Religious faith has big impact on reducing depression among African Americans

Religious faith has big impact on reducing depression among African Americans

"University of Chicago, April 13, 2005

Religious faith has big impact on reducing depression among African Americans, University of Chicago research shows.

A strong belief in God can have a powerful impact on reducing depression, particularly among African Americans, according to a preliminary analysis of data gathered in the study of aging and social relations on health at the University of Chicago.

Among the researchers’ initial discoveries is that African Americans who say they have a strong relationship with God were significantly less likely to report depressive symptoms than those who did not. Among white participants in the study, there was very little impact of religious belief and reported depression. The data were gathered as part of the University’s Chicago Health, Aging and Social Environment and Relations Study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, and analyzed with support from a new project on faith and health funded by the John Templeton Foundation.

Both projects are headed by John Cacioppo, one of the nation’s leading experts on the impact of loneliness on health. Cacioppo is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology at the University."

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