Urban Health and Society: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research and Practice - Part 31. This book provides the most current frameworks, research, and approaches for understanding how unique features of the urban physical and social environments that shape the health of over half of the world's population that is already residing in large cities. Its interdisciplinary research and practice focus is a welcome innovation. | Interdisciplinary Research Methods 281 Many who are diagnosed with diabetes are at increased risk for depression 56- 57 and their mental health needs often remain unmet. Negative treatment on the basis of race or ethnicity can cause depression and low life satisfaction among African 22 58 Given these race-related stressors African Americans with type 2 diabetes may be at increased risk for depression. However a person with a stronger African American ethnic identity may be able to protect self-esteem and maintain a sense of perspective and personal worth in the face of racism. 44 These buffering effects may also extend to hypertension and depression in Ethnic Identity and Spirituality For many African Americans ethnic identity includes a sense of spirituality or religion and 59 Mattis and Jagers60 differentiate between the two religion is a system of beliefs about God shared by a specific community whereas religiosity is the degree of adherence to an organized religion or belief system. Polzer59 found that among African Americans spirituality impacts diabetes self-management because African Americans may turn to God or turn it over to God to cope with diabetes. Mullings and Wali61 found that African American women turned to faith institutions in times of crisis to discuss explicitly personal stressors and receive advice on ways to cope with stress. In addition to lending emotional support many African American churches provide tangible support in the form of clothing food donations and housing resources. Perhaps most important African American churches provide social support through a sense of familial connection which helps buffer stressors and helps people protect themselves from and cope with those stressors. But more research is needed to determine how interventions related to type 2 diabetes can be translated to churches or other spiritual meeting places. Additionally given that spirituality can enhance preventive .
