Development and Validation of a Religious Health Fatalism Measure for the African-American Faith Community

Abstract

Health researchers struggle to understand barriers to improving health in the African-American community. The African-American church is one of the most promising venues for health promotion, disease prevention, and disparities reduction. Religious fatalism, the belief that health outcomes are inevitable and/or determined by God, may inhibit healthy behaviors for a subset of religious persons. This study reports the development and validation of the Religious Health Fatalism Questionnaire, a measurement tool for studying faith-related health beliefs in African-Americans. Participants included 276 members of seven predominantly African-American churches. Factor analysis indicated three dimensions: (1) Divine Provision; (2) Destined Plan; and (3) Helpless Inevitability. Evidence is presented for the reliability, convergent and predictive validity of the Religious Health Fatalism Questionnaire.