Relational sanctification, communal coping, and depression among African American couples.

Despite the common use of religious buffers, African Americans are disproportionately affected by depressive symptoms. Communal coping may serve as one factor in helping religious African American couples alleviate the symptoms of depression. This study examines the association between relational sanctification and depressive symptoms as mediated by the communal coping of 467 African American married and cohabiting couples. Data from the sampled couples were analyzed using a common fate model, and analyses revealed higher scores on the measure of sanctification were associated with more communal coping; more communal coping was associated with fewer depressive symptoms among women and men, and communal coping acted as a mediator between relational sanctification and depressive symptoms in both partners. Findings from this study underscore the importance of considering how the religiosity and cooperative action of African American couples relate to depressive symptoms.

Turning It Over to God: African American Assisted Living Residents' End-of-Life Preferences and Advance Care Planning.

OBJECTIVES: Assisted living (AL), a popular long-term care setting for older Americans, increasingly is a site for end-of-life care. Although most residents prefer AL to be their final home, relatively little is known about end-of-life preferences and advance care planning, especially among African American residents. Our research addresses this knowledge gap. METHODS: Informed by grounded theory, we present an analysis of qualitative data collected over 2 years in a 100-bed AL community catering to African American residents. Data consisted of field notes from participant observation conducted during 310 site visits and 818 observation hours, in-depth interviews with 25 residents, and a review of their AL records. RESULTS: Residents varied in their end-of-life preferences and advance care planning, but united in the belief that God was in control. We identified "Turning it over to God" as an explanatory framework for understanding how this group negotiated end-of-life preferences and advance care planning. Individual-level resident factors (e.g., age, pain, and function) and factors reflecting broader cultural and societal influences, including health literacy and care experiences, were influential. DISCUSSION: Contradictions arose from turning it over to God, including those between care preferences, planning, and anticipated or actual end-of-life outcomes.

Racial/Ethnic Variation in Family Support: African Americans, Black Caribbeans and Non-Latino Whites.

Objective: This study examined racial and ethnic differences in the receipt and provision of instrumental family support. Background: Extended families provide significant levels of emotional and instrumental support across the life course. Despite their importance, extended family relationships and the assistance they provide are largely neglected in the literature. Further, questions remain concerning cultural variation in family support relationships and inconsistent findings on racial differences in family support in prior investigations. Method: This study relied on data from the National Survey of American Life-Reinterview (n=3,483) to investigate the provision and receipt of instrumental support from extended family among African Americans, Black Caribbeans, and non-Latino Whites and within high- and low-income categories for each group. Eight key measures of instrumental family support are examined: receiving and providing transportation, help with chores, financial assistance, and help during an illness. Results: African Americans and Black Caribbeans share similar profiles of providing and receiving instrumental family support. Both populations receive and provide assistance more frequently than do non-Latino Whites. Similarly, analyses stratified by income indicated that for low-income and high-income groups, African American and Black Caribbeans are similar to one another, and at each income category, both groups received and provided support more frequently than non-Latino Whites. Conclusion: Study findings are discussed in relation to conceptual and methodological differences in assessing Black-White differences across studies of family support. Attention to these issues and the specific contexts for receiving/providing family support (emergency vs. routine; intergenerational vs. extended) will help clarify inconsistent findings across studies.

Church-Based Emotional Support and Negative Interactions Among Older African Americans and Black Caribbeans.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates church-based informal social support among older African Americans and Black Caribbeans. In particular, we examine the correlates of receiving emotional support as well as negative interactions (e.g., criticisms) from church members. METHODS: The analysis is based on the older African American (n = 829) and Black Caribbean (n = 271) subsample of the National Survey of American Life. The analysis utilizes multiple group structural equation modeling (SEM) to test a model of church support networks. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between older African Americans and older Black Caribbeans in the frequency of service attendance, contact with church members (seeing, writing, talking), emotional support from church members, or negative interactions with church members. However, a comparison of SEM analysis indicates that the number and pattern of relationships are different. For instance, among African Americans church attendance was associated with emotional support, but among Black Caribbeans attendance did not have a direct or indirect effect on emotional support. Our findings also indicate that among older African Americans, women attend religious services more frequently and both receive emotional support and engage in negative interactions with church members more frequently than men. Among Black Caribbeans, however, men attend religious services less frequently than women but also have more negative interactions with church members. DISCUSSION: For both African American and Black Caribbean older adults, church members are an important element of their social support networks. Our analysis also underscores the importance of contact with church members for receiving emotional support for both populations.

