Religious participation, spirituality, and coping among African American college stud

[Ɔkyeame Kwame]

Religious participation, spirituality, and coping among African American college students


Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G Constantine, Madonna G


We explored the relationships among religious participation, spirituality, Africultural coping styles, and religious problem-solving styles in a sample of 144 African American college students. Results revealed that religious participation and spirituality accounted for significant variance in aspects of Africultural coping styles and religious problem-solving styles. Implications of the findings for college and university counseling center personnel are discussed.

The findings of many previous studies have indicated that religious involvement among African Americans is generally higher than that of the general U.S. Population (e.g., Chatters, Taylor, & Lincoln, 1999; Levin, Taylor, & Chatters, 1994; Taylor, Chatters, Jayakody, & Levin, 1996). For example, Taylor et al. (1996) found that African Americans tended to report higher levels of attendance at religious services, read more religious materials, monitor more religious broadcasts, and seek spiritual comfort through religion in comparison to Whites. Moreover, a connection to a spiritual or religious belief system has been indicative of greater psychological health for many African Americans (Ellison, 1993; Lukoff, Turner, & Lu, 1992; Moore, 1991; Taylor, Thornton, & Chatters, 1987). Relatively fewer studies, however, have focused specifically on the roles of religion and spirituality in the lives of African American college students,

Spirituality and religion-as theoretical constructs-often have been used interchangeably in the psychological literature. However, spirituality is commonly regarded as an individual phenomenon identified with a belief in some form of higher creational force or Supreme Being (Jagers & Smith, 1996). In contrast, religion is frequently conceptualized as the routine and pragmatic demonstrations of spirituality (Constantine, Lewis, Conner, & Sanchez, 2000). That is, religion is often viewed as subsuming spirituality, and it reflects the manifestations of formal theological beliefs and activities (e.g., church attendance and rituals) of individuals who share a group identity. Differences in individual conceptualizations of spirituality and religion are evident in many self-report studies and national survey data, wherein many individuals indicate that they are more spiritual than religious (e.g., Zinnbauer et al., 1997).

Religion and spirituality may each represent important coping and social support mechanisms for many African American college students (Bowen, 1999; Brown, 1998; Constantine et al., 2000). For example, Phillips (2000) found that religious affiliation and frequency of spiritual practice positively affected African American students' adjustment to college, and higher levels of adjustment then contributed to better academic success. In addition, African American college students have been found to report higher levels of internal religious motivation and religious well-being than their White counterparts (Jagers & Smith, 1996). Furthermore, Blaine and Crocker (1995) found that African American college students reported greater religious participation than their White peers and tended to focus more on religion to explain life events.

A growing number of studies indicate that researchers also have begun to examine the critical role of religion and spirituality as coping resources in community samples of African Americans (e.g., Black, 1999; Brega & Coleman, 1999; Christian & Barbarin, 2001; Mattis, 2000; McRae, Thompson, & Cooper, 1999; Post & Weddington, 2000; Richardson & Sistler, 1999). In particular, because of their significance within the broader African American culture, religious and spiritual elements are likely to be used by African Americans within the context of coping with various life stressors and adversities (Ellison, 1993). For example, previous research has indicated that African Americans, in comparison to other racial and ethnic groups, more frequently endorse religious coping activities (Bourjolly, 1998; Jenkins, 1995; Koenig, 1998) when confronting serious personal problems (e.g., Ellison & Taylor, 1996) and illness (e.g., Ellison, 1993), and when dealing with the loss of a family member (Thompson & Vardaman, 1997). Moreover, African American college students may tend to use more religiously and spiritually based resources (e.g., prayer and meditation) to cope with mental health concerns, rather than relying on more formal or traditional psychological services such as college or university counseling centers (Lee, 1999; Lewis, 1999; Williams & Frame, 1999). These students' use of other culture-specific (i.e., Africultural) coping mechanisms, such as reliance on family, community, and social support networks, to address their psychological issues may further contribute to their underutilization of formal mental health services (Constantine, Chen, & Ceesay, 1997; Knipscheer & Kleber, 2001; Narikiyo & Kameoka, 1992; Solberg, Ritsma, Davis, Tata, & Jolly, 1994; Utsey, Adams, & Bolden, 2000).

