TURNING TO PRAYER - SOCIAL AND SITUATIONAL ANTECEDENTS OF RELIGIOUS COPING AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICANS

Although observers have long suggested that prayer is an important cop ing behavior for African Americans, there has been little research on the social and situational antecedents of such religious coping in thi s population. This study develops a series of theoretical arguments li nking four sets of factors - religiosity, problem domain, social and p sychological resources, and social location - with religions coping. R elevant hypotheses are then tested using data front a large national p robability sample of African Americans. Findings confirm the general i mportance of religious coping among African Americans. Further, while multiple dimensions of religiosity are important predictors of the use of prayer in coping, this practice is also most likely among persons dealing with health problems or bereavement, persons with low general personal mastery, and females. A number of promising directions for fu rther research on religious coping - among African Americans, and in t he general population - are discussed.