This qualitative study of 17 coresident, three-generation African American families provides a generational- and family-level comparison of religion and health beliefs. Four themes emerged from the generational analysis: divine healing, divine healing through doctors, divine healing through health or religious behavior modification, and acceptance of health outcomes. Three categories of religion and health beliefs—coping, behavior-focused, and multidimensional—emerged from the family-level analysis. A grounded theory analysis of the emergent themes suggests that the families affirm God’s sovereignty over their health by spiritualizing, rather than medicalizing, their health beliefs. The families also function as a health maintenance system, transmitting faith-based health beliefs and modeling health behaviors across generations. The findings have implications for the further study of the family context of religion and health among African Americans and the need for a faith-based, family-oriented approach to health disparities interventions.
Abrums, Mary. 2000. “‘Jesus Will Fix It After Awhile’: Meanings and Health.”Social Science and Medicine50 (1): 89-105.
2.
Areán, Patricia A., Jennifer Alvidrez, Rowena Nery, Carroll L. Estes, and Karen Linkins. 2003. “Recruitment and Retention of Older Minorities in Mental Health Services Research.”The Gerontologist43 (1): 36-44.
3.
Avey, Holly. 2001. “Health Education and Mind/Body Medicine.” Presented at the 129th Annual Meeting of the Association of Public Health Administrators, October 15-21, Atlanta, GA.
4.
Bengtson, Vern L.1993. “Is the ‘Contract Across Generations’ Changing? Effects on Population Aging on Obligations and Expectations Across Age Groups.” Pp. 3-23 in The Changing Contract Across Generations, edited by V. L. Bengtson and W. A. Achenbaum. New York: Aldine.
5.
Bengtson, Vern L. and Robert E. L. Roberts. 1991. “Intergenerational Solidarity in Aging Families: An Example of Formal Theory Construction.”Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences53 (4): 856-870.
6.
Bengtson, Vern, Carolyn Rosenthal, and Linda Burton. 1996. “Paradoxes of Families and Aging.” Pp. 253-282 in Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, 4th ed., edited by Robert H. Binstock and Linda K. George. New York: Academic Press.
7.
Billingsley, Andrew. 1992. Climbing Jacob’s Ladder: The Enduring Legacy of African-American Families. New York: Simon & Schuster.
8.
Black, Helen K.1999. “Poverty and Prayer: Spiritual Narratives of Elderly African-American Women.”Review of Religious Research40 (4): 359-374.
9.
Bowles, Jacqueline and Raynard S. Kington. 1998. “The Impact of Family Function on Health of African American Elderly.”Journal of Comparative Family Studies29 (2): 337-347.
10.
Boyd, Sandra L. and Judith Treas. 1989. “Family Care of the Frail Elderly: A New Look at ‘Women in the Middle.’”Women’s Studies Quarterly17:66-73.
11.
Boyd-Franklin, Nancy. 1989. Black Families in Therapy: A Multisystems Approach. New York: Guilford.
12.
Brody, Elaine M.1990. Women in the Middle: Their Parent-Care Years. New York: Springer.
13.
Brown, Carolyn M.2000. “Exploring the Role of Religiosity in Hypertension Management Among African Americans.”Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved11 (1): 19-32.
14.
Chatters, Linda M.2000. “Religion and Health: Public Health Research and Practice.”Annual Review of Public Health21:335-367.
15.
Chatters, Linda M., Robert J. Taylor, and Karen D. Lincoln. 2001. “Advances in the Measurement of Religiosity Among Older African Americans: Implications for Health and Mental Health Researchers.”Journal of Mental Health and Aging7:181-200.
16.
Coke, Margaret M.1992. “Correlates of Life Satisfaction Among Elderly African Americans.”Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences47:316-320.
17.
Cooper-Lewter, Nicholas C. and Henry H. Mitchell. 1991. Soul Theology: The Heart of American Black Culture. Nashville, TN: Abingdon.
18.
Ellison, Christopher G.1993. “Religious Involvement and Self-Perception Among Black Americans.”Social Forces71:1027-1055.
19.
Ellison, Christopher G.1995. “Race, Religious Involvement, and Depressive Symptomatology in a Southeastern U.S. Community.”Social Science and Medicine40:1561-1572.
20.
Ellison, Christopher G.1998. “Religion, Health, and Well-Being Among African Americans.”African American Research Perspectives4:94-103.
21.
Ellison, Christopher G., Robert A. Hummer, Shannon Cormier, and Richard G. Rogers. 2000. “Religious Involvement and Mortality Risk Among African American Adults.”Research on Aging22 (6): 630-667.
22.
Farran, Carol J., Eleanora Keane-Hagerty, Sandra Salloway, Sylvia Kupferer, and Carolyn S. Wilkin. 1991. “Finding Meaning: An Alternate Paradigm for Alzheimer’s Disease Care-givers.”The Gerontologist31:483-489.
23.
Fetzer Institute. 1999. Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality for Use in Health Research: A Report of the Fetzer Institute/National Institute on Aging Working Group. Kalamazoo, MI: Fetzer Institute.
24.
Glass, Jennifer, Vern L. Bengtson, and Charlotte Chorn Dunham. 1986. “Attitude Similarity in Three-Generation Families: Socialization, Status, Inheritance, or Reciprocal Influence?”American Sociological Review51:685-698.
25.
Glaser, Barney G. and Anselm L. Strauss. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine.
26.
Holt, Cheryl L., Eddie M. Clark, Matthew W. Kreuter, and Doris M. Rubio. 2003. “Spiritual Health Locus of Control and Breast Cancer Beliefs Among Urban African American Women.”Health Psychology22:294-299.
