Religion and Spirituality

in

Childhood and Adolescenc e

Lisa J. Bridges, Ph .D .

with Kristin A. Moore, Ph.D.

Chil
January, 2002
 Religion and Spirituality in Childhood and Adolescenc e

Lisa J. Bridges, Ph .D.

with Kristin A. Moore, Ph .D.

January, 200 2

A Conceptual and Theoretical Overview of Religious and Spiritual Development in Childhoo d

and Adolescence ................ .. . . . ....... .. . . . .. .... .......... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .: .. .. .. .. .... ... . . ... 3
Elkind' s Studies of Religious Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. . . . . .... 4
Fowler' s Faith Development Theory ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 6
Oser's Theory of the Development of Religious Judgment .. .. .. .. ...... .. .. .. .. .. .. . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Kirkpatrick's Attachment-Theoretical Perspective on Individual Differences in Religiosi ty . . 1 1
Conceptual Links Between Child and Adolescent Religiosity and Other Aspects of Well-Being

Social Capital and S oci al S uppor t . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. ... ... .. .. .... .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . ... ...... .... 13
Health Promotion . .. .... .. .. .. ......... ..... . . . . . . . . . . .. ............ . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. .. .. .. 13
Promotion of Prosocial Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4
Provision of Purpose and Meaning . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .... .. ...... .... .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5
Conceptual Links Between Parental and Familial Religiosity or Spirituality and Child and
Adolescent Well-Being ............. .. . . . . . . . . . . .. ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................................ . .. . ...... .... .. .. . . . . . 1 5
Social Support...................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. ........ ........................... ........... .. .. .... . 1 6
Health Promo tion ............... .. . . . . . . . . . . .. .. ....... . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. .. . . .. ....................... ..................... .... ...... .. . 1 6
Direct Effects of Religiosity on Parenting . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .... .. . . ........................................ ........ .. .. .. ... 1 7
Indirect Effects of Religiosity on Parenting . . . . . . . . ..... .... .. .. ................. . . . .. ................... ................ 2 1
Religiosity and Parental Modeling ......... .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ... .. .. .. .................. . . .. . .................................. 24
Measurement of Religiosity in Childhood and Adolescence .......................................... . . ............ 25
Review of Empirical Evidence Regarding Religiosity and Well-Being in Childhood an d
Adolescence ...................... .... .. . . . . . . . . . ..... . ... .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .... .. .. .. ...................... . . ............................... . . . . 29
Delinquency and Risk-Taking Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. ................... ...... .. .. .... ..... . ................. 30
Prosocial and Moral Values and Behavior . . . . . . . . . .. ...... .. .. ..................... ...... . . . . .. .. .. .. .................... 39
Personality and Mental Health . . . . .. ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .... .. .... .. ......................... .. .. .... ...... .................. 41
Other Aspects of Adolescent Well-Being . ................ .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 45
Summary ...... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .............. ............ .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ...... .. . . .. . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . .. 45
Review of Empirical Evidence Regarding Parental Religiosity and Well-Being in Childhood and
Adolescence ...... .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ........................ .. . . . .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . . ...... ...... .. .... .. .. . . . . .. .. .. 4 6
Conclusions ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......................... . . . . . . . . . ... . .. .. .. .... .......... .. .. ...... .. .. . ..... .. 49
Implications ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .......... .... ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. ................ .. .. ... . . . .. .. .. .. .. 5 1
References ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ............ ............ . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . ............ .... ...... .... .......... 53
 2

Religious faith, beliefs, and activities are important aspects of the lives of America n

adolescents . Although researchers have found a general age trend for religiousness to declin e

from childhood through adolescence (Benson, Donahue, & Erickson, 1989 ; King, Elder, &

Whitbeck, 1997), the percentage of American high school seniors who self-reported church

attendance at least monthly was highly stable from 1987 through 1994, ranging from a low o f

46% in 1990 to a high of 50% in 1992 (Donahue & Benson, 1995). These percentages wer e

derived from Monitoring the Future reports published by the Institute for Social Research at th e

University of Michigan, based on annual nationwide surveys of a nationally representativ e

sample . Using the same annual survey, Youniss, McLellan, and Yates (1999) reported that ove r

60% of high school seniors reported that religion was "pretty " or "very" important to them. Thi s

percentage w as highly consistent across the decades of the 1970s, 1980s , and 1990s .

A substantial body of literature exists in the social and behavioral sciences o n

associations between religion, spirituality, and well-being in adulthood . Depending upon the

types of measures of religiosity and spirituality utilized and the outcomes assessed, results wit h

adults support low but significant positive associations between religiosity and components o f

well-being, including substance abuse, mental health, physical health, and general life

satisfaction (e .g., Ellison, 1991 ; Ellison, 1993, Fischer & Richards, 1998 ; George, Larson,

Koenig, & McCullough, 2000) . Despite the obvious importance of religion in the lives o f

children and adolescents, however, considerably less attention has been paid to associations

between religiosity and well-being prior to adulthood . In this report, we will begin with a brief

discussion of theories of religious development . This will be followed by sections outlining

possible mechanisms for associations between child and adolescent religiosity, parental

religiosity, and well-being . The fourth section will discuss issues pertaining to the measurement
of religiosity and adolescence in childhood and adolescence . Fifth, two sections will draw

together recent empirical reports attempting to evaluate the contributions of religiosity to child

and adolescent well-being, primarily focusing on work pertaining to religiosity and well-being

prior to the college years . The final section will summarize the research, summarize issues to be

addressed in future research, and will present some possible implications of the research

literature for intervention and treatment programs .

A Conceptual and Theoretical Overview of Religious and Spiritual Developmen t

in Childhood and Adolescenc e

A consensus report prepared by a panel convened by the National Institute for Healthcare

Research (NIHR ; see George et al ., 2000) defined spirituality as behaviors, cognitions, and

emotions that arise as part of an individual's search for connection with a divine being, a higher

power, or an ultimate truth . Religion or religiousness may also involve a search for the spiritual,

as it is undertaken within a collective (i .e ., a church or some other type of religious community)

that provides guidance, validation, and support for the methods with which that search is

conducted . This definition of religiousness is similar to Allport's description of intrinsic

religiosity (Allport & Ross, 1967) .

The NIHR panel (George et al ., 2000) also identified a second type of religiousnes s

characterized by the same collectivity described above, but with different underlying goals . This

form of religiousness involves participation in a religious community in order to reach goals that

are not inherently spiritual in nature, such as opportunities for social interaction or financial gain .

This definition is consistent with Allport and Ross' (1967) description of extrinsic religiosity .

Theoretically, the distinction between these two types of religiosity is relevant for understanding

whether positive effects of religiousness are primarily due to the benefits of membership in a
 4

supportive community (a social support or social bonding perspective), or whether religiousness

may contribute to well-being for reasons that are more tied to personal faith-such as an sense of

purpose or meaning in life.

The meanings of religious participation and of religious beliefs change across the cours e

of development . Most theories of religious development have as their foundation the cognitive

developmental theory of Piaget (e .g ., Piaget, 1962 ; Piaget & Inhelder, 1958) . The focus of these

theories is on the structure of religious thought as it changes across time, rather than on the

content of religious beliefs . Notable among these theories are those of Elkind (e .g. 1964, 1970)

Goldman (1964), Fowler (e .g., Fowler, 1991 ; Osmer & Fowler, 1985), and Oser (e .g ., 1991) .

These theories have in common the proposal that religious thinking, in conjunction with other

areas of thinking, moves from concrete imagery and literal beliefs in childhood to more abstract

religious thinking in adolescence . Thus, it is only in adolescence that religious beliefs and values

are expected to begin to take on the same meanings that they have in adulthood . In the following

sections, we will briefly review the theories of religious development elaborated by Elkind,

Fowler, and Oser, as well as Kirkpatrick's attachment theoretical perspective on the development

of individual differences in religiosity (Kirkpatrick, 1997 ; Kirkpatrick & Shaver, 1990) .

Elkind's Studies of Religious Development.

In adolescence and adulthood, individuals understand that different religions an d

religious denominations have different foundational beliefs, including different beliefs about the

nature of God (or gods) and humankind, and the relationship between the two as expressed

through worship, prayer, and the activities of daily life . When older adolescents and adults self

report denominational affiliations, therefore, they are not simply identifying the church that they

attend, but are rather identifying a set of religious practices to which they adhere, and the
religious beliefs that underlie these practices (at least to the extent that the individual perceives

their religion to be important in their lives) .

Elkind (1964 ; 1970) found that such understanding of religious beliefs and practices is

not present in young children, but rather develops across childhood . Elkind proposed that there

are three stages of religious development in childhood and adolescence that parallel th e

preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages of cognitive development

described by Piaget.