Nonetheless, data-based information is needed to determine the extent to which religion and spirituality may be related to various coping mechanisms used by African American college students to address their emotional and psychological concerns. Thus, in this study, we explored the relationships among religious participation, spirituality, Africultural coping mechanisms, and religious problem-solving styles in a sample of African American college students. In light of previous conceptual and empirical writings, we hypothesized that religious participation and spirituality would be significantly predictive of the use of various Africultural coping and religious problemsolving styles among African American college students.

METHOD

Participants and Procedure

Participants were 144 African American college students who were recruited from three large, predominantly White universities in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States. These students were enrolled in English, communication, education, and Black studies courses at their respective universities. The participants were not given course credit for completing the survey packets. They were asked to voluntarily participate in an anonymous investigation examining their general attitudes and perceptions about spirituality and religion. The respondents completed a questionnaire packet consisting of (a) the Spirituality Scale (SS) (Jagers & Smith, 1996), (b) the Africultural Coping Systems Inventory (ACSI) (Utsey et al., 2000), (c) the Religious Problem-Solving Scales-Short Form (RPSS-S) (Pargament et al., 1988), and (d) a brief demographic questionnaire.

Because of missing data, some demographic percentages do not equal 100. The participants were 106 (73.6%) women and 38 (26.4%) men who ranged in age from 17 to 29 years (M= 19.90; SD = 1.63). With regard to their educational level, 46 (31.9%) of the respondents were first-year students, 36 (25.0%) were sophomores, 40 (27.8%) were juniors, and 22 (15.3%) were seniors. By religious or spiritual affiliation, 52 (36.1%) identified as nondemoninational Christian, 36 (25.0%) as Baptist, 16 (11.1%) as Roman Catholic, 14 (9.7%) as Methodist, 9 (6.3%) as African Methodist Episcopal, 5 (3.5%) as Pentecostal, 2 (1.4%) as Muslim, and 4 (2.8%) as having no affiliation.

Instruments

Demographic questionnaire. Participants were asked to indicate their age, sex, racial and ethnic heritage, current educational level, and religious or spiritual affiliation. In addition, to assess religious participation in this study, respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they took part in formal religious activities (i.e., church attendance), where 1 = not at all, 2 = afew times a year, 3 = once a month, 4 = once a week, 5 = more than once a week.

SS. The SS (Jagers & Smith, 1996) is a 25-item, 6-point, Likert-type measure with a scale from 1 (completely false) to 6 (completely true) that assesses both philosophical and behavioral dimensions of spirituality. A total spirituality score is obtained by summing the responses to the items (except the filler items), with higher SS scores being associated with greater levels of spirituality. Sample SS items include, "All people have a common core which is sacred," and "To me, it is possible to get in touch with the spiritual world." Previous research using this scale with African American college students yielded a mean score of 4.13 (SD = .67) and a Cronbach's alpha of .77 (Jagers & Smith). In our study, a Cronbach's alpha of .85 was computed.

ACSI. The ACSI (Utsey et al., 2000) is a 30-item, 4-point, Likert-type instrument with a scale of 0 = does not apply or did not use, 1 = used a little, 2 = used a lot, 3 = used a great deal, designed to assess culturespecific coping behaviors used by African Americans during stressful experiences. This scale consists of two parts. In the first part, respondents are asked to think of a stressful situation they experienced within the past week or so and to write a brief description of that situation. In the second part of the inventory, participants are asked to respond to the instrument's items using the 4-point scale described above. Scores for four distinct Africultural coping styles are achieved by summing responses to the items. These coping subscales include Cognitive/ Emotional Debriefing (11 items), SpiritualCentered Coping (8 items), Collective Coping (8 items), and Ritual-Centered Coping (3 items).

