress was generally low and we found evidence for positive impact. Direct exposure correlated with higher religiosity. Positive religious coping, intrinsic religiosity and trust in God strongly correlated with less stress and more positive impact, while negative religious coping and mistrust in God correlated with the inverse. While the study is limited by its design, findings highlight that for some, faith may promote resilience especially during crisis.

Personal network characteristics and body mass index: the role of education among Black Americans

BACKGROUND

Personal (i.e. egocentric) network characteristics are associated with health outcomes, including overweight and obesity. Previous research suggests educational attainment may interact with network characteristics to buffer these relationships. Limited research has examined the personal network characteristics of Black Americans, who have increased risk of overweight and obesity. The purpose of the current study was to examine associations between network characteristics and body mass index (BMI), and whether educational attainment modified these associations among Black Americans.

METHODS

In 2014, using respondent-driven sampling, we recruited 430 adult residents of eight low-income neighborhoods in Greenville, SC. Self-administered questionnaires assessed structural and compositional characteristics (i.e. size, density) of respondents' personal networks, socio-demographic characteristics, and health-related behaviors and conditions. Multilevel regression models with robust sandwich estimation accounted for clustering within respondent chains.

RESULTS

Among Black adults overall, network density-the number of connections among network members-was positively associated with BMI. Higher education moderated this relationship; among Black adults with a college degree, higher network density was inversely associated with BMI.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest low educational attainment may reflect more homogenous and less resourceful networks. Multiple pathways are discussed for how education interacts with network density on BMI among Black Americans.

Social Relations and Health: Comparing "Invisible" Arab Americans to Blacks and Whites

This paper establishes preliminary benchmarks by comparing average values of social relations and health among Arab Americans, Blacks and Whites. Specifically, we expand traditional racial/ethnic categories to distinguish Arab Americans, historically and legally considered White. Data come from a unique random digit dial (RDD) sample of Arab Americans (N=96), Blacks (N=102) and Whites (N=100) from metro-Detroit collected in 2011, ranging in age from 19-89. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to compare health, network structure, composition and support quality. Findings established preliminary benchmarks showing that Arab Americans reported more depressive symptoms (7.6) than Whites (5.2), but no difference in physical health. Arab Americans also reported more contact frequency (4.4) than Blacks (4.1) and Whites (4.0), yet lower proportions of networks comprised of the same ethnicity (77%) compared to Blacks (96%) and Whites (97%). Unpacking the White category to identify Arab Americans in a comparative analysis identified benchmarks to show how Arab American health and social relations are distinct from Blacks and Whites, yielding unique avenues for thinking about new ways to conceptualize how race and social relations impact health disparities.

Improving access to mental health care in an Orthodox Jewish community: a critical reflection upon the accommodation of otherness

Background

The English National Health Service (NHS) has significantly extended the supply of evidence based psychological interventions in primary care for people experiencing common mental health problems. Yet despite the extra resources, the accessibility of services for ‘under-served’ ethnic and religious minority groups, is considerably short of the levels of access that may be necessary to offset the health inequalities created by their different exposure to services, resulting in negative health outcomes. This paper offers a critical reflection upon an initiative that sought to improve access to an NHS funded primary care mental health service to one ‘under-served’ population, an Orthodox Jewish community in the North West of England.

Methods

A combination of qualitative and quantitative data were drawn upon including naturally occurring data, observational notes, e-mail correspondence, routinely collected demographic data and clinical outcomes measures, as well as written feedback and recorded discussions with 12 key informants.

Results

Improvements in access to mental health care for some people from the Orthodox Jewish community were achieved through the collaborative efforts of a distributed leadership team. The members of this leadership team were a self-selecting group of stakeholders which had a combination of local knowledge, cultural understanding, power to negotiate on behalf of their respective constituencies and expertise in mental health care. Through a process of dialogic engagement the team was able to work with the community to develop a bespoke service that accommodated its wish to maintain a distinct sense of cultural otherness.

Conclusions

This critical reflection illustrates how dialogic engagement can further the mechanisms of candidacy, concordance and recursivity that are associated with improvements in access to care in under-served sections of the population, whilst simultaneously recognising the limits of constructive dialogue. Dialogue can change the dynamic of community engagement. However, the full alignment of the goals of differing constituencies may not always be possible, due the complex interaction between the multiple positions and understandings of stakeholders that are involved and the need to respect the other’-s’ autonomy.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-017-2509-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Jedi Public Health: Co-creating an Identity-Safe Culture to Promote Health Equity