Examining the Frequency of Religious Practices among Hypertensive and Non-Hypertensive Black Men.

Although Black men in the United States face high rates of hypertension, the nexus of health and religion remain understudied for this population. The present study analyzes religious variables, such as prayer, Bible reading, and religious meditation, to describe the frequency of these practices among hypertensive and non-hypertensive Black men. This study utilizes data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) 3 - Milwaukee African American Sample series, with 135 Black men (51.1% stating that they had experienced hypertension in the past 12 months). Findings suggest that Black men with a diagnosis of hypertension were significantly more likely to report that they prayed and read religious literature more often than their non-hypertensive counterparts. The results of the present study demonstrate key religious practices that hypertensive Black men might use as a potential coping response to their health condition.

Sanctification of couple relationships and communal coping in married and cohabiting African American couples.

Throughout history, African Americans have endured much, and their experiences with discrimination and racism continue today. Despite ongoing challenges, African Americans have also shown their resilience. Religion and spirituality are two of the largest resources of resilience that African Americans employ. However, little is known about the role of religion and spirituality within African American couple relationships. Using dyadic data from 292 married and 233 cohabiting African American couples, we examined the impact of sanctification of the couple relationship on communal coping within the Actor Partner Interdependence Model. Significant actor effects were found between relational sanctification and communal coping for both married and cohabiting men and women. There was a significant partner effect between married men's relational sanctification and married women's communal coping. However, no other significant partner effects were found. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

#BoomerRemover: COVID-19, ageism, and the intergenerational twitter response.

Early reports of COVID-19 often inaccurately presented the virus as a serious concern only among older adults. On the social media platform of Twitter, #BoomerRemover originated as a hashtag intended to express the age-related disparities of COVID-19. This study used a content analysis to examine tweets over a two-week period in March 2020 that used #BoomerRemover to discuss COVID-19 among older adults. A total of 1875 tweets were analyzed. Salient themes include: (1) There's a Real Intergenerational Divide, (2) Young People are Affected Too, (3) It's Being Used for Political Gain, and (4) #BoomerRemover is Simply Disrespectful. Findings suggest that many of the tweets employing #BoomerRemover were grounded in either personal or political ageism. In addition, a significant portion of tweeters used #BoomerRemover to defend older adults and speak out against ageism. This study highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing the growing intergenerational divide on social media, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marital and Romantic Satisfaction among Older African Americans.

There remains a lack of knowledge on marital satisfaction of African Americans in general and this is particularly the case for older African Americans. In addition, only a handful of studies investigate satisfaction among couples who are unmarried. Using data from the National Survey of American Life, this study examined the correlates of romantic and marital satisfaction among older African Americans. Findings reveal that married older African Americans were slightly more satisfied with their relationship than individuals who were either remarried or unmarried but in a romantic relationship. Among older African American married adults, older age was associated with higher marital satisfaction, and men had higher levels of marital satisfaction than women. Also, married older African Americans with lower family incomes reported higher marital satisfaction. Region was the only variable significantly associated with romantic satisfaction indicating higher satisfaction for Southerners as compared to those living in the Northeast. Given the limited research on older African Americans couples, either married or unmarried, this study offers valuable implications for individuals and professionals engaging these couples in practice settings.

Older African American, Black Caribbean, and Non-Latino White Fictive Kin Relationships.

Fictive kin are individuals who are not related biologically or legally family members but are conferred all of the expectations, obligations, norms, and behaviors that are typically associated with family members. Early ethnographic and qualitative studies on impoverished African Americans depicted fictive kinship as a strategy of necessity used by urban poor Blacks to share scarce resources. More recent surveys of fictive kin relationships based on nationally representative samples of African Americans establish that fictive kinship occur across a range of social and economic circumstances. However, fictive kin relationships among African Americans older adults remains an understudied area. The current study explores fictive kinship relationships (having fictive kin and receiving support from fictive kin) among African American, Black Caribbean, and non-Hispanic white older adults using data from the National Survey of American Life. We examined race/ethnicity and gender differences, as well as demographic and social network correlates. Findings showed that having and receiving support from fictive kin varied across race, ethnicity and gender. African Americans were more likely to have fictive kin than were non-Hispanic whites, but there were no overall race/ethnic differences in receiving support from fictive kin. Gender specific findings showed that Black Caribbean women received fictive kin support more frequently than African American and non-Hispanic white women. Finally, demographic and social network correlates of fictive kin varied by race and ethnicity and connections with social networks (family, friend, church members) were positively associated with having and receiving support from fictive kin.