RESUMO
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.
RESUMO
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).