(Stage I thinking is characteristic of preschool-age children . In this stage, preoperationa l

children are beginning to use signs and symbols to represent objects in their real lives . They are

able to use categorical thinking, but they have little ability to understand what distinguishes

categories from each other, or that an individual or object can be classified into more than one

category at the same time . Young children cannot, for example, understand that an individual

can be Catholic and American at the same time . Children who are raised in a religion may know

the name of their denomination, and that the name of the denomination represents something

about individuals who belong to that denomination, but they have very little understanding of

what distinguishes one denomination from another.

Stage 2, spanning the elementary school years, represents an increased level o f

understanding about religion and religious beliefs . In keeping with the concrete operational

thought that characterizes children of this age, however, thinking about religion is also based on

observable behavior, rather than on thoughts, feelings, and motivations . Children understand

that denominations differ in their religious activities, but they have much less understanding

about the differences in religious beliefs that underlie different activities . Similarly, when
children at this age are asked to describe prayer, they focus on the activity of prayer, rather than

on the inner feelings and beliefs that older individuals may explore and express in prayer .

Finally, Stage 3 religious thinking becomes possible with the advent of formal

operational thought . Typically beginning in preadolescence or early adolescence, Stage 3 is

characterized by the capacity for understanding abstract concepts and for personal reflection and

exploration of religious beliefs, values, and practices . Denominations are understood to differ

because of underlying differences in beliefs, and prayer is understood as a private and personal

experience of communion with God . Thus, it is with the advent of Stage 3 religious thinking that

young adolescents' responses to questions about religion are likely to be similar in their meaning

to those of adults.

Fowler's Faith Development Theory

Fowler (1991 ; Osmer & Fowler, 1985) developed a theory of faith development that, like

Elkind's theory, includes a series of stages that largely follow the cognitive developmental stage

theory of Piaget . This theory is also strongly influenced by Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory

of ego identity development (e .g. Erikson, 1950 ; 1980). As defined by Fowler (1991), faith is

" . . .the dynamic process of construal and commitment by which we focus our trust and loyalty,

our dependence and confidence, in a center or centers of value, and on images and realities of

power . In faith we fi nd coherence for our lives through allegiance to an emerging, conscious

master story or stories" (p. 33) . Fowler suggested that faith develops in the context of

interpersonal relationships, and that the capacity and need for faith are innate human

characteristics . Faith includes religious faith, but faith can also include trust and loyalty to other

"centers of value" including family, country, or career .

 Fowler's is a life span theory, four stages of which occur in childhood and adolescence .

Fowler referred to these as stages of faith consciousness. The first stage, primal faith, occurs

during infancy . Consistent with Erikson's description of the task of infancy as being the

development of a sense of basic trust (versus mistrust) in caregivers, Fowler suggested that

experiences of being provided with consistent and appropriate caregiving promote faith in

caregivers . Faith in caregivers thus forms the foundation for subsequent faith development,

including religious faith . Such a view is consistent with the attachment theoretical approach to

religious development presented by Kirkpatrick and his colleagues (Kirkpatrick, 1997 ;

Kirkpatrick & Shaver, 1990) .

Fowler's second stage is the stage of intuitive-projective faith, which emerges during the

preoperational stage as described by Piaget . During this period, children do not have a true

capacity for logical reasoning, but they are still concerned with making meaning out of their

experiences . Piaget (1962) described how preoperational children, in their fantasy play, often ac t

out events that they have experienced, sometimes painful or confusing events, and suggested that

this repetition is their way of dealing with and understanding these events . In this stage children

use their newly-developing imagination and ability to use symbols in order to understand what is

going on around them, including what parents and other important figures tell them about God,

and religion, and of the religious behaviors that are modeled by these adult figure .

The stage of intuitive-projective faith also coincides with Erikson's second and third

stages of psychosocial development autonomy versus shame and self-doubt, and initiative

versus guilt . During these stages, self-related emotions such as shame, guilt, pride and self-

confidence are being established . Positive development through these stages leaves individuals

with a healthy balance between positive self-feelings and the capacity to experience the moral
 8

emotions of shame and guilt when warranted, without being overwhelmed or incapacitated by

them . Consistent with Erikson's descriptions, Fowler suggested that the emotional bases for

faith are established during this early period of development .

The third stage of faith development is the stage of mythic-literal faith . This stage i s

made possible by the development of concrete operational thought during the elementary school

years . At this stage children can think logically about real events , but they have difficulty with

abstract concepts . School - age children are very literal, and this colors their understanding of

God and religion . Erikson describes this as the stage of industry versus inferiority, when

children are focused on learning the skills that are valued in their society . In the domain of

moral reasoning , Kohlberg (e .g., Colby & Kohlberg, 1987) similarly suggested that this is the

age period during which mor al reasoning reflects a desire on the part of the child to be seen as

"good" in the eyes of parents and other authority figures-what is moral is what will please these

figures . In the realm of faith consciousness , then, Fowler described children at this stage as

typically accepting without question the religious beliefs of their parents -particularly when

those beliefs are presented unambiguously -but with little depth of understanding.

The final pre - adult stage involves synthetic-conventional faith. This stage become s

possible in the preadolescent and early adolescent periods, with the onset of formal operational

thought. In agreement with Elkind's description of Stage 3 developments, Fowler's description

of the advances of the synthetic-conventional stage of faith development suggests that it is at this

point when self-reports of religious values may become predictive of other aspects of emotional

well-being . The greater cognitive abilities of this stage, including greater ability to understand

abstract concepts, may lead to a perception of logical inconsistencies in the religious messages

with which the adolescent has grown up as well as greater awareness of conflicting religious
beliefs and ideologies . Adolescents may consequently exhibit an increased desire to explore

alternative ideologies, and may also lead to the rejection of religion entirely .

Consistent with this description of adolescence as a time of increased questioning and

exploration, Erikson (1960 ; 1980) identified this adolescent stage as the stage of ego identity

versus identity diffusion, and stated that among the key accomplishments in establishing a

healthy sense of personal identity was to find persons, ideologies, and institutions in which to

have faith . Adolescents may develop deeper understanding and appreciation of the religions in

which they were raised, in part because of their active exploration of that faith as well as

alternative value systems, or they may adopt religious views and values that differ from those of

their parents and childhood religious communities .

Oser's Theory of the Development of Religious Judgmen t

Oser's theory focuses on stages in the development of religious judgment (Oser, 1991) .

Oser defines religious judgment as " . . .reasoning that relates reality as experienced to something

beyond reality and that serves to provide meaning and direction beyond learned content . . ."

(Oser, 1991, pp . 6-7) . Oser was particularly interested in developmental changes in the

explanations that children and adults have for experiences, both personal and observed, that

appear to be contrary to religious beliefs . Religious judgments thus involve the answers that

individuals find for themselves that reconcile religious faith with reality that appears to

contradict that faith.

Oser described five stages in the development of religious judgment, three of which are

typically stages of reasoning reached in childhood and adolescence, and a fourth of which

develops in a minority of individuals in adolescence . Oser developed this stage theory based on

interviews with individuals from ages 7 through 75 . In Stage 1, children's views of God are
 10

highly concrete and literal . God is seen as immediately involved in the everyday events of the

world, as causing all events and as creating all things . God must be obeyed because

disobedience brings immediate punishments, such as accidents or illness . At the same time,

individuals are seen as having minimal influence on God . This form of religious judgment

parallels the earliest stage of preconventional moral reasoning as described by Colby and

Kohlberg (1987), in which laws and rules must be obeyed primarily to avoid punishment .

In Stage 2, older children and adolescents view God in a less punitive light . God can be

influenced by an individual's good behavior, by prayers, and by adherence to religious rituals

and practices . God's love is seen as evident in a healthy and happy life, God's wrath in his

failure to intervene in times of strife . At the same time, God is also seen as less likely to

intervene concretely and directly in human affairs .

Beginning in adolescence, Stage 3 religious judgment becomes increasingly common .

God is seen as more distant and apart from the world, and individuals are seen as more

responsible for their own well-being . Development from Stage 2 to Stage 3 judgment is

promoted by personal experiences and observations of people prospering or suffering unjustly,

and of prayers not answered . In the face of increasing recognition of injustice and human

suffering, this is also a stage of increased questioning of the existence of God and increasing

atheism among adolescents . In Stage 4, which begins to appear among a small percentage of

older adolescents, individuals who maintain religious faith may turn again to God as the ultimate

creator who is the source of freedom and life, and whose existence makes life meaningful .

