News Release


Religion a "force of good" for African Americans, says UM SPH researcher.

September 4, 2003 press release from the University of Michigan News Service and School of Public Health.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A new, comprehensive study based on nearly 20 years of research shows conclusively that for African Americans, religion is the greatest determinant of personal assessments of the quality of life and overall health.

University of Michigan researchers Robert Joseph Taylor and Linda Chatters (associate professor of Health Behavior and Health Education at the School of Public Health) and scientist and author Jeff Levin released these findings in a book—a first of its kind to empirically document the range, patterns, functions, and consequences of religious involvement for representative samples of the population. They spent nearly 20 years conducting their own research on these issues, as well as tapping into data about religion and African Americans from various researchers.

“Both individually and collectively, religious African Americans and Black churches have been a force for good in the lives of people as expressed in individual-level indicators (lower rates of depressive symptoms in churchgoers) and in population-level indicators (mortality and morbidity profiles) of health and well-being,” said Chatters, who has a joint appointment in the UM School of Social Work, where Taylor is a professor and associate dean for research.

The book, Religion in the Lives of African Americans: Social, Psychological, and Health Perspectives, analyzes different forms of religious involvement, including formal religious participation and private devotional activities. The authors compiled empirical evidence from the social, behavioral, and health sciences that examines the role of religion in coping with daily life problems and in providing spiritual and emotional comfort and tangible aid.

Some major findings include:

---Religion is especially important for particular groups of African Americans such as women, the elderly and Southerners who demonstrate higher levels of religious activity than their counterparts.

---Some religious activities, such as praying and receiving support from church members and pastors, are indispensable in coping with major life problems such as declining health, relationship difficulties, and life transitions.

---Clergy are instrumental in providing access to information, resources, and people to help church members solve life problems.

---Harmful social interactions, such as gossiping and factional disputes, that occur within churches have a negative impact on social cohesion and interpersonal relationships.

Hardcover and paperback editions of the book are available from Sage Publications (http://www.sagepub.com/book.aspx?pid=9747).

Contact: Jared Wadley
Phone: (734) 936-7819
E-mail: jwadley@umich.edu

© 2003 The Regents of the University of Michigan
Updated September 4, 2003