The Cognitive/Emotional Debriefing subscale assesses adaptive reactions by African Americans in their efforts to manage perceived environmental stressors. The second subscale, Spiritual-Centered Coping, measures the use of coping behaviors that reflect a sense of connection with spiritual elements in the universe and with the Creator. The Collective Coping subscale taps the degree to which respondents rely on group-centered activities to cope with stressful situations. Ritual-Centered Coping, the fourth subscale, assesses the extent to which respondents use rituals (e.g., lighting candles or burning incense) to deal with stressful situations. Examples of ACSI items include "Tried to forget about the situation" (Cognitive/Emotional Debriefing subscale) and "Sought emotional support from family and friends" (Collective Coping subscale).

Utsey et al. (2000) reported that the ACSI demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach's alphas ranging from .71 to .80 for the four subscales. Moreover, evidence of the scale's concurrent validity was demonstrated by a correlational study with a second coping measure. In the current study, the following Cronbach's alphas were calculated: Cognitive/Emotional Debriefing (.85), SpiritualCentered Coping (.87), Collective Coping (.83), and Ritual-Centered Coping (.86).

RPSS-S. The RPSS-S (Pargament et al., 1988) is an 18-item, 5-point, Likert-type scale from 1 (never) to 5 (always) that assesses respondents' religious problemsolving or coping styles. The RPSS-S is composed of three subscales measuring three types of religious problem-solving or coping styles: Self-Directing, Deferring, and Collaborative. Individuals with high SelfDirecting religious problem-solving styles assume an active and self-determining role in addressing problems in their lives. Persons with greater Deferring religious problemsolving styles expect that the Creator or a Higher Being will provide solutions to their problems. Individuals with higher Collaborative religious problem-solving styles believe that they, in connection with the Creator, will work to solve their problems. In the validation study, alpha coefficients of .94, .91, and .94 were computed for the SelfDirecting, Deferring, and Collaborative religious problem-solving styles, respectively (Pargament et al.). In the current investigation, Cronbach's alphas of .92, .88, and .90 were obtained for the Collaborative, Self-Directing, and Deferring subscales, respectively.

RESULTS

The means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations of the study's variables are presented in Table 1. Prior to conducting a multivariate multiple regression analysis, a multivariate analysis of variance (p = .05) was computed to determine whether there were sex differences with regard to the study's predictor and criterion variables. Results revealed no statistically significant differences: Pillars Trace = .04, F(9, 134) = .61, p > .05; so sex was not included as an independent variable in the main analysis.

DISCUSSION

We sought to understand the role of religious participation and spirituality in relation to Africultural coping strategies and religious problem-solving styles among African American college students. We found that higher levels of spirituality were associated with greater use of Spiritual-Centered Africultural coping mechanisms and Collaborative and Deferring religious problemsolving styles. These findings make intuitive sense in that spiritually oriented individuals may rely heavily on more spiritually based mechanisms to address the stressors and problems in their lives. Results also revealed that greater participation in religious activities and higher levels of spirituality were related to lower use of Self-Directing religious problem-solving styles in this population, and higher levels of spirituality were associated with the use of fewer Cognitive/Emotional Debriefing coping mechanisms to address difficult situations or concerns. Taken together, these findings may not be particularly surprising in that the use of both Cognitive/Emotional Debriefing strategies and Self-Directing religious problem-solving styles may represent active coping mechanisms that focus on using oneself as a primary means of addressing one's concerns or stressors. Hence, a possible reason for our findings may be that some highly religious and spiritual African American college students believe that the use of active coping mechanisms to address their problems may reflect a lack of faith in the Creator to solve their problems because they have taken matters into their own hands. Thus, such students would presumably shy away from using such coping behaviors given their strong religious or spiritual beliefs. Nonetheless, a potential implication of these findings for college and university counseling center personnel is that some African American college students who are very religious and/or spiritual may be less inclined to see the spiritual benefits of using more active coping strategies (e.g., individual counseling) to deal with their problems. Therefore, counseling center staffs should consider offering mental health outreach programs that focus on issues of religion, spirituality, and mental health to these students because of their potential reluctance to seek more formal mental health intervention (Constantine et al., 1997). Linking mental health issues to religious and spiritual themes in the context of outreach programs might enable counselors to help these students manage routine problems and stressors in their lives, and might encourage African American college students to see the beneficial aspects of religion and spirituality for maintaining or improving mental health. Such programs also may propel some African American college students to seek psychological help through more formal means when warranted.