Finally, it should be noted that Oser's theory does not suggest that all religious judgments

exhibited by an individual will necessarily be at the same stage, nor that all individuals of the

same age will exhibit the same levels of religious judgment . Rather Oser suggested, and his
 II

research has found, that the percentages of religious judgments representative of each of his

stages demonstrate age-related increases and subsequent decreases, as described above .

Kirkpatrick's Attachment-Theoretical Perspective on Individual Differences in Religiosit y

Each of the theories described thus far focus on age-related trends in the development o f

religious thinking. While acknowledging individual differences in understanding and reasoning,

the focus is on general trends, rather than on the causes of individual differences . In contrast, the

attachment-theoretical perspective of Kirkpatrick (Kirkpatrick, 1997 ; Kirkpatrick & Shaver ,

1990) is primarily focused on individual differences in religious beliefs . Kirkpatrick proposes

that individuals' religious beliefs and practices are influenced by those of their parents, but the

nature of this influence is strongly affected by the quality of the parent-child attachment

relationship . According to Kirkpatrick (1997), children whose attachment relationships with

parents are secure are likely to adopt the religious beliefs of their parents, while those whose

attachment relationships are insecure are likely to be less influenced by parents. Further, based

on attachment theory (e .g . Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978 ; Bowlby, 1969 ; Bretherton,

1987), Kirkpatrick suggests that an individual's relationship with God can be considered as an

attachment relationship . According to Kirkpatrick (1997) ,

. . .the availability and responsiveness of an attachment figure, who serves

alternately as a haven and as a secure base and from whom separation would
cause considerable distress, is considered a fundamental dynamic underlying
Christianity and many other theistic religions . Whether that attachment figure is
God, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, or one of various saints, guardian angels, or
other supernatural beings, the analogy is striking . The religious person proceeds
with faith that God (or another figure) will be available for protection and will
comfort him or her when danger threatens ; at other times, the mere knowledge of
God's presence and accessibility allows a person to approach the problems and
difficulties of daily life with confidence . . . (p . 117)

As with any attachment relationship established beyond infancy, the quality of the

primary attachment relationship(s) established with caregivers in infancy and early childhood is
 12

expected to strongly affect qualitative characteristics of the relationship with God . Secure

relationships with religious parents may promote high levels of religiosity, and belief in a loving

and supportive God . Insecure relationships, particularly with religious parents, may promote

agnosticism and atheism, or belief in a God who is punitive and demanding . In other cases when

primary attachment relationships have been insecure, a relationship with God may serve a

compensatory role . In adolescence or adulthood, an individual may turn to a personal

relationship with God in an effort to obtain security that was unavailable to them from their early

attachment relationships . In support of this view, Kirkpatrick and Shaver (1990) found that

sudden religious conversions were four times more frequent among adults who retrospectively

reported having insecure, avoidant attachment relationships with their mothers than among adults

self-reporting secure attachments with their mothers . Further, these researchers found that

respondents who reported avoidant attachment relationships with relatively nonreligious mothers

were the most religious, particularly the most conservatively religious, of all of the respondent s

in the study . Interestingly, when maternal religiousness was high, respondent religiousness was

not related to attachment security .

Conceptual Links Between Child and Adolescent Religiosity and Other Aspects of

Well-Being

As with the literature on adult religiosity and well-being, there is considerable disconnect

between theories of religious development and research on child and adolescent religiosity and

other aspects of well-being . As will be discussed in a later section, research tends to focus on

measures of current religious beliefs and practices, such as denominational affiliation, religious

orthodoxy, conservatism or fundamentalism, the importance of religious beliefs, and

participation in religious activities . Developmental changes have seldom been addressed, and no
 13

studies have been conducted linking differences in faith consciousness, religious judgments, o r

other developmental constructs to individual differences in other aspects of well-being .

Why should religiosity be associated with well-being in childhood and adolescence ?

There are several mechanisms through which religiosity, as tapped by these types of measures ,

may influence child and adolescent well-being (George, et al ., 2000), some of which have been

examined in more detail than others . Among the possible mechanisms are the creation of socia l

capital and provision of social support , the promotion of healthy behavior, the promotion of

prosocial behavior and the inhibition of antisocial behavior, and the provision of a sense o f

purpose and meaning in life. Also, self- selection into religious communities must be considered

as a competing explanation for associations .

Social Capital and Social Suppor t

As discussed by King & Furrow (2001), children and adolescents who are part of a

religious community are likely to have an expanded network of caring and nurturing adults as

well as age-mates who know them well and who can serve as resources for emotional, physical,

and financial support . Further, as children move through adolescence and increasingly develop

an understanding of prayer as a personal communication with God (Scarlett & Perriello, 1991),

God becomes a confidant and a source of emotional support as well (Waite, 2001) .

Health Promotion

Most religions include proscriptions against drug and alcohol abuse (e.g ., McBride,

Mutch, & Chitwood, 1996), and many include dietary restrictions as well that may promot e

health. Many religions specifically teach that a healthy body and a healthy spiritual life go han d

in hand . Physical health thus takes on additional spiritual meaning as a sacred duty to God a s

well as to self. Perhaps no religion states this more explicitly than the Seventh-day Adventist
 14

Church . In open-ended interviews with a sample of 1,865 students attending Adventist colleges,

McBride and colleagues found that the most frequently cited reason for abstaining from alcohol

and drugs involved concerns for health . Eighty-seven percent of their respondents cited health

reasons, while 73% mentioned a commitment to follow Christ . Interestingly, the difference was

more pronounced among white students (86 .5% vs . 70%) than among African-American (92%

vs . 82%) and Hispanic students (87% vs . 85%) .

Promotion of Prosocial Behavio r

One important characteristic of church-affiliated youth groups is that they promot e

involvement in community service activities . Indeed, Hodgkinson and Weitzman (1997)

reported that the two most frequent means by which teenagers got involved in service activities

were school and church groups . Nolin, Chaney, Chapman, and Chandler (1997) found that

students attending religious schools were substantially more likely to report engaging in service

activities than were students attending public schools (66% versus 42%, respectively) . Using

data from Monitoring the Future surveys conducted in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Youniss and

colleagues (1999) found that the personal importance of religion was consistently and positively

associated with engaging in service activities . In every decade, approximately 74% of students

who reported that their religion was important to them engaged in service at least occasionally,

while only 25% of students reporting that religion was not important to them did so .

Beyond opportunities for service provided by churches, religiosity may promot e

prosocial behavior, and reduce the probability of antisocial behavior, in another way as well .

Acceptance of the moral tenets of a religious faith may be a primary contributor to the

development of healthy guilt responses to wrongdoing or failures to act in moral and prosocial

ways . Although little research has been conducted on the connection between guilt and religion
 15

in childhood and adolescence, studies with college students and other adult samples indicate that

intrinsic religiosity (i.e., commitment to religion and participation in religious activities because

of personal faith) is associated with feelings of guilt in reaction to wrongdoing (Fischer &

Richards , 1998) .

Provision of Purpose and Meaning

In Erikson' s psychosocial theory of development (Erikson , 1968; 1980), the major task of

adolescence is the exploration of occupational and ideological identities that will form the

foundation for continuing positive psychosocial development and functioning in adulthood .

Religious dogma and tradition can prove particularly attractive to adolescents because they are

searching for institutions and individuals that provide answers to questions regarding the ultimate

meaning of life, and a sense of continuity and belonging to something that is greater than self .

Although this search can create vulnerability to the influence of charismatic leaders and cults, the

senses of history, tradition, and ties to higher beings and universal principles that religions

provide can also provide positive connections to society .

Conceptual Links Between Parental and Familial Religiosity or Spirituality and

Child and Adolescent Well-Being

Particularly in the years prior to adolescence, parental religiosity and spirituality may

have a more powerful impact on child well-being than does the child's own self-reported

religiosity . Some of the mechanisms of influence are the same as those described above,

including increased social capital and social support, and promotion of healthy behavior . In

addition, parents' religiosity may affect children's well-being through both direct and indirect

influences on parenting behavior . Parental religiosity may influence their family, work and

community behaviors in ways that affect children, for example, by affecting their propensity to
 16

divorce . Finally, parents' religiosity may influence the behaviors and beliefs that they model for

their children .

Social Suppor t

Parents who are connected with a religious community may experience higher levels o f

social support themselves and may afford their children greater opportunities for such support

than do parents who do not participate . A consistent empirical finding is that adults who are part

of a religious community are less socially isolated than are other adults (e .g. Garfinkel, 2001,

King, 2001 ; Sherkat & Ellison, 1999) . King (2001) found that religious grandparents were more

involved with their grandchildren than were less religious grandparents . This increased

involvement was explained in large part by greater involvement in all types of family and social

ties within the community, although there were also some direct effects of personal aspects of

religiousness as well, including private devotion and religious orientation .