The extent to which socially-assigned and culturally mediated social identity affects health depends on contingencies of social identity that vary across and within populations in day-to-day life. These contingencies are structurally rooted and health damaging inasmuch as they activate physiological stress responses. They also have adverse effects on cognition and emotion, undermining self-confidence and diminishing academic performance. This impact reduces opportunities for social mobility, while ensuring those who "beat the odds" pay a physical price for their positive efforts. Recent applications of social identity theory toward closing racial, ethnic, and gender academic achievement gaps through changing features of educational settings, rather than individual students, have proved fruitful. We sought to integrate this evidence with growing social epidemiological evidence that structurally-rooted biopsychosocial processes have population health effects. We explicate an emergent framework, Jedi Public Health (JPH). JPH focuses on changing features of settings in everyday life, rather than individuals, to promote population health equity, a high priority, yet, elusive national public health objective. We call for an expansion and, in some ways, a re-orienting of efforts to eliminate population health inequity. Policies and interventions to remove and replace discrediting cues in everyday settings hold promise for disrupting the repeated physiological stress process activation that fuels population health inequities with potentially wide application.

Social gradients in health for Pakistani and White British women and infants in two UK birth cohorts

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to examine social gradients in low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, smoking during pregnancy and maternal health for women and infants of Pakistani origin and White British women and infants in the UK.

DESIGN

The sample included women and singleton infants from the Born in Bradford (BiB) study (n = 8181) and the first sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) (n = 8980). Social gradients in health for four measures of socioeconomic status (SES): maternal education, means-tested benefits, financial situation, and occupation of the father were analysed in multivariate regression models adjusting for maternal age and parity.

RESULTS

For White British mothers and infants in the MCS sample, social gradients in health were observed for at least three out of four measures of SES for each health outcome (p for trend <.01). Similar trends were found for White British mothers and infants in the BiB sample, although these were less likely to be significant. There were few associations between measures of SES and outcomes in the Pakistani samples. The strongest evidence of a social gradient in health for Pakistani women was demonstrated with the self-reported measure of financial situation, in relation to mental health (p for trend <.001 in both cohorts).

CONCLUSION

This study describes a lack of social gradients in health for Pakistani women and infants and discusses potential explanations for this finding.

Coalitional affiliation as a missing link between ethnic polarization and well-being: An empirical test from the European Social Survey

Many studies converge in suggesting (a) that ethnic and racial minorities fare worse than host populations in reported well-being and objective measures of health and (b) that ethnic/racial diversity has a negative impact on various measures of social trust and well-being, including in the host or majority population. However, there is much uncertainty about the processes that connect diversity variables with personal outcomes. In this paper, we are particularly interested in different levels of coalitional affiliation, which refers to people's social allegiances that guide their expectations of social support, in-group strength and cohesion. We operationalize coalitional affiliation as the extent to which people rely on a homogeneous social network, and we measure it with indicators of friendships across ethnic boundaries and frequency of contact with friends. Using multi-level models and data from the European Social Survey (Round 1, 2002-2003) for 19 countries, we demonstrate that coalitional affiliation provides an empirically reliable, as well as theoretically coherent, explanation for various effects of ethnic/racial diversity.

Is ethnic density associated with health in a context of social disadvantage? Findings from the Born in Bradford cohort

OBJECTIVES

In this study we aimed to test the associations between area-level ethnic density and health for Pakistani and White British residents of Bradford, England.

DESIGN

The sample consisted of 8610 mothers and infant taking part in the Born in Bradford cohort. Ethnic density was measured as the percentage of Pakistani, White British or South Asian residents living in a Lower Super Output Area. Health outcomes included birth weight, preterm birth and smoking during pregnancy. Associations between ethnic density and health were tested in multilevel regression models, adjusted for individual covariates and area deprivation.

RESULTS

In the Pakistani sample, higher own ethnic density was associated with lower birth weight (β = -0.82, 95% CI: -1.63, -0.02), and higher South Asian density was associated with a lower probability of smoking during pregnancy (OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.00). Pakistani women in areas with 50-70% South Asian residents were less likely to smoke than those living in areas with less than 10% South Asian residents (OR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.97). In the White British sample, neither birth weight nor preterm birth was associated with own ethnic density. The probability of smoking during pregnancy was lower in areas with 10-29.99% compared to <10% South Asian density (OR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.64, 0.98).

CONCLUSION

In this sample, ethnic density was associated with lower odds of smoking during pregnancy but not with higher birth weight or lower odds of preterm birth. Possibly, high levels of social disadvantage inhibit positive effects of ethnic density on health.

