CHURCH-BASED ASSISTANCE AND OLDER BLACKS

University Of Michigan At Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION: This application proposes to investigate the correlates and functions of church-based informal assistance among Black Americans. These analyses will examine church assistance with a specific focus on the influence of religious involvement and social location factors (e.g., age, gender, and marital status) in determining both the quantity and quality of church-based support (i.e., network integration, enacted and perceived support). The proposed analyses will examine the impact of church support on the relationship between social stressors and various psychological well-being and physical health status outcomes. Further, this proposal will examine the influence of assistance from church and family members on the relationship between social stressors and physical health and psychological well-being. These relationships will be examined both cross-sectionally and using panel data. This proposed investigation of church-based informal social support is based on the National Survey of Black Americans (NSBA) and the three additional waves of the NSBA Panel Study. The background research and conceptual model guiding this research are derived from several literatures including: 1) religious involvement, 2) religion and health, 3) informal social support, and 4) stress, social support and health/well-being, relevant model components will specify multifactoral models of these relationships which will be analyzed using a variety of multivariate procedures. These will include OLS regression, logistic regression, path analysis, and covariance-structure modeling. The proposed research will contribute to our understanding of the correlates of church-based assistance as well as its impact on the health and well-being of Black Americans.