Self-Reported Racial/Ethnic Discrimination, Health Behaviors, and the Role of Religious Institutions

Religious institutions can play a significant role in improving the health of minority communities who must cope with the realities of racial and ethnic discrimination. Using the California Health Interview Survey (2003), we test to determine if self reported feelings of racial/ethnic discrimination are associated with health behaviors and if attending church moderates this relationship. We hypothesize that attending worship acts as buffer to the deleterious effects of discrimination, leading to improvements in health behaviors. Bivariate analysis indicates that a large percentage of minority respondents report experiencing discrimination at least sometimes: Latinos (30%), Asian/Pacific Islander (29%), American Indian/Alaska Native (32%), and African Americans (56%). Additionally, among those who report at least sometimes experiencing discrimination, respondents are significantly more likely to be current smokers, binge drinkers, and less likely to walk for exercise/leisure. Those who have been discriminated against at least sometimes are significantly more likely to have attended a place of worship in the past 7 days (43%), compared to those who are have never or rarely experienced discrimination (36%). Multivariate analysis indicates that among those who attended worship in the past 7 days, respondents had a significantly lower odds of being a smoker (OR = .59) or binge drinking (OR = .55). Compared to those who did not attend worship in the past 7 days, respondents who did attend worship had a higher odds of walking for exercise or leisure (OR 1.2). Religious involvement plays an important role, particularly in the health and well being of minority communities.