Assessment of Religious and Spiritual Capital in African American Communities

African American faith communities are an important source of social capital. The present study adapted a theory-based social capital instrument to result in religious (e.g., from organized worship) and spiritual (e.g., from relationship with higher power) capital measures. Data from a national samp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion and health
Authors: Knott, Cheryl L. (Author) ; Clark, Eddie M. (Author) ; Schulz, Emily (Author) ; Southward, Penny L. (Author) ; Wang, Min Qi (Author) ; Williams, Beverly (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V. [2012]
In: Journal of religion and health
Further subjects:B Religious Capital
B Social Capital
B Validity
B Spiritual Capital
B Reliability
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:African American faith communities are an important source of social capital. The present study adapted a theory-based social capital instrument to result in religious (e.g., from organized worship) and spiritual (e.g., from relationship with higher power) capital measures. Data from a national sample of 803 African Americans suggest the instruments have high internal reliability and are distinct from general religiosity. Measurement models confirmed factor structures. Religious capital was positively associated with self-rated health status. Religious and spiritual capital were negatively associated with depressive symptoms, but these associations largely became nonsignificant in multivariate models that controlled for demographic characteristics. An exception is for spiritual capital in the form of community participation, which retained a negative association with depressive symptoms. These instruments may have applied value for health promotion research and practice in African American communities.
ISSN:1573-6571
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10943-012-9635-4