Do Religious Struggles Mediate the Association Between Neighborhood Disorder and Health in the United States?

Over the past two decades, numerous studies have linked the subjective experience of neighborhood disorder (perceptions of crime, dilapidation and ambient strains) with poorer health. We test whether religious struggles (religious doubts and feeling abandoned or punished by God) mediate this association. Our counterfactual mediation analyses of data from the 2021 Crime, Health, and Politics Survey (CHAPS) (n = 1741) revealed consistent indirect effects of neighborhood disorder through religious struggles for anger, psychological distress, sleep disturbance, poorer self-rated health, and shorter subjective life expectancy.

Explaining racial/ethnic and socioeconomic differences in COVID protective behavior.

COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on Black, Hispanic, and lower socioeconomic status communities. Using data from the Community, Health and Politics Study (CHAPS 2021), collected in the midst of the pandemic, we examine differences in COVID-19 health promotion behavior (i.e.