The Roles of Spirituality in the Relationship Between Traumatic Life Events, Mental Health, and Drug Use Among African American Women from One Southern State
- 16 September 2013
- journal article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Substance Use & Misuse
- Vol. 48 (12) , 1246-1257
- https://doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2013.799023
Abstract
This study examines the role of spirituality as a moderator of the relationship between traumatic life experiences, mental health, and drug use in a sample of African American women. It was hypothesized that there would be an inverse relationship overall between spirituality and mental health and drug use among this sample of African American women. Secondly, was expected that spirituality would moderate the relationship between traumatic life events and mental health and drug use. African American women (n = 206) were recruited from the community and from probation officers in three urban areas of a southern state, and face-to-face interviews were completed. Findings indicated that there was a main effect for spirituality (as measured by existential well-being on the Spiritual Well-Being Scale) and traumatic life events, mental health, and alcohol use. In addition, spirituality was a significant moderator of the relationship between traumatic life events and cocaine use. Discussion and implications for African American women are included.Keywords
This publication has 48 references indexed in Scilit:
- Religious Involvement and Suicidal Behavior Among African Americans and Black CaribbeansJournal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 2011
- Relationships Between Physical and Non-Physical Forms of Intimate Partner Violence and Depression among Urban Minority Adolescent FemalesChild and Adolescent Mental Health, 2011
- Attitudes and beliefs about mental health among African American older adults suffering from depressionPublished by Elsevier ,2010
- Rural Drug Users: Factors Associated With Substance Abuse Treatment UtilizationInternational Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 2010
- African American Women’s Beliefs, Coping Behaviors, and Barriers to Seeking Mental Health ServicesQualitative Health Research, 2009
- Spiritual Well-Being, Depressive Symptoms, and Immune Status Among Women Living with HIV/AIDSWomen & Health, 2009
- Assessing traumatic event exposure: Comparing the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV.Psychological Assessment, 2009
- Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among low-income, African American women with a history of intimate partner violence and suicidal behaviors: Self-esteem, social support, and religious copingJournal of Traumatic Stress, 2005
- Cancer FatalismCancer Nursing, 2003
- Development and preliminary validation of a brief broad-spectrum measure of trauma exposure: The Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire.Psychological Assessment, 2000