Race-Ethnicity, Poverty, Urban Stressors, and Telomere Length in a Detroit Community-based Sample

Residents of distressed urban areas suffer early aging-related disease and excess mortality. Using a community-based participatory research approach in a collaboration between social researchers and cellular biologists, we collected a unique data set of 239 black, white, or Mexican adults from a stratified, multistage probability sample of three Detroit neighborhoods. We drew venous blood and measured telomere length (TL), an indicator of stress-mediated biological aging, linking respondents' TL to their community survey responses. We regressed TL on socioeconomic, psychosocial, neighborhood, and behavioral stressors, hypothesizing and finding an interaction between poverty and racial-ethnic group. Poor whites had shorter TL than nonpoor whites; poor and nonpoor blacks had equivalent TL; and poor Mexicans had longer TL than nonpoor Mexicans. Findings suggest unobserved heterogeneity bias is an important threat to the validity of estimates of TL differences by race-ethnicity. They point to health impacts of social identity as contingent, the products of structurally rooted biopsychosocial processes.

Ageism as a Risk Factor for Chronic Disease

Ageism is one of the most socially condoned and institutionalized forms of prejudice in the United States. Older adults are discriminated against in employment, health care, and other domains. Exposure to unfavorable stereotypes adversely affects the attitudes, cognitions, and behavior of older adults. Recurrent experiences with negative stereotypes combined with discrimination may make ageism a chronic stressor in the lives of older adults. The way stress influences physical health is gaining increasing support. The weathering hypothesis (Geronimus, A. T. (1992) The weathering hypothesis and the health of African-American women and infants: Evidence and speculations. Ethnicity and Disease, 2, 207-221) posits that the cumulative effects of chronic objective and subjective stressors and high-effort coping cause deterioration of the body, premature aging, and associated health problems such as chronic diseases. Researchers have found empirical support for the weathering hypothesis as well as its theorized contribution to racial and ethnic health disparities. Although ageism is not experienced over the entire life course, as racism typically is, repeated exposure to chronic stressors associated with age stereotypes and discrimination may increase the risk of chronic disease, mortality, and other adverse health outcomes. I conclude with implications for practice in the helping professions and recommendations for future research. Ageism warrants greater recognition, social condemnation, and scientific study as a possible social determinant of chronic disease.

Migration processes and self-rated health among marriage migrants in South Korea

BACKGROUND

Research on migrant health mostly examines labor migrants, with some attention paid to the trauma faced by refugees. Marriage migrants represent an understudied vulnerable population in the migration and health literature.

OBJECTIVES

Drawing on a Social Determinants of Health (SDH) approach, we use a large Korean national survey and stratified multivariate regressions to examine the link between migration processes and the self-rated health of Korea's three largest ethnic groups of marriage migrants: Korean-Chinese, Vietnamese, and Han Chinese.

RESULTS

We find that post-migration socioeconomic status and several social integration factors are associated with the health of marriage migrants of all three groups. Specifically, having more social relationships with Koreans is associated with good health among marriage migrants, while having more social relationships with co-ethnics is associated with worse health. Marriage migrants' perceived social status of their natal and marital families is a better predictor of their health than more objective measures such as their education attainment and that of their Korean husbands. The post-migration social gradients among all ethnic groups demonstrate a dose-response effect of marital family's social standing on marriage migrants' health, independent of their own education and the social standing of their natal families. Lastly, we find some ethnicity-specific predictors such as the association between higher educational level and worse health status among the Vietnamese. This variability by group suggests a more complex set of SDH occurred during the marriage migration processes than a basic SDH framework would predict.

CONCLUSION

Using a new immigrant destination, South Korea, as an example, we conclude that migration and health policies that reduce ethnicity-specific barriers and offer integration programs in early post-migration stages may offer a pathway to good health among marriage migrants.

The effects of socioeconomic incongruity in the neighbourhood on social support, self-esteem and mental health in England

Analyses of neighbourhood socioeconomic characteristics and health indicators consistently show that health is worse in poorer neighbourhoods. However, some studies that examined neighbourhood effects separately for individuals of different socioeconomic position found that poor people may derive health benefits from living in poor neighbourhoods where they are socioeconomically congruous. This study investigates whether such patterns may be driven by psychosocial factors. The sample consisted of 4871 mothers in the Millennium Cohort Study aged 14-53. The outcomes analysed were neighbourhood friendship, emotional support, self-esteem and depression or anxiety. Neighbourhood status was classified by residents' educational and occupational status derived from the 2001 Census. We used multilevel logistic regression, adjusting for mothers' socio-demographic characteristics: first analysing health by neighbourhood status separately for the highest and lowest status mothers, then testing for modification in the association between neighbourhood status and health, by individual status. Results show that for highest status mothers, living in mixed or high status neighbourhoods compared to low status neighbourhoods significantly reduced the odds of having no friends in the neighbourhood by 65%. Living in high status neighbourhoods compared to low status neighbourhoods also significantly reduced the odds of depression or anxiety for highest status mothers by 41%. No associations were found for emotional support or self-esteem amongst highest status mothers. No associations were found for any outcome among lowest status mothers. In conclusion, low status mothers in England did not have better social support, self-esteem, or mental health when living in low status neighbourhoods compared to high status neighbourhoods; any benefits of socioeconomic congruity may have been counteracted by neighbourhood deprivation. Nevertheless, we found that mothers of high status do have significantly better neighbourhood friendship and mental health when living in socioeconomic congruity within neighbourhoods. Whether these associations are causal or are another reflection of material advantage remains unclear.

