The Relationship between Ethnicity, Christian Orthodoxy, and Mental Health

Authors

Brandon Randolph-Seng, Texas Tech UniversityFollow
Michael Nielsen, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
Bette L. Bottoms, University of Illinois at Chicago
Henrietta Filipas, University of Illinois at Chicago

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2008

Publication Title

Mental Health, Religion & Culture

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/13674670802084788

ISSN

1469-9737

Abstract

Although researchers have noted differences in the role of religiosity in the lives of people from different ethnic backgrounds, the components of religion’s influence (i.e., membership and orthodoxy) on mental health have not been previously examined. In the current study, Christian participants’ Christian Orthodox Scale (COS) scores were used to predict scores on mental health. As hypothesized, African Americans with higher COS scores exhibited fewer mental-health problems than did all ethnicities studied with lower COS scores. Implications and future directions for understanding the cultural influence of religion on African Americans are discussed.

Recommended Citation

Randolph-Seng, Brandon, Michael Nielsen, Bette L. Bottoms, Henrietta Filipas. 2008. "The Relationship between Ethnicity, Christian Orthodoxy, and Mental Health." Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 11 (8): 795-805: Taylor and Francis Online. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13674670802084788 source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13674670802084788
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/psych-facpubs/49