Published In

Religions

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-12-2011

Subjects

Infants -- Mortality -- United States -- Effect of religious affiliation on, Minorities -- Health and hygiene -- United States, Minorities -- Medical care -- United States

Abstract

Prior research has identified a number of antecedents to infant mortality, but has been focused on either structural (demographic) forces or medical (public health) factors, both of which ignore potential cultural influences. Our study introduces a cultural model for explaining variations in infant mortality, one focused on the role of community-level religious factors. A key impetus for our study is well-established religious variations in adult mortality at the community level. Seeking to extend the growing body of research on contextual-level effects of religion, this study examines the impact of religious ecology (i.e., the institutional market share of particular denominational traditions) on county-level infant mortality in the U.S. Analyses of congregational census and Kids Count data reveal that a high prevalence of Catholic and most types of conservative Protestant churches are associated with lower rates of infant mortality when compared with counties that feature fewer Catholic and conservative Protestant congregations. However, communities with a large proportion of Pentecostal churches exhibit significantly higher infant mortality rates. After discussing the implications of these findings, we specify various directions for future research.

Description

Ginny Garcia was affiliated with the University of Texas at San Antonio at the time of writing.

Locate the Document

Originally appeared in Religions, volume 2, 2011. Published by MDPI; may be found at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions.

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/17692

Download

Share

COinS