Abstract
Studies have consistently indicated that blacks report lower rates of depression than whites. This study examined the association between religion and depression and whether religion explained lower rates of depression among blacks compared to whites. Data were drawn from the National Survey of American Life, a multi-ethnic sample of African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and non-Hispanic whites (n = 6,082). African Americans and Caribbean Blacks reported higher mean levels of subjective religiosity than whites, but there were no significant differences in levels of church attendance. African Americans (OR 0.54; CI 0.45–0.65) and Caribbean Blacks (OR 0.66; CI 0.48–0.91) reported significantly lower odds of depression than whites. Differences in subjective religiosity and church attendance did not account for the association between major depression and African American and Caribbean Black race/ethnicity relative to whites. More research is needed to examine whether there are other factors that could protect against the development of depression.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blazer, D. G., Kessler, R. C., McGonagle, K. A., & Swartz, M. S. (1994). The prevalence and distribution of major depression in a national community sample: The National Comorbidity Survey. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 151(7), 979.
Brown, E., Caldwell, C. H., & Antonucci, T. C. (2008). Religiosity as a moderator of family conflict and depressive symptoms among African American and white young grandmothers. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 18(4), 397–413.
Chatters, L., Levin, J. S., & Taylor, R. J. (1992). Antecedents and dimensions of religious involvement among older black adults. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 47B, S269–S278.
Chatters, L. M., Taylor, R. J., Bullard, K. M., & Jackson, J. S. (2008). Spirituality and subjective religiosity among African Americans, Caribbean blacks, and non-Hispanic whites. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 47(4), 725–737.
Chatters, L. M., Taylor, R. J., Bullard, K. M., & Jackson, J. S. (2009). Race and ethnic differences in religious involvement: African Americans, Caribbean blacks and non-Hispanic whites. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32(7), 1143–1163.
Das, A. K., Olfson, M., McCurtis, H. L., & Weissman, M. M. (2006). Depression in African Americans: Breaking barriers to detection and treatment. Journal of Family Practice, 55(1), 30–39.
Dohrenwend, B. P., Levav, I., Shrout, P. E., Schwartz, S., Naveh, G., Link, B. G., et al. (1992). Socioeconomic status and psychiatric disorders: The causation-selection issue. Science, 255(5047), 946–952.
Fetzer Institute, National Institute on Aging Working Group. (1999). Multidimensional measurement of religiousness/spirituality for use in health research. Kalamazoo, MI: John E. Fetzer Institute.
Gazmararian, J. A., James, S. A., & Lepkowski, J. M. (1995). Depression in black and white women: The role of marriage and socioeconomic status. Annals of Epidemiology, 5(6), 455–463.
Geronimus, A. T., Bound, J., Waidmann, T. A., Colen, C. G., & Steffick, D. (2001). Inequality in life expectancy, functional status, and active life expectancy across selected black and white populations in the United States. Demography, 38(2), 227–251.
Goosby, B. J. (2007). Poverty duration, maternal psychological resources, and adolescent socioemotional outcomes. Journal of Family Issues, 28(8), 1113–1134.
Hackney, C. H., & Sanders, G. S. (2003). Religiosity and mental health: A meta-analysis of recent studies. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 42(1), 43–55.
Hardaway, C. R., & McLoyd, V. C. (2009). Escaping poverty and securing middle class status: How race and socioeconomic status shape mobility prospects for African Americans during the transition to adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(2), 242.
Heeringa, S. G., & Liu, J. (2006). Complex sample design effects and inference for mental health survey data. New York: Wiley.
Heeringa, S. G., Wagner, J., Torres, M., Duan, N. H., Adams, T., & Berglund, P. (2004). Sample designs and sampling methods for the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies (CPES). International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13(4), 221–240.
Jackson, J. S., Knight, K. M., & Rafferty, J. A. (2009). Race and unhealthy behaviors: Chronic stress, the HPA axis, and physical and mental health disparities over the life course. American Journal of Public Health, 100(5), 933–939.
Jackson, J. S., Neighbors, H. W., Nesse, R. M., Trierweiler, S. J., & Torres, M. (2004a). Methodological innovations in the National Survey of American Life. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13(4), 289–298.
Jackson, J. S., Torres, M., Caldwell, C. H., Neighbors, H. W., Nesse, R. M., Taylor, R. J., et al. (2004b). The National Survey of American Life: A study of racial, ethnic and cultural influences on mental disorders and mental health. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13(4), 196–207.
Kaufman, J. S., Cooper, R. S., & McGee, D. L. (1997). Socioeconomic status and health in blacks and whites: The problem of residual confounding and the resiliency of race. Epidemiology, 8(6), 621–628.
Kendler, K. S., Liu, X.-Q., Gardner, C. O., McCullough, M. E., Larson, D., & Prescott, C. A. (2003). Dimensions of religiosity and their relationship to lifetime psychiatric and substance use disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(3), 496–503.
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R., & Walters, E. E. (2005a). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 593–602.