27.
Idler, Ellen L.1995. “Religion, Health, and Nonphysical Senses of Self.”Social Forces74 (2): 683-704.
28.
King, Sharon V.2001. “‘God Won’t Put More on You Than You Can Bear’: Faith as a Coping Strategy Among Older African American Caregiving Parents of Adult Children With Disabilities.”Journal of Religion, Disability, and Health4 (4): 7-24.
29.
Kingsmill, Suzanne and Benjamin Schlesinger. 1998. The Family Squeeze: Surviving the Sandwich Generation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
30.
Koenig, Harold G. and Harvey Jay Cohen, eds. 2002. The Link Between Religion and Health: Psychoneuroimmunology and the Faith Factor. New York: Oxford University Press.
31.
Koenig, Harold G., Michael E. McCullough, and David B. Larson. 2001. Handbook of Religion and Health. New York: Oxford University Press.
32.
Krause, Neal. 2002. “Church-Based Social Support and Health in Old Age: Variations by Race.”Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences57B:S332-S347.
33.
Levin, Jeff, ed. 2001. God, Faith, and Health: Exploring the Spirituality-Health Connection. New York: John Wiley.
34.
Levin, Jeff, Linda M. Chatters, and Robert J. Taylor. 1995. “Religious Effects on Health Status and Life Satisfaction Among Black Americans.”Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences50B:S154-S163.
35.
Levkoff, Sue and Herman Sanchez. 2003. “Lessons Learned About Minority Recruitment and Retention From the Centers on Minority Aging and Health Promotion.”The Gerontologist43 (1): 18-26.
36.
Lewis, Rhonda K. and B. Lee Green. 2000. “Assessing the Health Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors of African Americans Attending Church: A Comparison From Two Communities.”Journal of Community Health25 (3): 211-224.
37.
Lincoln, C. Eric and Lawrence H. Mamiya. 1990. The Black Church in the African-American Experience. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
38.
Lincoln, Y. and E. Guba. 1985. Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
39.
Logan, John R. and Glenna D. Spitze. 1996. Family Ties: Enduring Relations Between Parents and Their Grown Children. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
40.
Mangen, David. J.1988. “Measuring Intergenerational Family Relations.” Pp. 31-53 in Measurement of Intergenerational Relations, edited by D. J. Mangen, V. L. Bengtson, and P. H. Landry Jr.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
41.
Mansfield, Christopher J., Jim Mitchell, and Dana E. King. 2002. “The Doctor as God’s Mechanic? Beliefs in the Southeastern United States.”Social Science and Medicine54 (3): 399-409.
42.
Mattis, Jacqueline. S.2000. “African American Women’s Definitions of Spirituality and Religiosity.”Journal of Black Psychology26 (1): 101-122.
43.
McAdoo, Harriet P.1997. Black Families. 3d ed.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
44.
Mitteness, Linda S. and Judith C. Barker. 1994. Managing large projects. Pp. 82-104 in Qualitative Methods in Aging Research, edited by J. F. Gubrium and A. Sankar. London: Sage.
45.
Musick, Marc A.1996. “Religion and Subjective Health Among Black and White Elders.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior37:221-234.
46.
Musick, Marc A., Harold G. Koenig, Judith C. Hays, and Harvey J. Cohen. 1998. “Religious Activity and Depression Among Community-Dwelling Elderly Persons With Cancer: The Moderating Effect of Race.”Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences53B:S218.
47.
Pargament, Kenneth I.1988. “Religion and the Problem-Solving Process: Three Styles of Coping.”Journal for the Scientific Review of Religion27:90-104.
48.
Patton, Michael Q.1990. Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. 2d ed.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
49.
Pratt, Lois. 1976. Family Structure and Effective Health Behavior: The Energized Family. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
50.
Rimal, Rajiv N.2003. “Intergenerational Transmission of Health: The Role of Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Communicative Factors.”Health Education & Behavior30 (1): 10-28.
51.
Stack, Carol B.1974. All Our Kin: Strategies for Survival in a Black Community. New York: Harper & Row.
52.
Stack, Carol B. and Linda M. Burton. 1993. “Kinscripts.”Journal of Comparative Family Studies24:158-170.
53.
Strauss, Anselm L. and Juliet Corbin. 1990. The Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
54.
Strauss, Anselm L. and Juliet Corbin. 1994. “Grounded Theory Methodology: An Overview.” Pp. 273-285 in Handbook of Qualitative Research, edited by N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
55.
Taylor, Robert J., Linda M. Chatters, and James S. Jackson. 1993. “A Profile of Familial Relations Among Three-Generation Black Families.”Family Relations42 (3): 332-341.
56.
Taylor, Robert J., Linda M. Chatters, and Jeff Levin. 2004. Religion in the Lives of African Americans: Social, Psychological, and Health Perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
57.
Taylor, Robert J., James S. Jackson, and Linda M. Chatters. 1997. Family Life in Black America. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
58.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1985. Health Status of Minorities and Low Income Groups. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
59.
Wallston, Kenneth A., Barbara S. Wallston, and Robert E. DeVellis. 1978. “Development of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Scales.”Health Education Monographs6 (2): 160-170.
60.
Weddle-West, Karen. 2000. “African American Families.” Pp. 64-76 in Families and Change Coping With Stressful Events and Transitions, 2d ed., edited by P. C. McKenry and S. J. Price. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
61.
Weitzman, Patricia Flynn and Sue E. Levkoff. 2000. “Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Health Research With Minority Elders: Lessons From a Study of Dementia Caregiving.”Field Methods12:195-208.