Health Promotio n

Parents who adhere to religious proscriptions against unhealthy behaviors may be more

likely than less religious parents to provide their children with a healthy environment, and may

serve as stronger models of health promoting behavior . As described earlier, most religions have

proscriptions against the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances . Research with adults

has found that attendance at religious activities and affiliation with conservative denominations

are associated with low levels of the use of these substances (Sherkat & Ellison, 1999) . In turn,

Oetting (1999) suggested that the strongest influence of religion on child and adolescent

substance use and abuse may be through the effect that religion has on the social norms

conveyed to children by their primary socializers-principally, their parents .

 17

Direct Effects of Religiosity on Parenting

Wilcox (2001) described a number of ways in which participation in religious institution s

may directly affect parenting. First, religions imbue childrearing with divine and mora l

significance, consistent with their views on the nature of the child, which can become a resourc e

for coping with the emotions aroused by childrearing stresses. Religions also frequently provide

concrete guidance on childrearing that may provide practical coping strategies for parents .

Second, religions and religious institutions offer opportunities for parents and children t o

participate in activities together-including activities that are central to the foundations of th e

religion (e .g., worship services, bar mitzvahs, first communions) and activities that are mor e

social in focus . Third, participation in the activities of religious communities afford s

opportunities for involvement with other families with children of similar ages who can offe r

advice and encouragement , thus providing a support network for parents .

Religious coping. The potential influence of religion on coping with childrearing

difficulties has been a particular focus of theory and research on families of children with

disabilities (e.g . Rogers -Dolan & Blacher, 1995) . This largely desc riptive and qualitative body

of research suggests that parents often use religious coping strategies to deal with the stresse s

involved in having a child with disabilities or chronic medical conditions . Religious forms of

coping include cognitive restructuring of a situation-such as when parents perceive thei r

disabled child as a gift from God or when parents believe that God never gives individuals more

than they can bear-and the use of religious rituals such as prayer, attendance at religiou s

services, and going on pilgrimages on behalf of their children or themselves .

Childrearing guidance and parenting styles . The childrearing advice an d

recommendations provided by religious organizations may provide a resource for parents facing
 18

uncertainties regarding proper ways in which to deal with children as they develop . That said,

however, it should also be noted that recommendations for childrearing made by religiously-

oriented "experts," do not always coincide with recommendations made by child development

experts based on the research literature .

One focus of considerable attention has been associations between parents' religiou s

beliefs and denominational affiliation and authoritarian parenting goals (e .g., children' s

unquestioning obedience to parental authority) and practices, particularly the endorsement of

spanking and other forms of physical discipline . Most of the literature on parenting styles an d

child outcomes suggests that authoritarian parenting has negative implications for children' s

social, personality, and cognitive development, when compared to more authoritative ,

democratic parenting practices (see Maccoby & Mart in, 1983 ) . Other work has indicated ,

however, that negative effects may be most likely to be found in white, middle class samples an d

that such effects may not generalize across age, race, sex, or socioeconomic groups (e .g . Gunnoe

& Mariner , 1997) .

Conservative and Fundamentalist Protestant denominations actively promote

authoritarian parenting styles, including strong emphasis on child obedience to parental authority

and endorsement of corporal punishment (Mahoney, Pargament, Tarakeshwar, and Swank, in

press ; Sherkat & Ellison, 1999) . In one recent study, Gershoff, Miller, & Holden (1999) found

that parents who belonged to Conservative Protestant denominations (e .g., Adventist, Baptist,

Pentecostal) were significantly more likely to spank or slap their three-year-old children than

were parents who were affiliated with Mainline Protestant denominations (e .g. Methodist,

Episcopal), Roman Catholics, or those reporting no religious affiliation . Indeed, 29% of the

Conservative Protest parents reported spanking their preschoolers three or more times per week,
 19

compared with 5% or fewer of the parents in the other groups . This difference appeared to be

associated with a greater belief among the Conservative Protestant parents that corporal

punishment was an effective discipline technique that had few negative consequences .

Other researchers have reported findings similar to those of Gershoff and colleague s

(1999) . Ellison and his colleagues (Ellison, Bartkowski, & Segal, 1996) found an association

between denominational affiliation and use of corporal punishment, although the effect of

denominational affiliation was largely mediated by parents' endorsement of conservative

theological beliefs . Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Giles-Sims,

Straus, and Sugarman (1995) found that Catholics were significantly less likely to spank their

children than were mothers self-identifying as Protestant or Other . Mothers with no religious

affiliation were not significantly different from any other group . Mahoney and colleagues (in

press) summarized this literature on associations between religiosity and corporal punishment,

reporting that the body of research evidence supporting a link between parents' Christian

conservatism and positive attitudes toward corporal punishment is quite strong, although the link

with actual use of corporal punishment is less robust and tends to be more pronounced in studies

involving families with younger children . In contrast, Mahoney and colleagues found that

measures of religious importance, rather than Christian conservatism, were inconsistently

associated with authoritarian parenting and corporal punishment .

Fewer studies have examined associations between religiosity and parenting behavior s

and characteristics beyond discipline practices . Some researchers have suggested that although

theologically conservative parents may endorse corporal punishment and strict discipline, they

are also characteristically physically and emotionally warm and supportive-parenta l

characteristics that have been found consistently to be associated with positive child outcomes
 20

(see, for example, Maccoby & Martin, 1983) . Wilcox (1998) found support for this hypothesis

in a study of parents of preschool and school-age children interviewed as part of the 1987-1988

National Survey of Families and Households (NSFS) . In that study, parents who endorsed

conservative Christian beliefs reported more frequent hugging and praising of their preschool

and school-age children than did less theologically conservative parents .

Wilcox (2001) also examined data from a predominantly urban sample of parents o f

children aged 10 to 18, assessing parental denominational affiliation and aspects of family social

capital, including parental involvement with children, social control (i .e ., rule setting), and

closure (i .e., overlap in social networks, for example the extent to which parents know and talk to

the child's friends' parents) . Wilcox reported that parents affiliated with orthodox or

conservative denominations (e .g . Fundamentalist, Evangelical, or Black Protestants, Traditional

Catholics, Orthodox Jews) were substantially more likely to be in the top third of the sample on

involvement with their children, relative to parents who reported no religious affiliation . With

regard to social control, Fundamentalist and Evangelical Protestants were more likely to set a lot

of rules for their children, and Reform Jews were much less likely to do so, relative to non-

affiliated parents . For the closure measure, the most striking finding was an extremely high level

of closure among Orthodox Jews, relative to irreligious parents .

Mahoney and colleagues (in press) reported that few studies have been published linking

religiosity and parental warmth and positivity, but that the few existing studies were consistent in

reporting positive relations between these constructs . Gunnoe, Hetherington and Reiss (1999)

found that mothers' and fathers' self reported religiousness was positively associated with

authoritative parenting behavior during problem-solving task interactions with adolescents .

Authoritative parenting is characterized by parents' willingness to listen to their children's

 21

views, by high levels of warmth and affection and lack of coercive behaviors, by demands fo r

appropriately mature child behavior, and by a willingness to exert control over the child whe n

necessary in the context of clearly-communicated, well-defined rules and regulations for chil d

behavior . Brody and colleagues (Brody, Stoneman, Flor, and McCray, 1994 ; Brody, Stoneman,

& Flor, 1996) conducted studies of family interactions in married, rural African-America n

families . In their work, greater maternal religiousness was associated with lower levels o f

negative parenting behaviors, including nattering and inconsistent parenting . Further, both

maternal and paternal religiousness were associated with greater co-parenting skills, includin g

lower interparental conflict. More positive co-parenting may, in turn, positively affect chil d

development due to decreased tension in the home and greater consistency in making an d

enforcing rules.

Indirect Effects of Religiosity on Parenting

In addition to the direct effects of religiosity on parenting , parents' religiosity may have

indirect effects on parenting, by impacting marital relationships and parents' mental health i n

ways that promote or undermine positive parenting, and consequently child well-being .

Religion and marital relationships . In a meta-analysis, Mahoney and colleagues (i n

press) found support for several links between religion and divorce . First, individuals wh o

reported membership in a religious denomination were less likely to divorce than wer e

unaffiliated individuals, although this link tended to disappear in studies that controlled for othe r

demographic factors associated with divorce . Second, church attendance was linked to lowe r

divorce rates (see also Bumpass , 2001 ; Miller, Warner, Wickramaratne, & Weissman, 1997) .