Kessler, R. C., Chiu, W. T., Demler, O., & Walters, E. E. (2005b). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 617–627.
Kessler, R. C., & Üstün, T. B. (2004). The World Mental Health (WMH) survey initiative version of the World Helath Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13, 93–121.
Koenig, H. G., & Büssing, A. (2010). The duke university religion index (DUREL): A five-item measure for use in epidemological studies. Religions, 1, 78–85.
Koenig, H. G., McCullough, M., & Larson, D. (2001). The handbook of religion and health. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kristeller, J., Sheets, V., Johnson, T., & Frank, B. (2011). Understanding religious and spiritual influences on adjustment to cancer: Individual patterns and differences. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 34(6), 550–561.
Maselko, J., & Buka, S. (2008). Religious activity and lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorder. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43(1), 18–24.
Maselko, J., Gilman, S. E., & Buka, S. (2009). Religious service attendance and spiritual well-being are differentially associated with risk of major depression. Psychological Medicine, 39(06), 1009–1017.
McGuire, T. G., & Miranda, J. (2008). New evidence regarding racial and ethnic disparities in mental health: policy implications. Health Affairs, 27(2), 393–403.
Meyer, I. H., Schwartz, S., & Frost, D. M. (2008). Social patterning of stress and coping: Does disadvantaged social statuses confer more stress and fewer coping resources? Social Science and Medicine, 67(3), 368–379.
Purnell, J. Q., & Andersen, B. L. (2009). Religious practice and spirituality in the psychological adjustment of survivors of breast cancer. Counseling and Values, 53(3), 165–182.
Reese, A. M., Thorpe, R. J., Bell, C. N., Bowie, J. V., & LaVeist, T. A. (2012). The effect of religious service attendance on race differences in depression: Findings from the EHDIC-SWB study. Journal of Urban Health, 89(3), 510–518.
Schmidley, A. D., & Gibson, C. (1999). US Census Bureau, current population reports. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
Smith, T. B., McCullough, M. E., & Poll, J. (2003). Religiousness and depression: Evidence for a main effect and the moderating influence of stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 614–636.
Tabak, M. A., & Mickelson, K. D. (2009). Religious service attendance and distress: The moderating role of stressful life events and race/ethnicity. Sociology of Religion, 70(1), 49–64.
Taylor, R. J., Chatters, L. M., & Jackson, J. S. (2007). Religious participation among older black Caribbeans in the United States. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 62(4), S251–S256.
Taylor, R., Chatters, L., & Joe, S. (2011). Non-organizational religious participation, subjective religiosity, and spirituality among older African Americans and black Caribbeans. Journal of Religion and Health, 50(3), 623–645.
Turner, R. J., & Avison, W. R. (2003). Status variations in stress exposure: Implications for the interpretation of research on race, socioeconomic status, and gender. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44(4), 488–505.
Turner, R. J., & Lloyd, D. A. (1999). The stress process and the social distribution of depression. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40(4), 374–404.
Üstün, T. B., Ayuso-Mateos, J. L., Chatterji, S., Mathers, C., & Murray, C. J. L. (2004). Global burden of depressive disorders in the year 2000. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 184(5), 386–392.
Walsemann, K. M., Gee, G. C., & Geronimus, A. T. (2009). Ethnic differences in trajectories of depressive symptoms: Disadvantage in family background, high school experiences, and adult characteristics. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50(1), 82–98.
Williams, D. R., & Collins, C. (1995). US socioeconomic and racial differences in health: Patterns and explanations. Annual Review of Sociology, 21(1), 349–386.
Williams, D. R., Gonzalez, H. M., Neighbors, H., Nesse, R., Abelson, J. M., Sweetman, J., et al. (2007a). Prevalence and distribution of major depressive disorder in African Americans, Caribbean blacks, and non-Hispanic whites: Results from the National Survey of American Life. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64(3), 305–315.
Williams, D. R., Haile, R., Gonzalez, H. M., Neighbors, H., Baser, R., & Jackson, J. S. (2007b). The mental health of black Caribbean immigrants: Results from the National Survey of American Life. American Journal of Public Health, 97(1), 52–59.
Williams, D. R., Takeuchi, D. T., & Adair, R. K. (1992). Marital status and psychiatric disorders among blacks and whites. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 33(2), 140–157.
Wittchen, H.-U., Kessler, R. C., & Üstün, T. B. (2001). Properties of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) for measuring mental health outcome. In G. Thornicroft & M. Tansella (Eds.), Mental health outcome measures (2nd ed., pp. 212–227). London: Gaskell.
Zavala, M. W., Maliski, S. L., Kwan, L., Fink, A., & Litwin, M. S. (2009). Spirituality and quality of life in low-income men with metastatic prostate cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 18(7), 753–761.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hudson, D.L., Purnell, J.Q., Duncan, A.E. et al. Subjective Religiosity, Church Attendance, and Depression in the National Survey of American Life. J Relig Health 54, 584–597 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9850-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9850-2