THE CLERGY AS A SOURCE OF MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE: WHAT AMERICANS BELIEVE.

Although clergy remain a popular source of advice and assistance for persons dealing with mental health issues, there is little solid empirical evidence about this type of help-seeking. Using data from a special mental health module in the 1996 NORC General Social Survey, we examine popular attitudes toward the role of clergy as frontline mental health workers. Among the key findings: (1) Regular church attenders are more likely to approve of this role, as are biblical literalists, while Catholics are less prone to regard clergy as an appropriate source of mental health assistance. (2) Older persons (ages 60 and over) are much more likely to endorse a mental health role for clergy, while the effects of other sociodemographic characteristics are minimal. (3) Clergy are seen as less appropriate sources of help in cases of certain specific problems, e.g., schizophrenia, and for persons who are perceived to pose a danger to others, Implications of these findings and study limitations are discussed, and several important research directions are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]