This was a stronger link than that between denomination and divorce, persisting even afte r

controlling for relevant demographic factors . Further, this link was found in longitudinal studies
 22

as well as cross-sectional studies . Mahoney and colleagues put the strength of the effect of

religion on divorce in concrete terms, estimating that approximately 44% of frequent church-

goers have a history of divorce, compared with approximately 60% of infrequent church-goers .

Third, couples who had similar religious values and who had similar patterns of church

attendance were found to be less likely to divorce than were less homogeneous couples .

Mahoney and colleagues (in press) also conducted meta-analyses of studies addressing

links between religion and marital satisfaction . Overall, these researchers found that th e

hypothesis that religiosity was positively associated with marital satisfaction received strong

support . Bumpass (2001) similarly reported that married couples who hold conservative or

fundamentalist religious values and who attend church regularly were more likely to report bein g

satisfied with their marriages than were those holding less traditional values and who attended

church less frequently . Mahoney and colleagues further found that studies of the relations

between personal relevance of religion and marital satisfaction indicated stronger associations

than studies looking at denominational affiliation or attendance, but also that associations were

stronger in studies of church-goers than in general population studies (suggesting that religiosity

may be irrelevant to marital satisfaction for some adults) .

Some studies have also found links between religiosity and domestic conflict and

violence . With respect to verbal conflict, Mahoney and colleagues (in press) report that, across

studies, the overall effect size is zero-no significant association . With respect to physical

aggression, Mahoney and colleagues found no support for a positive link between religious

involvement and increased domestic violence, and further reported that two studies (Ellison

Bartkowski, & Anderson, 1999 ; Fergusson, Horwood, Kershaw, & Shannon, 1986) have

indicated that both men and women who reported higher levels of church attendance report less
 23

violence than did people who attended less frequently . The findings of Ellison and colleagues,

however, also indicated a qualification to this general finding . These researchers found that men

who endorsed conservative religious beliefs and who were married to more theologically liberal

women were much more likely to exhibit physical aggression toward their spouses than were

other men in their study .

Religion and mental health . Parents' religious beliefs and practices may affect their ow n

mental health and consequently their ability to deal with stresses associated with parenting .

Religion provides mechanisms for coping with adversity, and may serve as a source of self-

esteem and feelings of self efficacy . Spilka, Shaver, and Kirkpatrick (1985) noted that religions

provide believers with attributions with which to understand seemingly inexplicable events (see

also Oser, 1991) . Such religious attributions create meaning and may preserve or enhance self-

esteem by allowing the individual to perceive God's love and acceptance even under trying

circumstances .

There is considerable evidence in support of positive associations between a variety o f

measures of religiosity and emotional well-being in adulthood (e .g . Ellison, 1991 ; Ellison, 1993 ;

Miller et al., 1997 ; Ross, 1990 ; Sherkat & Ellison, 1999), although some studies have suggested

that these findings may be stronger among African Americans than among European Americans

(e.g., Blaine & Crocker, 1995) . For example, Miller and colleagues analyzed data from a 10-

year study of offspring at high and low risk for depression. These researchers found that mothers

who reported that religion was highly important to them were 81 % less likely to have a

concurrent clinical diagnosis of major depression than were less religious mothers . Interestingly,

a similar odds ratio was obtained indicating that Catholic mothers were less likely to experience

clinical depression than were Protestant mothers .

 24

Religiosity and Parental Modeling

Parents who differ in their religious beliefs and involvement may model different kinds

of behaviors, beliefs, and values for their children. Religion has been found to be positively

associated with volunteering in adults (Sherkat & Ellison, 1999) . Thus, religious parents may be

more likely to act as models of highly prosocial behavior than are less religiously active parents .

Finally, parent's own religiosity may influence children's developing religiosity an d

spirituality, which may in turn affect other aspects of well-being . Parents both model and

directly teach religious behavior and beliefs, thus passing these beliefs on to their children, and

they may actively manage their children's lives so as to expose them to a social network with

shared religious beliefs and values (Cornwall, 1989 ; Sherkat & Ellison, 1999) . A number of

studies have reported significant concordance between parents' and children's religious beliefs

and denominational affiliation (e .g. Benson et al ., 1989 ; Francis & Gibson, 1993 ; King, et al .,

1997 ; Miller, et al ., 1997 ; Okagaki & Bevis, 1999) . Okagaki and Bevis found that female

college students' religious beliefs were consistent with their parents' religious beliefs . This was

particularly the case when parents talked frequently about their beliefs and mothers' and fathers'

beliefs were in agreement (both of which increased accuracy of daughters' perceptions of

parental beliefs), and when daughters also reported having warm relationships with their parents .

King and colleagues (1997) examined parental influences on stability and change i n

adolescents' religiosity from seventh to tenth grade, using data from 365 families participating in

the Iowa Youth and Families Project, a longitudinal study of White adolescents and their

families living in rural Iowa . Although far from a representative sample, the level of detailed

information on family functioning obtained in this study over a relatively long period of time

makes it an invaluable data source . These researchers conducted a series of multivariate logistic
 25

regression analyses, controlling for sex, whether the family lived on a farm, and father's

education. Results of these analyses indicated that, compared to nonreligious adolescents,

adolescents who were highly religious in seventh and tenth grades, or who became more

religious over time, indicated strong identification with parents who were also highly religious

and whose religiousness tended to increase over the same time period . Compared to consistently

nonreligious adolescents, adolescents whose religiousness increased over time also tended to

show increased identification with their parents . In contrast, adolescents who became less

religious over time, compared to adolescents who were consistently religious, tended to have

parents who reported relatively low levels of religiousness themselves .

Consistent with the more recent work of Okagaki and Bevis (1999) and King an d

colleagues (1997), a summary of earlier literature on parental influences on adolescent religiosity

(Benson et at ., 1989) indicated that religious activity in the home, in conjunction with loving and

supportive relationships with parents who provided clear messages regarding religious beliefs

and practices, promoted high levels of religiousness on the part of adolescents (see also Sherkat

& Ellison, 1999) . This body of literature is thus supportive of some components of Kirkpatrick's

attachment theoretical approach to religious development (e .g. Kirkpatrick, 1997 ; Kirkpatrick &

Shaver, 1990) .

Measurement of Religiosity in Childhood and Adolescenc e

As noted earlier, most studies of religiosity in adolescence (and the very few studies of

religiosity in childhood) use snapshot measures of religious practice and beliefs . Further, no

measures of religiosity unique to children were found in our review . In the rare studies that do

include preadolescent children, measures tend to be adaptations of the same measures used with

older adolescents and adults . Gorsuch (1984) noted that, in the literature on religiosity and well-
 26

being, there is an almost exclusive reliance on questionnaire measures . Additionally, the items

used to tap religiosity are highly variable across studies . Although Gorsuch's report was

published nearly two decades ago, the situation remains essentially the same .

Among the most frequently assessed aspects of religiosity are attendance at religiou s

services, denominational affiliation, and the importance or salience of religion . Most frequently,

these measures are obtained using one or a few items . In their review of social science studies of

religion and family functioning, Mahoney and colleagues (in press) reported that 80% of studies

involving marital relations and 66% of studies involving parenting relied on single ite m

indicators of religiousness . Although Gorsuch (1984) suggested that the use of single-item

measures is justified due to high reliabilities of longer questionnaires, single-item measures have

been criticized on a number of grounds, particularly for a tendency to make religion appear to be

an "all or none" construct . Most frequently, these measures are dichotomous or are responded to

on 4- or 5-point ordinal scales .

Even when single item measures are not dichotomous, response patterns frequently resul t

in extreme limitations on the ability to distinguish between individuals of varying levels of

religiosity . For example, few American adults self-report having no religious affiliation and

most respondents in studies examining religion and family functioning self-report moderate

levels of religiousness (see Mahoney et al ., in p ress). Thus a 4- or 5-point scale effectively

becomes a 2- or 3-point scale, with researchers frequently reducing variability further by

dichotomizing responses to reflect a "high" versus "low" distinction . Similarly, most studies

examining denominational differences include only a few distinctions between religious

denominations due to low representations of non-mainstream religions . Most U . S. studies

 27

cannot include members of non-Christian religions at all, due in part to low representation but

also due to inapplicability of some measures to non-Christians .

In some cases, researchers do include questionnaire measures tapping multiple aspects of

religious practice and belief. A frequently-used theoretical and empirical distinction is between

intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness, as described by Allport and Ross (1967) and as assessed via

measures such as Allport and Ross's Religious Orientation Scale (ROS), Gorsuch and Venable's

(1983) "Age Universal" revision of the ROS (as well as further abbreviations and even a single-

item version suggested by Gorsuch and McPherson, 1989) . Intrinsic religious orientatio n

involves religious commitment, including the extent to which religion is important to an

individual and the extent to which orthodox religious doctrine is accepted unquestioningly .

