Role of religion and social support in willingness to participate in future research among a national sample of African Americans and Latinos

Background:  The underrepresentation of minorities in research is well documented. Religiousness and social support are central to the lives of many Americans, and churches have taken an active role in shaping the health behaviors of their congregants.  Research suggests that religiousness and social support may play an important role in the effort to eliminate health disparities; thus, we examined these constructs in the context of research participation.  Methods: We conducted a random household telephone survey of 2,455 African Americans (N=1191) and Latinos (N=1264). The survey included valid standardized instruments designed to assess research knowledge, human subjects' protections, previous participation in research, social support, and religiousness. Results: African Americans were more religious than Latinos (p < .001) and also had significantly more social support from family and friends ( p < .001). There was a significant prediction of willingness to participate in a future medical study by race/ethnicity, religiosity, and social support after adjusting for demographic variables (p < .001). Latinos were 63% more likely to participate in a future medical study than African Americans, given similar religiosity score. As the religiosity of participants increased, they were 23% more likely to participate in future research. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the associations between race/ethnicity, religiousness and social support in the context of research participation among African Americans and Latinos. A better understanding of the role of religiousness and social support may be pivotal in increasing research participation and developing intervention strategies to address health disparities.