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 depression symptoms in a sample of 995 African American and white elderly residents of Nashville. The data, collected in face-to-face interviews, included indicators of both public and private religiosity. Levels of religiosity and perceived social support were higher among the African-American respondents than among others, and among female respondents. Separate regression analyses of the racial groupings, which appeared to have distinctive religious subcultures, generally show that perceptions of social support mediate the relationship between levels of religiosity and symptoms of depression.