Substance use and experienced stigmatization among ethnic minority men who have sex with men in the United States

Research has documented deleterious effects of racism among ethnic minorities and of homophobia among men who have sex with men (MSM). Less is known about the impact of multiple forms of stigmatization on ethnic minority MSM. This study examined substance use by African American, Asian/Pacific Islander and Latino MSM, and the associations of experienced racism and homophobia from various sources with polydrug use and stimulant drug use. Experienced racism within the general community was associated with higher levels of use; other forms of discrimination were either not associated with polydrug or stimulant use or had more complex relationships with use. Implications for further research and interventions are discussed.

A systematic review of the relationships between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health: a contribution to understanding the psychosocial pathway of health inequalities

Introduction

Recent research on health inequalities moves beyond illustrating the importance of psychosocial factors for health to a more in-depth study of the specific psychosocial pathways involved. Social capital is a concept that captures both a buffer function of the social environment on health, as well as potential negative effects arising from social inequality and exclusion. This systematic review assesses the current evidence, and identifies gaps in knowledge, on the associations and interactions between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health.

Methods

Through this systematic review we identified studies on the interactions between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health published before July 2012.

Results

The literature search resulted in 618 studies after removal of duplicates, of which 60 studies were eligible for analysis. Self-reported measures of health were most frequently used, together with different bonding, bridging and linking components of social capital. A large majority, 56 studies, confirmed a correlation between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health. Twelve studies reported that social capital might buffer negative health effects of low socioeconomic status and five studies concluded that social capital has a stronger positive effect on health for people with a lower socioeconomic status.

Conclusions

There is evidence for both a buffer effect and a dependency effect of social capital on socioeconomic inequalities in health, although the studies that assess these interactions are limited in number. More evidence is needed, as identified hypotheses have implications for community action and for action on the structural causes of social inequalities.

Miles to go before we sleep: racial inequities in health

Large, pervasive, and persistent racial inequalities exist in the onset, courses, and outcomes of illness. A comprehensive understanding of the patterning of racial disparities indicates that racism in both its institutional and individual forms remains an important determinant. There is an urgent need to build the science base that would identify how to trigger the conditions that would facilitate needed societal change and to identify the optimal interventions that would confront and dismantle the societal conditions that create and sustain health inequalities.

Mental health promotion: guidance and strategies

Public mental health incorporates a number of strategies from mental well-being promotion to primary prevention and other forms of prevention. There is considerable evidence in the literature to suggest that early interventions and public education can work well for reducing psychiatric morbidity and resulting burden of disease. Educational strategies need to focus on individual, societal and environmental aspects. Targeted interventions at individuals will also need to focus on the whole population. A nested approach with the individual at the heart of it surrounded by family surrounded by society at large is the most suitable way to approach this. This Guidance should be read along with the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) Guidance on Prevention. Those at risk of developing psychiatric disorders also require adequate interventions as well as those who may have already developed illness. However, on the model of triage, mental health and well-being promotion need to be prioritized to ensure that, with the limited resources available, these activities do not get forgotten. One possibility is to have separate programmes for addressing concerns of a particular population group, another that is relevant for the broader general population. Mental health promotion as a concept is important and this will allow prevention of some psychiatric disorders and, by improving coping strategies, is likely to reduce the burden and stress induced by mental illness.

Health impact of Jewish religious observance in the USA: findings from the 2000-01 National Jewish Population Survey

Using data from the 2000-01 National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) (N = 5,148), effects of eight religious measures were investigated in relation to two health outcomes, standard single-item indicators of self-rated health and presence of an activity-limiting health condition. Seven of the religious measures were associated bivariately with one or both health indicators. Through two-step OLS regression of each health indicator onto all of the religious measures, adjusting for age and other sociodemographic correlates, two measures of synagogue involvement remained statistically significant. Follow-up analysis revealed a net health impact of religious observance primarily limited to Orthodox and Conservative Jews.