title: Religious involvement and physical and emotional functioning among African Americans: the mediating role of religious support.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Religious social support may in part account for the relationship between religious involvement and health-related outcomes. African Americans, on average, tend to have relatively high levels of religious involvement, and suffer a higher burden of health conditions than other groups. This study aimed to examine whether religious social support played a mediating role between religious involvement and physical and emotional functioning, and depressive symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study used a cross sectional telephone survey among a national probability sample of African Americans (n = 803). Study participants completed telephone interviews and data were analysed using structural equation modelling.
  
  
  METHODS
  Physical and emotional functioning and depressive symptoms served as study outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both the emotional functioning and depressive symptoms models, the indirect effect test from religious behaviours to emotional religious support indicated evidence for mediation. There was no mediation for the physical functioning model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Implications for faith-based health promotion interventions are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. cholt14@umd.edu
authors.forename: Cheryl L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: Min Qi
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Eddie M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Beverly Rosa
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schulz
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012067:Religion; D012944:Social Support; D055815:Young Adult