Lower life satisfaction, active coping and cardiovascular disease risk factors in older African Americans: outcomes of a longitudinal church-based intervention

This study examined lower life satisfaction, active coping and cardiovascular disease risk factors (diastolic and systolic blood pressure, body mass index, and circumferences) in older African Americans over the phases of an 18-month church-based intervention, using a quasi-experimental design. Participants (n = 89) were 45 years of age and older from six churches (three treatment, three comparison) in North Florida. Lower life satisfaction had a persistent unfavorable effect on weight variables. Active coping showed a direct beneficial effect on selected weight variables. However, active coping was adversely associated with blood pressure, and did not moderate the association between lower life satisfaction and cardiovascular risk factors. The intervention had a beneficial moderating influence on the association between lower life satisfaction and weight variables and on the association between active coping and these variables. Yet, this pattern did not hold for the association between active coping and blood pressure. The relationship of lower life satisfaction and selected cardiovascular risk factors and the positive effect of active coping were established, but findings regarding blood pressure suggest further study is needed.