Correction to: The Impact of Religiosity on Substance Abuse and Obesity in African Americans.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the author names. The co-author names should be David Meetze and Ronald Whicker Jr. instead of David Meetz and Ronald Wicker. The original article has been corrected.

The Impact of Religiosity on Substance Abuse and Obesity in African Americans.

Among the African American community, there exist many health disparities which warrant greater examination through the practice of social work. The aim of the present research was to explore the impact of religiosity on substance abuse and obesity among African American populations by employing a systematic review of the current body of literature on this subject. While many of the studies reviewed found at least a weak relationship between religiosity and obesity, such results were not consistent across all materials examined. Among those studies that found a correlation between these factors, many demonstrated that religiosity had a positive impact on substance abuse and obesity. A discussion of the implications of these findings is submitted as a means of illuminating the significance of all research findings that were examined. Limitations such as more standardized criteria for inclusion of research material are identified and discussed. Implications for future research are presented to promote the advancement of future efforts in this area research.

Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Factors Impacting Referral to and Participation in Cardiac Rehabilitation for African American Patients: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.

PURPOSE: The purposes of this systematic review were to (1) review the literature related to the demographic and biopsychosocial-spiritual factors impacting cardiac rehabilitation (CR) referral and participation of African American patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD); (2) identify barriers and facilitators to CR referral and participation for this population; (3) identify gaps in the literature; and (4) make recommendations for future research studies and interventions. METHODS: The Cooper 7-step protocol for research synthesis was followed to formulate a research question and search MEDLINE via PubMed, PsycINFO via EBSCO, and CINAHL via EBSCO. A second reviewer repeated the searches performed by the first author in the initial review. RESULTS: A total of 1640 articles identified using the search strategy yielded 7 articles that fit the search criteria. Most studies measured demographic or social factors. Two studies measured biological factors, 1 study measured psychological factors, and no study measured spiritual factors. CONCLUSIONS: According to the studies reviewed, African American patients with CVD were less likely to receive a CR referral, more likely to enroll in CR with more cardiovascular risk factors, and less likely to participate in and complete CR due to factors related to low socioeconomic status (eg, lack of insurance, work conflicts, lower level of education) than non-Hispanic white patients. Further research is needed on the interaction between demographic/biopsychosocial-spiritual factors and referral to and participation of African Americans in CR in order to ensure that interventions fit the needs of this particular population.

Adolescents' health behaviors and obesity: Does race affect this epidemic?

This study explores the influence of health behaviors and individual attributes on adolescent overweight and obesity using data from Wave II (Add Health). Structural equation model/path analysis using maximum likelihood estimation was utilized to analyze the relationships of health behaviors and attributes with obesity. Results of the model reveal that the causal paths (adolescents' attributes and health behaviors) for overweight and obesity were different for African American and Caucasian adolescents. Generally, African Americans were more susceptible to overweight and obesity than Caucasians. Although increasing levels of vigorous physical activities lowers the risk for obesity among African American and Caucasian adolescents alike, low family SES and being sedentary were associated with overweight and obesity among Caucasians. No significant associations were found among African Americans. Increased hours of sleep at night relate positively with obesity among African Americans. These findings suggest important elements in the consideration of race in developing effective intervention and prevention approaches for curbing the obesity epidemic among U.S. adolescents.