Religiosity and Mental Health Service Utilization Among African-Americans
Open accessAbstract
African-Americans are approximately half as likely as their white counterparts to use professional mental health services. High levels of religiosity among African-Americans may lend to a greater reliance on religious counseling and coping when facing a mental health problem. This study investigates the relationship between three dimensions of religiosity and professional mental health service utilization among a large (n = 3570), nationally representative sample of African-American adults. African-American adults who reported high levels of organizational and subjective religiosity were less likely than those with lower levels of religiosity to use professional mental health services. This inverse relationship was generally consistent across individuals with and without a diagnosable Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, anxiety, mood, or substance use disorder. No association was found between nonorganizational religiosity and professional mental health service use. Seeking professional mental health care may clash with sociocultural religious norms and values among African-Americans. Strategic efforts should be made to engage African-American clergy and religious communities in the conceptualization and delivery of mental health services.
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Another recent study found an inverse relationship between high religiosity and seeking professional mental health help among African American adults in the United States.
“Another recent study found an inverse relationship between high religiosity and seeking professional mental health help among African American adults in the United States. 22”
From Religiosity & mental health seeking behaviors among U.S. adults (2024) · cites this paper as [22]
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Cited by
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Religiosity & mental health seeking behaviors among U.S. adults
Boateng, A. C. O., Sebu, J., Lekwauwa, R., Britt, K. C., Oh, H., & Doolittle, B. (2024) · The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine · doi:10.1177/00912174231187841 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“20,21 Another recent study found an inverse relationship between high religiosity and seeking professional mental health help among African American adults in the United States.”
BackgroundReligiousness and help seeking: Individual, congregational, and clergy factors
Lefevor, G. T., Paiz, J. Y., Milburn, H. E., Sheffield, P. E., & Tamez Guerrero, N. A. (2022) · Counselling Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.1080/09515070.2021.1874297 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
- Authors
- Lukachko, A., Myer, I., & Hankerson, S.
- Affiliations
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- New York State Psychiatric Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lukachko, Alicia
- ORCID
- Hankerson, Sidney
- Venue
- Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease
- Published
- 2015-08
- Volume
- 203
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 578-582
- ISSN
- 0022-3018 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4535188
- OpenAlex
- W2472396366
- Cited by
- 111
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 3.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (5T32 MH 13043, K23MH102540, T32MH015144, T32MH013043)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Keywords
- religiosity, mental health service utilization, African Americans, organizational religiosity, subjective religiosity, religious coping, mental health treatment seeking, anxiety, mood disorders, substance use disorders
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Mental Disorders, Black or African American, Data Collection, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health Services, Middle Aged, Religion, United States
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