Religiosity, Mental Health and Substance Use among Black and Hispanic Adults during the First Six Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York City

Connie Svob (), Susan X. Lin, Keely Cheslack-Postava, Michaeline Bresnahan, Renee D. Goodwin, Norbert Skokauskas, George J. Musa, Sidney H. Hankerson, Diane R. Dreher, Megan Ryan, Yi-Ju Hsu, Anna-Lena Jonsson-Cohen and Christina W. Hoven
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Connie Svob: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
Susan X. Lin: Center for Family and Community Medicine, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
Keely Cheslack-Postava: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
Michaeline Bresnahan: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
Renee D. Goodwin: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
Norbert Skokauskas: Center for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Protection, IPH, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7030 Trondheim, Norway
George J. Musa: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
Sidney H. Hankerson: Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Health Equity Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Diane R. Dreher: Department of Chaplaincy Services, Northwell Health, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY 10075, USA
Megan Ryan: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
Yi-Ju Hsu: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
Anna-Lena Jonsson-Cohen: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
Christina W. Hoven: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 9, 1-8

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between personal religiosity, mental health, and substance use outcomes among Black and Hispanic adults during the first six months of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York City (NYC). Phone interviews were conducted with 441 adults to obtain information on all variables. Participants self-reported race/ethnicity as Black/African American ( n = 108) or Hispanic ( n = 333). Logistic regression were used to examine associations between religiosity, mental health, and substance use. There was a significant inverse association of religiosity and substance use. Religious people had a lower prevalence of drinking alcohol (49.0%) compared to non-religious people (67.1%). Religious people also had substantially lower prevalence of cannabis or other drug use (9.1%) in comparison to non-religious people (31%). After adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and household income, the association of religiosity with alcohol use and with cannabis/other drug use remained statistically significant. Despite restricted access to in-person religious activities and congregational supports, the findings suggest that religiosity itself may be helpful from a public health perspective, independent of serving as a conduit for other social services.

Keywords: religion/spirituality; COVID-19 pandemic; substance use; health disparities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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