Abstinence versus alcohol use among elderly rural Baptists: a test of reference group theory and health outcomes.

Reference groups, such as religious groups, are thought to provide individuals with normative frameworks which set and maintain standards for them. Persons who belong to a reference group, yet do not comply with the standards of that group, i.e. non-conformists, are thought to experience cognitive dissonance which in turn may lead to psychological discomfort and adverse physical health outcomes. In a community-based, racially mixed sample of elderly Baptists in the rural south of the United States (n = 1155), where Baptist churches proscribe alcohol use, we studied whether alcohol use was associated with adverse physical and mental health assessments. No relationship was found between non-conformist behavior among rural Baptists and adverse health outcomes for either Whites or African-Americans in controlled analyses. More frequent church attendance among African-American Baptists, but not for White Baptists, was strongly associated with abstinence from alcohol.

Socioeconomic disparities in health change in a longitudinal study of US adults: the role of health-risk behaviors.

This study investigated the hypothesis that socioeconomic differences in health status change can largely be explained by the higher prevalence of individual health-risk behaviors among those of lower socioeconomic position. Data were from the Americans' Changing Lives study, a longitudinal survey of 3,617 adults representative of the US non-institutionalized population in 1986. The authors examined associations between income and education in 1986, and physical functioning and self-rated health in 1994, adjusted for baseline health status, using a multinomial logistic regression framework that considered mortality and survey nonresponse as competing risks. Covariates included age, sex, race, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and Body Mass Index. Both income and education were strong predictors of poor health outcomes. The four health-risk behaviors under study statistically explained only a modest portion of the socioeconomic differences in health at follow-up. For example, after adjustment for baseline health status, those in the lowest income group at baseline had odds of moderate/severe functional impairment in 1994 of 2.11 (95% C.I.: 1.40, 3.20) in an unadjusted model and 1.89 (95% C.I.: 1.23, 2.89) in a model adjusted for health-risk behaviors. The results suggest that the higher prevalence of major health-risk behaviors among those in lower socioeconomic strata is not the dominant mediating mechanism that can explain socioeconomic disparities in health status among US adults.

Volunteering and mortality among older adults: findings from a national sample.

OBJECTIVES: Although a number of authors have proposed that older volunteers should benefit in terms of better health and well-being, few researchers have examined the issue empirically to see whether this is true. The purpose of this article is to build on this literature by empirically examining the association between volunteering and mortality among older adults. METHODS: Using data from a nationally representative sample, we use Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the effects of volunteering on the rate of mortality among persons aged 65 and older. RESULTS: We find that volunteering has a protective effect on mortality among those who volunteered for one organization or for forty hours or less over the past year. We further find that the protective effects of volunteering are strongest for respondents who report low levels of informal social interaction and who do not live alone. DISCUSSION: We discuss the possibility that the curvilinear relationship we observe between volunteering and mortality is due to a combination of factors, including self-identity, role strain, and meaningfulness. Other research using more precise data is needed to determine whether these ideas are supportable.

Colloidal Au-enhanced surface plasmon resonance immunosensing.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensing using colloidal Au enhancement is reported. Immobilization of approximately 11-nm-diameter colloidal Au to an evaporated Au film results in a large shift in plasmon angle, a broadened plasmon resonance, and an increase in minimum reflectance. The incorporation of colloidal Au into SPR biosensing results in increased SPR sensitivity to protein-protein interactions when a Au film-immobilized antibody and an antigen-colloidal Au conjugate comprise the binding pair. A highly specific particle-enhanced analogue of a sandwich immunoassay is also demonstrated by complexing the Au particle to a secondary antibody. A tremendous signal amplification is observed, as addition of the antibody-Au colloid conjugate results in a 25-fold larger signal than that due to addition of a free antibody solution that is 6 orders of magnitude more concentrated. Picomolar detection of human immunoglobulin G has been realized using particle enhancement, with the theoretical limits for the technique being much lower. Finally, a quasi-linear relationship between particle coverage and plasmon angle shift is presented, thereby providing for a direct correlation between plasmon shift and solution antigen concentration. Together, these results represent significant advances in the generality and sensitivity of SPR as it is applied to biosensing.

The African American minister as a source of help for serious personal crises: bridge or barrier to mental health care?

