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Sociology of Religion Advance Access originally published online on April 15, 2009
Sociology of Religion 2009 70(1):49-64; doi:10.1093/socrel/srp001
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Religious Service Attendance and Distress: The Moderating Role of Stressful Life Events and Race/Ethnicity*

Melanie A. Tabak and Kristin D. Mickelson

Kent State University

E-mail: mtabak{at}kent.edu


  Abstract

Research findings on religiosity and mental health have been somewhat inconsistent over the years, leading researchers to examine different dimensions of religiosity to determine their individual and combined impacts on mental health. Aside from varying operationalizations of religiosity, stressful life events and race/ethnicity may be important moderators of the impact of religiosity on mental health. Secondary data analyses on a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults reveal a curvilinear relation of religious service attendance on distress. Specifically, those reporting moderate levels of service attendance also report lower levels of distress than their counterparts. Moreover, there were racial/ethnic differences with Hispanics and African Americans showing a stronger relationship between attendance and distress than non-Hispanic whites. However, there was no evidence that stressful life events interacted with attendance to explain distress.

* Direct correspondence to Melanie Tabak, Department of Psychology, Kent State University, 144 Kent Hall, Kent, OH 44242


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