Extrinsic religiousness involves a utilitarian religious orientation-being involved in religious

groups and activities for reasons that have little to do with religious faith . Although Allport and

Ross indicated a single extrinsic scale, factor analytic studies have generally indicated that there

are at least two factors (Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989 ; Kirkpatrick, 1989 ; Kirkpatrick & Hood,

1990) . One of these factors, extrinsic-social religious orientation, includes items involving the

use of religion as a means toward social gain (e .g ., establishing business contacts, achieving

social status) . The second factor, extrinsic-personal, involves the use of religion to gain comfort

and security (e .g ., friendships, sense of belonging) . This set of three scales has been used in a

number of studies with adolescents as well as adults .

Another questionnaire measure was developed by Kauffman (1979) and modified by

Strayhorn, Weidman, and Larson (1990) . Strayhorn and colleagues included twelve items

tapping self-perceptions of religiousness and having a personal relationship with God, frequency

of private religious activities (e .g ., prayer, Bible study), and involvement with church (e .g.,
 28

frequency of attendance, donations, leadership responsibilities) . These researchers reported a

factor analysis indicating that the twelve items loaded onto two factors that could roughly be

described as a "private religion" factor and a "public religion" factor . The private religion factor

included seven items tapping perceptions of a personal relationship with God, of experiencing

approval and disapproval from God, experiencing a religious goal or purpose in life, and of

relying on God for strength and help. The public religion factor included five items tapping

general religiousness, Bible study, and church attendance, donations, and leadership .

Something of a compromise between single-item and full-scale questionnair e

assessments of religiosity was achieved for the first wave of data collection of the National

Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), a longitudinal study of a nationally-

representative sample of over 9,000 adolescents ages 12 to 16 when initially surveyed . Six items

dichotomous items tapping parents' religiosity were included in the parent survey . One of the

six NLSY97 items tapped the frequency with which parents attended church over the previous 12

months (less than once a month vs . once a month or more) . Other items involved statement s

about religion . Parents were asked to indicate whether each statement was true or not true for

them . One item directly tapped religious fundamentalism-the extent to which the parent

thought that the Bible, Koran, Torah, or religious teachings should be obeyed exactly as written .

Another item tapped a belief that religion was necessary for good character or moral values . The

remaining three items appear to tap a personal relationship with, and reliance on God-seeking

God's help in making decisions, frequent prayer, and a belief in God's direct influence on the

parent's own life experiences . According to an unpublished report by researchers at Child

Trends (2001), the six parent religiosity items can be combined to create a single religiosity

measure with acceptable psychometric properties (i .e ., with moderate internal consistency and
 29

evidence of both construct and predictive validity) . To date, however, no reports have been

published using this scale or any of the individual religiosity items from the NLSY97 .

Although scales can tap more refined aspects of religion than can single-item measures

they have continued to be criticized for failing to adequately distinguish different aspects of

religion and spirituality that may have differential effects on physical and mental health (George

et al., 2000) . Even more problematic is the fact that although multiple scales can be constructed,

it is frequently the case that only a single scale composite is actually used in research . Strayhorn

and colleagues (1990), for example, used a single 12-item composite of religiousness to

investigate associations between parental religiousness and parent and child mental health

variables (described below), despite their factor analytic results indicating two distinct

religiousness factors .

In summary, there is much room for improvement in the measurement of religiosity . The

research literature would benefit from greater standardization of terminology and measures, and

greater attention needs to be paid to the inclusion of minority religions, particularly non-

Christian religions, in investigations of the effects of religiosity on well-being . Despite these

limitations, however, researchers have found meaningful differences in aspects of well-being

between individuals responding differently to measures of religiosity .

Review of Empirical Evidence Regarding Religiosity and Well-Being i n

Childhood and Adolescence

The vast majority of studies on religion and well-being have been cross-sectional studies

with adolescents . In reviewing the literature for this report, no studies were found examining

prospective associations between child or adolescent religiosity and subsequent indicators of

well-being . The areas of well-being examined in cross-sectional studies include general

 30

delinquency, drug and alcohol use and abuse, adolescent sexual activity, prosocial and mora l

values and behavior, and personality and mental health .

Delinquency and Risk-Taking Behavior

One of the largest areas of research examining associations between religiosity an d

adolescent well-being involves associations between religion and delinquency . An early study

(Hirschi & Stark, 1969) reported finding no significant effect of religion on delinquency . Since

that time, however, researchers have disputed these findings and have generally found that hig h

levels of religiosity are associated with low levels of delinquency, although associations are

typically low to moderate in strength .

Elifson, Petersen, and Hadaway (1983) examined associations between delinquency an d

religiosity in a random sample of 600 white adolescents attending high school in one larg e

suburban district. Elifson and colleagues found that multiple indicators of adolescent religiosity ,

particularly religious salience (i .e., importance of religion in daily life), belief that God answer s

prayers , and religious orthodoxy, were negatively associated with delinquency measures,

including a general delinquency composite and measures of alcohol and marijuana use .

However, they further found, using multiple regression procedures, that the association betwee n

religious salience (the strongest individual predictor among religiosity variables) and genera l

delinquency measure was nonsignificant when controlling for other factors such as the numbe r

of friends who smoke marijuana, closeness to mother, and high school grade point average .

Donohue and Benson (1995) reported results from a sample of 34,129 adolescents draw n

from a larger sample of 250,000 public school students surveyed between 1989 and 1994 as par t

of the RespecTeen program , sponsored by Lutheran Brotherhood and administered by Searc h

Institute . Low to moderate signi ficant correlations were found between scores on a six-item
 31

composite tapping perpetration of interpersonal violence and three religiosity measures ;

attendance at religious services, participation in religious activities, and importance of religion .

Some researchers have suggested that relatively weak associations may be due to the fact

that there are numerous social and moral forces apart from religious influences that proscribe

antisocial activities such as theft and crimes against persons . From this perspective, the

expectation is that antiascetic (i .e ., religiously proscribed) activities, such as drinking, drug use,

and sexual behavior, are likely to be more strongly negatively associated with religiosity than are

other acts, such as interpersonal violence, vandalism, and theft (Evans, et al ., 1996 ; McBride, et

al., 1996) .

Evans and colleagues conducted a study to test this hypothesis by administering a surve y

to a sample of students attending one public high school . These researchers used two

delinquency measures . The first was a general crime scale including 57 items. The second was

an antiascetic subscale of the general crime scale, composed of 13 items focusing on smoking,

drinking, gambling, sex, and profanity . Religiosity was assessed with a composite measure

tapping three different aspects of religiosity : 1) religious activity, involving attendance at

religious services and social activities ; 2) religious salience, concerning the extent to which th e

adolescent felt that religious beliefs impacted his or her daily behavior ; and 3) hellfire, involving

beliefs in and fear of Hell and God's punishment for wrongdoing . An additional measure of

adolescents' religious networks was a single item asking how many of the adolescent's five best

friends attended church regularly. Finally, measures of secular social bonds to parents, teachers,

friends, school, and society (in the form of conformity and conventional beliefs) were included in

multiple regression models, with the expectation that inclusion of these measures of social

attachments would diminish associations between religiosity and general delinquency, more so
 32

than associations between religiosity and antiascetic delinquency . When social attachment

measures were included within models predicting delinquency, results indicated that only peer

religiosity was significantly associated with delinquency, and associations were significant only

for antiascetic delinquency . In other words, religiosity was a relatively weak correlate of

delinquency, compared to social attachments, and only for those forms typically proscribed by

religious doctrine .

Drug use . In contrast to studies involving general delinquency, and consistent with th e

work of Evans and colleagues (1996) cited above, the research evidence is quite consistent in

finding negative associations between measures of religiosity and drug and alcohol use in

adolescence (e.g., Benson et al ., 1989 ; Booth & Martin, 1998 ; Brownfield & Sorenson, 1991 ;

Donahue & Benson, 1995 ; Sang & Johnson, 2001) . Donahue and Benson included both a revie w

of the literature on religion and adolescent well-being, and new analyses examining relations

between religiosity and a variety of indicators of prosocial and risk-taking behaviors, including

drug use . The new analyses utilized data from surveys conducted with more than 29,000

adolescents across the United States (for study details, see Benson, 1993) . These researchers

found low to moderate, significant correlations between religiosity questions regarding alcohol

consumption and binge drinking, marijuana use, and cigarette smoking . Of the three religiosity

measures used by Donahue and Benson, attendance at religious services was the most strongly

associated with substance use, indicating that adolescents who attended religious services more

frequently were less likely to drink, smoke, and use marijuana than were less religiously

involved adolescents . Donahue and Benson further assessed the unique impact of religiousness

(a composite of the frequency of attendance measure and measures of hours per week spent at

church programs or services and the importance of religion in the adolescent's life) on adolescent
 33

well-being . Controlling for educational ability, educational aspirations, gender, grade, and

whether the adolescent lived in a single parent family, religiousness continued to have modes t

but significant negative associations with recent alcohol use, binge drinking, marijuana use, an d

smoking .

