title: Religion, kinship and health behaviors of African American women.
abstract: A positive relationship exists between functional health and religion. We present an empirical definition of religion and describe the key elements of religious behavior, building a model that can be used to explore the presumed relationship between religion and health. Semi-structured interactive interviews were conducted with 22 participants over a 6-month period. Head Start programs and churches located in the inner city of a large metropolitan area. Twenty-two African American women were aged from 21 to 45. We focus on social relationships and propose that prophet-created religions mimic kinship relationships and encourage kinship-like cooperation between members.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Coe
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Jenelle R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D029181:Spirituality; D055815:Young Adult