Do Religious Struggles Mediate the Association between Day-to-Day Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms?

Abstract

Although numerous studies have shown that discrimination contributes to poorer mental health, the precise mechanisms underlying this association are not well understood. In this paper, we consider the possibility that the association between day-today discrimination (being disrespected, insulted, and harassed) and depressive symptoms is partially mediated by religious struggles (religious doubts and negative religious coping). To test our mediation model, we use data collected from the 2011 Miami-Dade Health Survey (n = 444) to estimate a series of multiple regression models assessing associations among day-today discrimination, religious struggles, and depressive symptoms. We find that day-today discrimination is positively associated with religious struggles and depressive symptoms, net of adjustments for general religious involvement, age, gender, race, ethnicity, immigrant status, interview language, education, employment, household income, financial strain, and marital status. We also observe that religious struggles are positively associated with depressive symptoms. Our mediation analyses confirm that day-today discrimination can contribute to depressive symptoms by stirring religious struggles. Our key finding is that religious struggles may serve as a maladaptive coping response to discrimination. Our analyses extend previous work by bridging research in the areas of discrimination, religious struggles, and mental health.

Mental Health and the Role of Religious Context among Inmates in State and Federal Prisons: Results from a Multilevel Analysis

“…Contrastingly, those without these attributes tend to engage in negative religious coping. Among the general population, Pargament et al’s dually focused conception of religious coping has found broad empirical support with respect to both positive (Acavedo, Ellison, and Xu 2014; Bradshaw and Ellison 2010; Head and Thompson forthcoming; Stroope et al 2017) and negative forms of religious coping (Hill et al 2017; Park, Wortmann, and Edmondson 2011). While these findings highlight religious coping broadly, there are several key components of religion that may be salient for the mental well-being of inmates: moralistic emotion management, personal control and mastery, and social support.…”

Does ethnic identity buffer or intensify the stress of discrimination among the foreign born and U.S. born? Evidence from the Miami‐Dade Health Survey

“…Consistent with prior research (Hill, Christie-Mizell, Vaghela, Mossakowski, & Johnson, 2017), exploratory factor analyses were conducted with varimax rotation and the factor loadings (> 0.42) Consistent with prior research (Hill, Christie-Mizell, Vaghela, Mossakowski, & Johnson, 2017), exploratory factor analyses were conducted with varimax rotation and the factor loadings (> 0.42)…”

“…Responses included: 1 (never), 2 (rarely), 3 (sometimes), 4 (often), and 5 (very often). Consistent with prior research (Hill, Christie-Mizell, Vaghela, Mossakowski, & Johnson, 2017), exploratory factor analyses were conducted with varimax rotation and the factor loadings (> 0.42)…”

Revisiting the Cost of Skin Color: Discrimination, Mastery, and Mental Health among Black Adolescents

“…Moreover, perceived discrimination during the transition to adulthood can have detrimental effects on mental health (i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms) decades later (Assari 2017). Discrimination, in part, contributes to poorer health by exposing individuals to trauma, stress, structural strain (perceptions of structural and institutional barriers), and maladaptive coping styles (Ahmed, Mohammed, and Williams 2007; Hill et al 2017).…”