Brownfield and Sorenson (1991) examined relations between religion and drug use in a

sample of white high school-age males , including a large percentage of adolescents who had

police or court records (two-thirds of their sample). These researchers proposed that re ligious

institutions reduce the potential for drug abuse primarily by acting as sources of social support ,

in conjunction with families . Measures of religion included religious affiliation (versus no

affiliation), church attendance, and religiosity (i .e., how religious the adolescent feels he is) .

All of the religiosity measures used by Brownfield and Sorenson (1991) were

significantly and negatively associated with drug use . Relations with church attendance wer e

particularly strong . Only 6 .4% of the adolescents who repo rted attending church at least once a

week reported the highest level of drug use (use of alcohol, marijuana, barbiturates o r

methedrine, psychedelics, and cocaine), while 22 .5% of those who never attended church

services reported this level of use . Almost twice as many of the adolescents who reported bein g

"not religious at all" used all five drug types than did adolescents who reported being "ver y

religious" or "somewhat religious" (19 .6% versus 14.1%) .

Brownfield and Sorenson also created a social support composite including the thre e

religion measures and a measure of communication with father . This social support composite

was found to be significantly associated with drug use, even when controlling for the effect o f

peer attachment (sharing thoughts and feelings with best friend), and the much stronger effect o f

peer delinquency (whether the respondent's best friend had ever been picked up by the police) on
 34

drug use . Although support for the specific social support hypothesis is less than compelling in

this report given the minimal difference between religion measures and the social suppor t

composite, evidence for effects of religiosity is strong .

In a recent study, Jang and Johnson (2001) examined the effects of religiosity an d

neighborhood disorder on illicit drug use in a sample of over 1,000 adolescents, drawn fro m

participants in the National Youth Survey (NYS). The NYS is a longitudinal investigation of a

nationally-representative sample of adolescents ages I I to 17 at the first wave of data collectio n

in 1977. Data used in this study were taken from waves three through five, when questions

regarding religiosity were included in the survey . These researchers examined several

hypotheses regarding the impact of individual religiosity on adolescents' self-reported use o f

marijuana and of "hard drugs ." They hypothesized that the effects of neighborhood disorder o n

drug use would be partially explained by the effects of neighborhood disorder on individua l

religiosity (i .e ., that religiosity would mediate the effects of neighborhood disorder on drug use) .

They further hypothesized that effects of religiosity on drug use would be stronger in more

disordered neighborhoods (i .e., that the level of neighborhood would moderate the effects o f

religiosity on drug use) . Additional hypotheses examined in this study were that the effect o f

religiosity in reducing the risk of illicit drug use would not be entirely accounted for by social

bonding ( i.e., att achment to and involvement with family, and with school) or modeling (i .e.,

association with drug-using peers and pro-drug attitudes), and that the effect of religiosity o n

drug use should strengthen across adolescence .

In a series of sophisticated analyses controlling for sex, race, class , living in an intact

family, and family size, Jang and Johnson (2001) found support for each of their hypotheses .

Religiosity, assessed as a composite of two items reflecting attendance at religious services and
 35

the personal importance of religion, was negatively associated with both marijuana and hard drug

use. Further, inclusion of religiosity in models predicting drug use substantially lowered the

association between neighborhood disorder and drug use, while the effects of religiosity on drug

use were found to be greater for adolescents living in more disorganized neighborhoods . A

slight age effect was found indicating a general trend for religiosity to have a greater impact on

drug use in later adolescence, although this effect was quite small . Finally, when social bonding

and modeling variables were included in analyses, the effect of religiosity on drug use decreased

in size, but remained significant . This is particularly impressive given that association with drug

using peers, and having pro-drug attitudes were particularly strong predictors of drug use .

Sexual behavior. In their reviews, Benson and colleagues (1989), Donahue and Benson

(1995), and Sherkat and Ellison (1999) report that the literature on relations between adolescent

sexual behavior and religiosity indicates that religiosity has a strong negative association with

the likelihood of being sexually active (see also reports on trends in adolescent sexual behavior

and reproductive health by Manlove, Terry-Humen, Papillo, Franzetta, Williams, & Ryan, 2001,

and Moore, Miller, Glei, & Morrison, 1995) . Researchers have found associations between high

levels of religiosity (including church attendance, valuing religion, and religious beliefs) and

more conservative sexual attitudes and lower levels of sexual experience (e .g. Afxentiou &

Hawley, 1997 ; Bearman & Bruckner, 2001 ; Cooksey, Rindfuss, and Guilkey, 1996 ; Donahue &

Benson, 1995 ; Durant, Pendergrast, & Seymore, 1990 ; Thornton & Camburn, 1989) . Findings

regarding contraception and disease-prevention have been less consistent (see Moore et al .,

1995). Finally, Benson and colleagues reported that some studies suggest that the constraining

effect of religiosity on sexual behavior may not be evident among African-American

 36

adolescents . Further, this research has been conducted predominantly with female adolescents ,

and less is known about associations between religiosity and adolescent male sexual behavior .

In one study to include both males and females, Donahue and Benson reported low t o

moderate negative associations between measures of adolescent religiousness, particularl y

attendance at religious services, and having ever had sexual intercourse . Donahue and Benson

further found a significant association between their composite religiousness measure and

adolescents' reports of having ever had sexual intercourse, controlling for a series of relevant

demographic characteristics (see above, p . 31) . Curiously, despite the large sample size thes e

researchers did not include controls for race or ethnicity, and no analyses were conducte d

examining whether the constraining effects of religiousness applied similarly across genders or

across racial or ethnic groups .

Cooksey and colleagues (1996) used data from two cycles of the National Survey o f

Family Growth (NSFG), conducted in the early and late 1980s , to assess the association between

denominational affiliation on female adolescents' initiation of sexual behavior and contraceptiv e

use. Each cycle included retrospective questions spanning the previous 48 months, asking

respondents to indicate timing of first intercourse and contraceptive method use at firs t

intercourse . Data from females between the ages of 10 and 19 at the start of each cycle (4 8

months prior to the survey) were included in analyses . Cooksey and colleagues found that both

Catholic and Protestant Fundamentalists were more likely to be virgins at the start of the time

period under study than were teens categorized as "Others" (other religious denominations or n o

religious denomination) . The likelihood of retaining virginity across the 4-year time span was

higher for Protestant Fundamentalists than for Others as well . There was also a smaller but stil l

significant positive effect for white adolescents of being Catholic on likelihood of remaining a
 37

virgin, but not for blacks . Interestingly, Cooksey and colleagues found that the increase d

likelihood of remaining a virgin associated with being Protestant Fundamentalist was greater for

white adolescents interviewed during the later cycle (in 1988) than for those interviewed durin g

the earlier cycle. No similar trend was found for black adolescents . These researchers

suggesting that the increased emphasis on promoting abstinence that developed within

Fundamentalist Protestant churches during the 1980s did have its intended effect.

Cooksey and colleagues (1996) further found that use of contraceptives . at first

intercourse was lower among Catholic and Fundamentalist Protest adolescents than amon g

Others . The negative association between religion and likelihood of contraceptive use was

particularly strong for white Catholics and for black Protestant Fundamentalists . These finding s

were consistent with earlier reports of a negative association between religiosity and

contraceptive use at first intercourse (e .g. Kahn, Rindfuss, & Guilkey, 1990) . The results o f

these studies thus present a somewhat mixed picture-adolescent girls are likely to delay onset

of sexual behavior longer if they are affiliated with a religion that strongly discourage s

premarital sex . On the other hand, if sex does occur, risk of pregnancy and exposure to sexually

transmitted diseases may be higher due to lack of preventative efforts .

