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Can the religious values of an entire geographic area affect the BMI of people living in that same area, even people with different religious values? Although prior research has demonstrated that individual religious characteristics are associated with individual BMI, less is known about how the overall religious context influences BMI. Using multilevel analyses on two waves of the National Study of Youth and Religion merged with county-level variables, this study finds that a county's higher Catholic population share is associated with lower individual BMI even after controlling for various individual and county-level variables. Surprisingly, this Catholic contextual effect on BMI applies to almost everyone living in a predominantly Catholic county regardless of individual Catholic identity and residential movement across counties. In contrast, county-level conservative Protestant population share is linked with higher BMI. However, this conservative Protestant contextual effect is explained by county-level socioeconomic variables.

Previous research has demonstrated that individual religious beliefs and practices are associated with educational outcomes. However, less is known about the manner in which the overall religious cultural influence of a religion can affect an individual's educational aspirations. Using multilevel analyses on two waves of the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) merged with county-level variables from the US Census, and the Religious Congregations and Membership Study (RCMS), the study shows that a county's higher Jewish population share is associated with a higher level of educational aspirations for the youth, regardless of being Jewish or not. This Jewish contextual effect remains robust even after controlling a wide range of individual and county-level variables, such as individual academic achievement and religious identity. Consistent with the relevant theory and literature, the negative main effect of county-level conservative Protestant population share on educational aspirations is explained by county-level socioeconomic characteristics. The same mechanism is used in part to explain the initially positive relationship between Catholic population share and educational aspirations. Finally, the study highlights the importance of using a multilevel approach to examine and provide understanding of the relationship between religious influence and educational outcomes.

ObjectivesDesignResultsConclusionPrior research shows that perceived racism was associated with higher risks of suicidal ideation among US Asians. Nevertheless, the relationship between internalized racism and the suicidal risks of US Asians has not been adequately researched. In addition, as an important social institution, religion has been left out of the studies of racism and suicide for US Asians. This study is aimed at filling in these gaps and contributing to a better understanding of internalized racism, religion, and the mental health of US Asians.This study surveyed 970 Asian or Asian American adults living in the United States. Survey participants were recruited using Qualtrics online panel samples between April and June 2024. Quotas were set for key demographic variables, such as sex and ethnicity, following the national census.The main results suggest that even after controlling important mental health measures such as anxiety and loneliness, higher internalized racism was still tied to higher risks of suicidal ideation. The effect of internalized racism was not only robust but also stronger than other mental health measures as well as perceived external racism. Finally, the deleterious internalized racism effect on suicidal ideation was stronger among US Asians, who attend religious services more often.Internalized racism exerts a fairly strong and robust effect on suicidal ideation among US Asians. This deleterious effect is also interactive with the religious characteristics of US Asians. Healthcare providers, community workers, and religious leaders may want to take internalized racism into consideration in their future service to the US Asian community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research suggests that racism is associated with adverse mental health outcomes for Asians in the United States. Relatively less research has been conducted to examine the effects of racism on physical health, particularly the changes in physical health among Asians and Asian Americans. This study aims to fill in this gap in prior research. Survey was conducted via Qualtrics in March 2023. A panel sample of 356 Asian and Asian American adults from across the US was collected. Ordinary Least Squares Regression was employed to examine the interrelationships among racism, religion, and perceived changes in physical health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Contrary to conventional wisdom, more frequent experience with blatant racism was associated with a perceived improvement in physical health after controlling for subtle racism, anxiety, acculturation, and various sociodemographic variables. Interestingly, this robust relationship was more significant among Asians who attended religious services more frequently. Additional three-way interactions revealed that the interaction between blatant racism and religious service attendance on perceived changes in physical health was more significant for US-born Asians and Asians of Indian or Japanese ethnicity. Racism exerts a significant influence on physical health outcomes among Asians and Asian Americans. However, this relationship was contingent upon the specific aspect of racism and intersected with religiosity, acculturation, and ethnic identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite long being the target of racism, Asians and Asian Americans remain an understudied group regarding the mental health implications of racism. Even less is known about how Asians and Asian Americans may use religion to cope with racism and the resulting mental health implications. In this study, 330 Asian and Asian American adults from various regions of the USA were surveyed. The study results suggest that negative religious coping was associated with worsening depression, anxiety, and stress, particularly among Asian Indians, Asian Hindus, and Asian Muslims. In addition, negative religious coping may have exacerbated the deleterious effects of racism on mental health. Surprisingly, positive religious coping failed to provide any protection against racism-related mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can the religious values of an entire geographic area affect the self-efficacy of emerging adults living in that area? Although prior research has demonstrated that individual religious characteristics are associated with self-efficacy, less is known about how the overall religious context influences self-efficacy. Using multilevel analyses on two waves of the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) merged with county-level variables, this study finds that a county's higher conservative Protestant population share is associated with lower self-efficacy even after controlling for various variables. Surprisingly, this conservative Protestant contextual effect also applies to residents who are not conservative Protestants but live in a conservative Protestant county. In contrast, county-level Catholic population share is linked with higher self-efficacy. However, this Catholic contextual effect is explained when controlling for county-level variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many religious traditions include a belief in the reality of demonic beings and evil powers. Previous research demonstrates that comforting beliefs, such as believing in an afterlife, can benefit mental health, but less is known about the potentially negative mental health effects of belief in evil supernatural powers. In cross-sectional analyses, we find that among young adults, believing in demons is one of the strongest (negative) predictors of mental health. More importantly, using three waves of the National Study of Youth and Religion and a cross-lagged structural equation model, we find that belief in demons can lead to lowered mental health in later waves but low mental health does not lead to greater belief in demons. In fact, when predicting changes in mental health from wave 2 to wave 3 of the study, the negative effect size of belief in demons on mental health is larger in magnitude than all other religion-related predictors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]