Based on our collective findings, some African American college students integrate religious and culture-specific coping strategies into their everyday life experiences. Furthermore, because some African American students may view their church or spiritual communities as primary places for psychological support, college student affairs personnel may need to find ways to facilitate these students' access to such communities (e.g., providing rides to church, collaborating with church personnel to provide on-campus mental health interventions). Nonetheless, for African American college students who choose to frequent college and university mental health centers, they may find that their counselors sometimes neglect or minimize religious and spiritual issues within therapeutic contexts, even when initiated by these clients (Constantine et al., 2000; Richardson & June, 1997). Hence, when indicated, it would seem beneficial for counselors to integrate religious and spiritual issues into the treatment plans of some African American college students who present for counseling. In addition, college and university mental health counselors should recognize the potential for unduly pathologizing the issues or concerns of African American college students who use certain types of religious and culture-specific coping strategies (e.g., characterizing these students as "psychologically naive" because of their use of less self-directing coping behaviors in dealing with their problems).

Our findings should be considered in the context of several possible limitations. First, generalizability of the results may be limited because our sample consisted of African American college students at predominantly White colleges and universities from the mid-Atlantic and northeastern regions of the U.S. Future investigations should examine religious participation and spirituality among African American college students from historically Black college and university campuses and from other areas of the U.S. To assess potential institutional and regional differences. Furthermore, the relatively small numbers of African American male college students in this study may have detracted from the power of some analyses to detect statistical significance. Therefore, future studies may want to incorporate more rigorous recruitment strategies to enroll larger numbers of African American males to determine whether there may actually be sex differences in religious and culturespecific coping strategies among African American college students. A third potential limitation of this study may rest in the fact that our definition of "participation in formal religious activities" (i.e., church attendance) may be rather narrow or restricted. Thus, future studies may wish to consider other types of religious participation (e.g., prayer) in operationalizing this construct. Fourth, because the study's measures were selfreport in nature, the participants may not have reported their actual attitudes or behaviors because of social desirability or self-enhancement motives. A fifth possible limitation of the study is that some respondents may have been cued to the research intent. For example, some participants may have responded differently to some or all of the study's measures based on their presumed knowledge about what was being assessed.

Future researchers should examine the study's variables in other samples of college students (e.g., Latinos, Asians, American Indians, and Whites). Furthermore, using both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, future investigators should explore the roles of specific religious, spiritual, and Africultural coping mechanisms in buffering psychological distress and mental health symptoms among African American college students. Such investigations may illuminate important information about the associations among religion, spirituality, coping, and mental health.

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Madonna G. Constantine is Associate Professor of Psychology at The Ohio State University. Leo Wilton is visiting Assistant Professor of African Studies at Binghamton University. Erica L. Lewis is an advanced doctoral student of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. Kathy A. Gainor is Assistant Professor of Counseling, Human Development and Educational Leadership at Montclair State University.

Correspondence concerning this manuscript should be addressed to Madonna G. Constantine, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 1885 Neil Avenue Mall, 115 Townshend Hall, Columbus, OH 43210; MGConstantine@aol.com

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