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Role of religious involvement and spirituality in functioning among African Americans with cancer: testing a mediational model

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Abstract

The present study tested a mediational model of the role of religious involvement, spirituality, and physical/emotional functioning in a sample of African American men and women with cancer. Several mediators were proposed based on theory and previous research, including sense of meaning, positive and negative affect, and positive and negative religious coping. One hundred patients were recruited through oncologist offices, key community leaders and community organizations, and interviewed by telephone. Participants completed an established measure of religious involvement, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-SP-12 version 4), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Meaning in Life Scale, the Brief RCOPE, and the SF-12, which assesses physical and emotional functioning. Positive affect completely mediated the relationship between religious behaviors and emotional functioning. Though several other constructs showed relationships with study variables, evidence of mediation was not supported. Mediational models were not significant for the physical functioning outcome, nor were there significant main effects of religious involvement or spirituality for this outcome. Implications for cancer survivorship interventions are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Drs. Mark Dransfield, Andres Forero, Helen Krontiras, and Sharon Spencer, for their assistance with participant access and recruitment for this study, and Elise McLin, for her role in data collection and study coordination. This publication was supported by Grant Number (#1 U54 CA118948) from the National Cancer Institute, and was approved by the University of Alabama at Birmingham Institutional Review Board (#X051004004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, 2369 Public Health Bldg. (255), College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Cheryl L. Holt & Min Qi Wang

  2. Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Lee Caplan & Victor Blake

  3. Department of Occupational Therapy, Arizona School of Health Sciences, Mesa, AZ, USA

    Emily Schulz

  4. Division of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Vivian L. Southward

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  1. Cheryl L. Holt
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  5. Victor Blake
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  6. Vivian L. Southward
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Correspondence to Cheryl L. Holt.

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Holt, C.L., Wang, M.Q., Caplan, L. et al. Role of religious involvement and spirituality in functioning among African Americans with cancer: testing a mediational model. J Behav Med 34, 437–448 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-010-9310-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-010-9310-8

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