Papers by Dr. Christopher J Jacobi
Stigma and Health, 2022
This article explores the prevalence of stigma toward mental illness and substance use disorders ... more This article explores the prevalence of stigma toward mental illness and substance use disorders in faith communities and highlights the roles of familiarity and causal attributions as explanatory factors. Social support within faith communities has been noted as an important mental health resource and faith leaders often represent the first point of contact in a mental health or substance abuse crisis. Yet, faith communities can also perpetuate stigmatization. Based on a vignette-based survey of congregants (N = 1,796) in a diverse set of faith communities in the U.S., this study examines desired social distance as a proxy of stigma toward mental illness (depression and schizophrenia vignettes) and substance use disorders (alcohol and drug use disorder vignettes). Analyses show that survey respondents’ stigmatizing attitudes toward persons with mental health and substance use conditions in faith communities vary strongly by the type of condition. Familiarity with depression is associated with less stigma toward the disorder, but familiarity with the other conditions is not a significant predictor of stigma in the other vignettes. Levels of agreement with biogenetic and psychosocial causal attributions are high, but important associations of personal/moral and spiritual causal attributions with higher levels of desired social distance are found. The results imply that interventions to mitigate stigma in faith communities should consider differences by condition types and the particular characteristics of faith-based settings.
Frontiers in Psychology
This study explored the extent to which perceived changes in religiosity from before to during th... more This study explored the extent to which perceived changes in religiosity from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with flourishing. Participants from a diverse set of faith communities in two United States metropolitan regions (N = 1,480) completed an online survey between October and December 2020. The survey included items capturing perceived changes in four dimensions of religiosity (i.e., importance of religion, frequency of prayer, frequency of religious service attendance, and sense of connectedness to one’s faith community) and a multidimensional measure of flourishing. Based on multilevel regressions, results indicated that self-reported decreases in each dimension of religiosity were associated with lower overall flourishing. This pattern of findings was largely similar for the domains of flourishing, with some variation in the strength of associations that emerged. An increase in frequency of religious service attendance was associated with lower overall ...
Religions
Many religious congregations in the United States have adapted to COVID-19 lockdowns by offering ... more Many religious congregations in the United States have adapted to COVID-19 lockdowns by offering religious services online. This study aims to understand whether congregants from a diverse set of faith traditions expect to attend online or in-person religious services after the pandemic. First, it examines how members of different religious traditions vary in their expectations of future attendance. Second, it explores whether respondents’ habituation to online attendance during the pandemic might result in greater preference for future online attendance. This study draws on a non-representative sample of 1609 members of Christian, Jewish, and Hindu communities in four US states surveyed in late 2020 and employs logistic regression models. The findings first suggest a divergence between congregation types that require in-person attendance for certain rituals versus those that do not. Second, habituation of the practice of online attendance may cultivate the desire to sustain this pr...
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2022
Given the adverse mental health consequences of the COVID‐19 pandemic, it is important to examine... more Given the adverse mental health consequences of the COVID‐19 pandemic, it is important to examine whether faith communities continue to provide social and emotional support to members during the pandemic. This study focuses on a particular mechanism through which congregations may help members’ mental health––talking to fellow congregants about private problems. Data for this study come from online surveys conducted between October and December 2020 in 12 congregations (Christian, Jewish, and Hindu) in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, and Texas (N = 1609). Using two measures of mental health (overall assessment of mental health and an indicator of COVID‐19‐related mental health worsening), we find that greater levels of problem sharing are associated with better overall mental health and with lower chances of COVID‐19‐related mental health worsening. The beneficial effect of sharing problems is especially pronounced when the frequency is very high and remains statistically signif...
Vaccine, 2021
Given high COVID-19 infection and mortality ratesamong racial minorities in the US and their high... more Given high COVID-19 infection and mortality ratesamong racial minorities in the US and their higher rates of religiosity, it is important to examine how the intersection of race and religion influences perceptions of COVID-19 vaccinations.Data for this study come from online surveys conducted in twelve congregations between October and December 2020 (N=1,609). Based on logistic regression analyses, this study demonstrates a severe disparity of 24-percentage points (95% confidence interval 0.14-0.33) in anticipated COVID-19 vaccine acceptance between African Americans and Whites, even when controlling for trust in COVID-19 information from scientists and levels of worrying about COVID-19 as well as religiosity and demographic factors. Religiosity is negatively associated with vaccine acceptance across racial groups. The findings suggest that the intersection of race and religion should be considered when designing immunization programs, for instance by fostering collaborations and dialogue with faith leaders of racial minority congregations.
Contexts, 2021
This abstract is incorrect. Please see the corrected abstract here: https://journals.sagepub.com/... more This abstract is incorrect. Please see the corrected abstract here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15365042221083001 . This report examines police-public encounters that resulted in the fatal shooting of civilians during 2015 and 2016. How police contact was initiated varies by race/ethnicity, age, sex, mental health status, and whether (or how) the individual killed by police was armed with a weapon. This crucial information sheds further light on fatal police shootings.
Using multilevel logistic regression to analyse management data of reablement episodes collected ... more Using multilevel logistic regression to analyse management data of reablement episodes collected by Essex County Council, UK, from 2008-2012, this article identifies constraining and enabling factors for successful reablement. Overall, 59.5% of Essex reablement clients were classed as able to care for themselves when assessed after 13 weeks, but several social, health, referral and age-related factors were found to constrain that. However, some of the largest effects found to constrain reablement were neighbourhood deprivation and, particularly, unfavourable geodemographic profiles as measured through Mosaic consumer classifications. The results suggest that in order to optimise reablement, programmes might be better tailored and intensified for particular client groups, particularly for those displaying specific geodemographic characteristics.
Drafts by Dr. Christopher J Jacobi
Pre-print, 2019
Using multilevel logistic regression to analyse management data of reablement episodes collected ... more Using multilevel logistic regression to analyse management data of reablement episodes collected by Essex County Council, UK, from 2008-2012, this article identifies constraining and enabling factors for successful reablement. Overall, 59.5% of Essex reablement clients were classed as able to care for themselves when assessed after 13 weeks, but several social, health, referral and age-related factors were found to constrain that. However, some of the largest effects found to constrain reablement were neighbourhood deprivation and, particularly, unfavourable geodemographic profiles as measured through Mosaic consumer classifications. The results suggest that in order to optimise reablement, programmes might be better tailored and intensified for particular client groups, particularly for those displaying specific geodemographic characteristics.
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Papers by Dr. Christopher J Jacobi
Drafts by Dr. Christopher J Jacobi