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The family is the principal context for religious and spiritual socialization. Although religion remains a central force in the lives of most African Americans, research has failed to explore the role and impact of family on religious socialization within this population. This study addresses that gap in the literature by (1) exploring adults' perceptions of the influence of their parents, grandparents, and siblings on their religious and spiritual lives, and (2) examining the extent to which those perceptions are associated with subjective religiosity, subjective spirituality, religious importance, and commitment to religious socialization among a community sample of urban-residing African American adults in the Midwest and Northeast (N = 319). Findings revealed that, on average, parents, grandparents, and siblings positively influenced adults' religious commitment and values. However, mothers had the greatest positive influence on these outcomes. Religious commitment and values were differentially associated with family members as a function of the generation and gender of the family member. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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Yoga interventions are heterogeneous and vary along multiple dimensions. These dimensions may affect mental and physical health outcomes in different ways or through different mechanisms. However, most studies of the effects of yoga on health do not adequately describe or quantify the components of the interventions being implemented. This lack of detail prevents researchers from making comparisons across studies and limits our understanding of the relative effects of different aspects of yoga interventions. To address this problem, we developed the Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire (EPYQ), which allows researchers to objectively characterize their interventions. We present here the reliability and validity data from the final phases of this measure-development project. Analyses identified fourteen key dimensions of yoga interventions measured by the EPYQ: acceptance/compassion, bandhas, body awareness, breathwork, instructor mention of health benefits, individual attention, meditation and mindfulness, mental and emotional awareness, physicality, active postures, restorative postures, social aspects, spirituality, and yoga philosophy. The EPYQ demonstrated good reliability, as assessed by internal consistency and test-retest reliability analysis, and evidence suggests that the EPYQ is a valid measure of multiple dimensions of yoga. The measure is ready for use by clinicians and researchers. Results indicate that, currently, trained objective raters should score interventions to avoid reference frame errors and potential rating bias, but alternative approaches may be developed. The EPYQ will allow researchers to link specific yoga dimensions to identifiable health outcomes and optimize the design of yoga interventions for specific conditions.