title: Religious beliefs, faith community involvement and depression: a study of rural, low-income mothers.
abstract: The current study investigated the connection between religion and mental health of 131 rural, low-income mothers. Two dimensions of religion, beliefs and faith community involvement, were included and depression was assessed by the CES-D. The sample consisted of mothers who participated in Wave 2 of a multi-state research project. As hypothesized, both religious beliefs and faith community involvement were negatively related to depressive symptoms indicating that mothers with stronger religious beliefs and more involvement in religious activities may experience less depressive symptoms. The results of the current study confirm previous work and support a multifaceted view of religion.
authors.affiliation: Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. hcgarr@lsu.edu
authors.forename: M E Betsy
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Garrison
authors.forename: Loren D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: Frances C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Braun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008603:Mental Health; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012944:Social Support; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology