Religious Participation Among Elderly Blacks." The Gerontologist 26:630—636

This study investigated rates of participation in nonorganizational religious activities of elderly Black adults. Four indicators of participation were examined: reading religious materials, watching or listening to religious programs, prayer, and requests for prayer. Demographic, religious denomination, and health disability factors influenced participation in these behaviors. The findings were discussed for their implications for the development of a multidimensional conceptualization of religiosity. RECENT research has indicated that religion plays anadaptive and supportive role in the lives of elderly Black adults. In a study of Black and White older adults, religion was identified as a more significant coping resource for Blacks (Rosen, 1982.) Similarly, frequency of contact with church-related friends was a critical predictor of subjec-tive well-being among older Black persons (Ortega, Crutch-field, and Rushing, 1983). In a recent analysis, Krause and Tran (1989) found that among elderly Blacks, perceived stress eroded feelings of self-esteem and personal control. These negative effects, however, were offset by religious involvement. In addition, Taylor and Chatters (1986a, 1986b) found that church members were an integral compo-nent of the support networks of elderly Black adults, and the majority of respondents indicated that they received assis-tance from church members. The most prevalent type of assistance was help during illness, followed by help in a spiritual manner, companionship, advice and encourage-ment, and instrumental aid (e.g., financial help). A collec-tion of recent findings on data from the National Survey of Black Americans (NSBA) corroborates a picture of exten-sive involvement in religious pursuits (Chatters and Taylor