Does public and private religiosity have a moderating effect on depression? A bi-racial study of elders in the American south

Religious activities are shown to correlate with rates of psychological dep ression symptoms in a sample of 995 African American and white elderly resi dents of Nashville. The data, collected in face-to-face interviews, include d indicators of both public and private religiosity. Levels of religiosity and perceived social support were higher among the African-American respond ents than among others, and among female respondents. Separate regression a nalyses of the racial groupings, which appeared to have distinctive religio us subcultures, generally show that perceptions of social support mediate t he relationship between levels of religiosity and symptoms of depression.