Using data from the National Survey of Black Americans, this article explores the role of African American ministers in the help seeking of African Americans for serious emotional problems. The authors explore which demographic characteristics and psychosocial factors are related to contacting Black clergy for help, whether certain types of personal problems increase the likelihood of clergy contact, and whether those who go to ministers are also likely to seek help from other professional help sources. Results indicate that women are more likely than men to seek help from ministers. People with economic problems are less likely to contact clergy, while those with death or bereavement problems are more likely to seek help from the clergy. Regardless of the type or severity of the problem, those who contact clergy first are less likely to seek help from other professionals. It is recommended that African American clergy and mental health professionals engage in a mutual exchange of information to increase access to professional care among African Americans with serious personal problems.

Religious activity and depression among community-dwelling elderly persons with cancer: the moderating effect of race.

OBJECTIVES: Research has been oriented toward elucidating the links between religion and mental health. The purpose of this article is to further our knowledge in this area by examining the effect of religious activity on depressive symptomatology among community-dwelling elderly persons with cancer. We also test whether these effects differ between Blacks and Whites. METHODS: We use two waves of data collected from a community-dwelling sample of elderly persons living in North Carolina. Depressive symptomatology is measured using four subscales from the CES-D 20 scale: somatic-retarded activity, depressed affect, positive affect, and interpersonal relations. Measures of religious activity include service attendance, religious devotion, and watching or listening to religious programs. RESULTS: The findings indicate that among Blacks with cancer, religious activity is related to lower levels of depressive symptomatology; no such relationship is found for respondent with other illnesses or no illness. Further, the effects of religious activity are stronger among Blacks than Whites. DISCUSSION: The analyses lend support to the hypothesis that religious activity is a strong predictor of depression in elderly adults with cancer. This finding, however, is not as strong as we had anticipated.

Aging, health, and the "electronic church".

We tested whether elders substitute religious media use for church attendance when health declines (using multidimensional disengagement theory) with data from a multiracial, population-based sample in the Bible Belt (N = 2,971). In adjusted models, 3-year declines in functional status were significantly associated with concurrent reduction in frequency of church attendance but not with any change in rates of religious media (TV/radio) use. Age-related declines in church attendance were substantively explained by declining functional ability. Changes in religious media use were independent of age and less sensitive to declining functional status or service attendance than to cultural heritage such as race, socioeconomic status, and rural upbringing. Our data do not support the hypothesis that elders with deteriorating health substitute increased engagement with religious media as their participation in organizational religious activities is reduced. However, applicability of the substitution hypothesis to other dimensions of nonorganizational religiousness (e.g., prayer) awaits similar scrutiny.

Mutagenesis of the Mn2+-binding site of manganese peroxidase affects oxidation of Mn2+ by both compound I and compound II.

The present study investigates whether compound I and compound II of manganese peroxidase from the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium utilize the same Mn-binding site for catalysis. Manganese peroxidase was expressed from its cDNA in Escherichia coli and refolded from inclusion bodies to yield fully active enzyme. Three mutants of the enzyme were generated by site-directed mutagenesis. Each of the three amino acid residues proposed to be involved in Mn2+ binding, E35, D179, and E39, was mutated. The acidic side chains of E35 and E39 were shortened by one carbon to the acidic group D, and the acidic side chain of D179 was shortened by one carbon to the alkyl group A. These mutants, E35D, D179A, and E39D, were used to determine whether Mn2+ reacts at the same site with both compound I and compound II of manganese peroxidase and to determine whether phenolic substrates for the enzyme react at this site. Our results conclusively demonstrate that E35 and D179 residues are involved not only in Mn2+ binding but also in electron transfer from Mn2+ to the enzyme for both compound I and compound II. In contrast, E39 is not critically important to either process. None of the three residues is involved in reactions with phenolic substrates or with H2O2.

Religion and subjective health among black and white elders.

This study examines the effect of religion on subjective health in a sample of Black and White elderly adults living in a southern community of the United States. The analyses lead to several conclusions. First, the findings indicate that future analyses examining the link between religion and subjective health should incorporate measures of functional health. Second, the differences found between Blacks and Whites warrant separation by race in future studies of religion and health. Third, the effects of religion on subjective health seem to be greatest for those suffering from physical health problems. This last finding emphasizes the comfort role of religion suggested by other researchers.