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Effects Of Religious Participation On Negative Mental Health Symptoms Among Low-Income, Urban African American Adolescents, Alfonso L. Floyd

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

African American adolescents living in low-income, urban neighborhoods are at high risk for developing psychological problems due to increased exposure to urban stressors. Given the complexity and chronic nature of these stressors, protective factors such as involvement in one’s religious institution may protect adolescents from harmful stressors associated with living in urban, low-income neighborhoods. This thesis sought to examine whether religious participation is an effective moderator of the relation between urban stressful life experiences and internalizing/externalizing psychological outcomes among low-income, urban African American adolescents. Two dimensions of religious participation, organizational and non-organizational, were examined as potential moderators of the effect …