Differences Between African Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites Utilization of Clergy for Counseling with Serious Personal Problems

There is a paradox in research on African Americans and non-Hispanic whites in the utilization of clergy. Research finds that African Americans have higher levels of religious service attendance and higher levels of contact with clergy. Research also finds that despite this, African Americans are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to seek out assistance from clergy for psychiatric disorders including depression and anxiety. The goal of this paper was to investigate race differences in the use of clergy for counseling for serious personal problems. It uses the National Survey of American Life. We find that non-Hispanic whites were more likely than African Americans to use clergy for a serious personal problem. The significant difference between African Americans and non-Hispanic whites appeared to be mediated by the fact that African Americans were more likely to have seen clergy in a religious setting and non-Hispanic whites were more likely to have seen clergy in other settings including hospitals.