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Dr. Bentley-Edwards

Health & Wellness in
Black Faith Institutions

You will find information on the research my team and I conducted on the role of religion and spirituality on the health of Black people in America.

What would you like to see?

Interviews and focus groups were done in partnership with the Community Health Coalition of Durham - an exemplary community-based organization.

This project was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Study Results

Study Results

Study Results - Focus Groups and Interviews

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Study Results -

Quantitative Surveys

Scholarly Publications

Scholarly Publications

We reported the study findings in scholarly journals. Often they are behind a "paywall" that restricts access to the public. If you would like a free pdf of an article below, I am happy email it to you directly, just let me know using my contact form.

Religion, Quality of Life, & Dementia

Griffith, E. E., Robbins, P. A., & Bentley-Edwards, K. L. (2025). Quality of life, religion/spirituality, and dementia risk among Black people in the US. Aging Ment Health, 29(6), 1072–1080. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2430534

Depression & African American Christians

Scott, M. J., Robbins, P. A., Conde, E., & Bentley-Edwards, K. L. (2022). Depression in the African American Christian Community: Examining Denominational and Gender Differences. Journal of Religion and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01528-2

Denomination, Gender, and Depression

Robbins, P. A., Bentley-Edwards, K. L., Blackman Carr, L. T., Conde, E., Van Vliet, R., & Darity Jr, W. A. (2020). Shades of Black: Gendered denominational variation in depression symptoms among Black Christians. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. doi: 10.1037/rel0000398

Denomination, Gender, and Obesity/Diabetes

Bentley-Edwards, K. L., Blackman Carr, L. T., Robbins, P. A., Conde, E., Zaw, K., & Darity, W. A. (2019). Investigating Denominational and Church Attendance Differences in Obesity and Diabetes in Black Christian Men and Women. Journal of Religion and Health. doi: 10.1007/s10943-019-00888-6

Religion & Dementia

Griffith, E. E., Robbins, P. A., Ferede, B. T., & Bentley-Edwards, K. L. (2024). Religious participation is associated with fewer dementia diagnoses among Black people in the United States. American Journal of Human Biology, e24125. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.24125

Denomination, Gender, & Obesity

Bentley-Edwards, K. L., Robbins, P. A., Blackman Carr, L. T., Smith, I. Z., Conde, E., & Darity Jr., W. A. Denominational Differences in Obesity Among Black Christian Adults: Why Gender and Life Stage Matter. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Gender, Denomination and Hypertension

Robbins, P. A., Scott, M. J., Conde, E., Daniel, Y., Darity, W. A., & Bentley-Edwards, K. L. (2020). Denominational and Gender Differences in Hypertension Among African American Christian Young Adults. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. doi: 10.1007/s40615-020-00895-4

Denomination, Gender, and Depression

Robbins, P. A., Bentley-Edwards, K. L., Blackman Carr, L. T., Conde, E., Van Vliet, R., & Darity Jr, W. A. (2020). Shades of Black: Gendered denominational variation in depression symptoms among Black Christians. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. doi: 10.1037/rel0000398

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