In a recent study, Bearman and Bruckner (2001) used data from the Adolescent Healt h

Interview Study (Add Health) to examine associations between religiosity , Add health is a larg e

nationally representative survey of male and female adolescents in grades 7 through 12 . Usin g

data from approximately 5,600 nonblack (white, Asian, and Hispanic) adolescents, these

researchers found that religiosity (a composite including measures of frequency of praying ,

church attendance, and personal importance of religion) and having taken a virginity pledge both

uniquely contributed to reducing the risk of initiation of sexual intercourse, even after controlling
 38

for numerous demographic characteristics, including sex, ethnicity, family structure, and SES, a s

well as measures of connectedness to parents, peers, and romantic partners . In contrast, separate

analyses conducted with nearly 1,000 black adolescents did not indicate significant association s

between either religiosity or virginity pledges and transition to first intercourse . No significant

differences in religiosity and pledge effects for males and females were found for either blacks or

nonblacks .

Two recent studies with Latina adolescents run counter to these findings of influences o f

religiosity on early sexual behavior . Villarruel (1998) examined the relationships of a variety of

cultural influences, including religion, with sexual attitudes, beliefs, and norms in a small sampl e

of 10 to 15 year-old Latina adolescents living in urban Latino communities . Using focus group s

and qualitative analyses, Villarruel found that religion was not self-reported to be an importan t

influence on their decisions about sexual behavior . Rather, the importance of virginity was tied .

more strongly to issues of self-respect . These findings are likely to be influenced by the rathe r

homogeneous nature of the sample of Puerto Rican and Mexican-American girls . Further the

comparability of this study to others is limited by the different methodology employed .

Using more traditional quantitative methods, Durant and colleagues (1990) found tha t

more religious Hispanic female adolescents had lower levels of sexual experience and mor e

conservative sexual attitudes than did less religious adolescents . Baumeister, Flores, and Marin

(1995), however, found that the importance of religion and religious denomination (i .e., being

Catholic) were not significant unique predictors of not being pregnant in their sample of Latina

adolescents , controlling for the influences of other predictors, notably information provided by

mothers about sexuality, being from an intact family, and having a positive attitude towar d

school. Thus, similar to findings summarized by Benson and colleagues (1989) for black
 39

adolescents, results of studies associating measures of religiosity and sexual attitudes an d

behavior among Latina and Hispanic adolescent females appear to be more mixed than ar e

results of studies with white adolescents .

Although the bulk of the literature has focused on female adolescents, a few studies hav e

been conducted examining effects of religiosity on male adolescents' sexual behavior an d

attitudes. In one such study, Halpern, Udry, Campbell, Suchindran, and Mason (1994) found

effects consistent with those reported in other studies for girls . Specifically, high levels of

religious attendance was associated with a delay in the onset of -sexual activity and mor e

conservative sexual attitudes and behavior in a longitudinal sample of 13- to 16-year-olds . These

researchers also found an interesting additive effect of religious attendance and free testosterone

levels (as measured through blood plasma assays) : Boys with high levels of testosterone wh o

attended church infrequently demonstrated the most permissive sexual attitudes and behaviors ,

while boys with low levels of testosterone and more frequent church attendance were the mos t

sexually conservative .

Prosocial and Moral Values and Behavior

There is some research examining associations between religiousness and prosocial

attitudes and behavior, and research findings are consistent in supporting a positive associatio n

between these constructs (Benson et at, 1989 ; Donahue & Benson, 1995) . In one rare study with

preadolescent children, Kedem and Cohen (1987) examined the impact of religious education o n

moral judgment in a sample of Israeli Jewish second and sixth grade students attending tw o

public schools---one religious, one secular . Religious topics are taught in both types o f

programs, but the number of hours are much greater in religious schools, and educationa l

methods differ as well . Kedem and Cohen state that "The aim of the Jewish studies in the
 40

religious school is internalization of the commandments (the ritual and ethical rules), while th e

aim. . . in the secular school is knowledge of the ethnic roots and identification with the past of th e

nation " (p. 9). Thus, attendance at a secular versus a religious school is essentially a parent-

selected variation in participation in religious activities . These researchers presented childre n

with a series of vignettes in which children face moral choices involving, for example, stealing ,

cheating, and aggression. Children were then asked to choose a behavioral response to the

dilemma, and to explain why that behavior was selected . Based on their responses, childre n

were given a "moral behavior" score and a "moral judgment" score . These researches found that

sixth grade children in the religious school had significantly higher (more mature) moral

judgment and moral behavior scores than the sixth graders attending secular school . No

difference was found for the younger children .

Donahue and Benson (1995) included two sets of questions in their survey involving

prosocial behavior . One set, combined to form an altruistic values scale, included question s

about the importance of helping others, reducing hunger and poverty, and making the world a

better place . Three other items tapped altruistic behavior, including participation in charitabl e

activities, donating money or time to charity, and spending time helping others. Donahue and

Benson found low to moderate significant correlations between religiousness measures an d

altruistic values, and somewhat stronger associations between religiousness measures an d

altruistic behavior . These associations remained relatively strong even after controlling fo r

demographic characteristics . The higher correlations between religiousness and altruisti c

behavior than between religiousness and altruistic values may be due in part to the frequent

inclusion of service activities within religious education and youth fellowship programs .
 41

King and Furrow (2001) used a questionnaire format to examine associations between

religious attendance, social capital, and moral outcomes in a large, ethnically-diverse sample o f

high school students . Social capital variables included social interaction, trust, and share d

vision, each assessed within three relationship domains : parents, friends, and an important non-

familial adult. Moral outcomes included self-reported altruism, empathy, and voluntary servic e

activities . Regular church attendees were found to be higher than non-attendees on all socia l

capital measures except having a trusting relationship with parents . Students who reporte d

sometimes attending religious services had social capital levels that were between those o f

regular attendees and non-attendees and were significantly lower than regular attendees on six

measures involving social interaction and shared vision with parents, friends, and a non-familial

adult. King and Furrow also reported that religious attendance was significantly associated wit h

altruism and empathy, but not with volunteer activities, controlling for demographic differences

(e .g., age, gender, ethnicity, parental education) and self-reported participation in extracurricular

school activities. However, social capital resources were found to explain more variance i n

altruism and empathy than did religiousness. This suggests that religious participation may

promote moral outcomes indirectly, by promoting higher levels of social capital.

Personality and Mental Health

Other researchers have focused on associations between religiosity and measures o f

personality and mental health, including self-esteem, depression and suicide. Associations with

self-esteem in adolescence are generally low and frequently nonsignificant (e .g., Bahr & Martin ,

1983; Benson et at., 1989; Donahue & Benson , 1995) . Although Donahue and Benson did find

significant simple and unique associations between religiousness and self-esteem, these effects

were quite small and were significant primarily due to the very large sample size used in their
 42

analyses . Bahr and Martin used questionnaire data from approximately 450 high school student s

to examine associations between measures of church attendance and evangelicalism and self-

esteem and faith in people (i .e., belief that people are basically helpful and trustworthy, versus

self-centered and untrustworthy) . Their results indicated that church attendance had a low but

significant association with faith in people, but not with self-esteem . Evangelicalism was not

significantly associated with either outcome variable, although a low but significant negative

association was found with faith in people once high school grades, parental socioeconomi c

status, and church attendance were controlled .

Markstrom (1999) investigated associations between measures of religious involvement ,

including frequency of attendance at religious services (once a month or more versus attendanc e

on important religious holidays or less often), participation in a Bible study group (yes versu s

no), and participation in a church youth group (yes versus no), and positive psychosocial

development in a sample rural, low-income African-American (n=62) and European-American

(n=63) 11th grade students . The psychosocial outcome measures examined by Markstro m

included ethnic identity, general and school-related self-esteem, and ego strength and eg o

identity status formation, as described by Erikson (e .g., 1968, 1980) . Eight ego strength s

identified by Erikson were assessed using modified Likert-type scales : hope, will, purpose ,

competence , fidelity, love, care, and wisdom . Additionally, a total ego strength score combining

all eight scales was included. The ego identity status measure was a continuous measure o f

identity achievement within the ideological domains of religion, politics, occupation, an d

philosophical life-styles . Identity achievement is characterized by personal exploration within a

domain, and subsequent commitment to a set of beliefs, values , or goals. Results indicated that

there were significant main effects of all three measures of religious involvement on school-
 43

related self-esteem, with more religiously involved adolescents demonstrating higher self-estee m

than less involved youth . In addition, there was a significant main effect of church attendance o n

the ego strength of will ( i.e., awareness of free will and the ability to exert self-control) .

Markstrom (1999) also reported a number of interactions between religious involvemen t

and ethnicity, and between involvement and gender. However, these results were not consistent

and the numbers of students in some cells were so small as to make these results somewha t

suspect . In particular, the vast majority (89%) of African-American adolescents were in the

"more frequent attendance" group, leaving only 7 (11%) in the "less frequent attendance" group .

In contrast, European-American adolescents were almost equally represented in the two religiou s

attendance groups (51 % more frequent and 49% less frequent attendees). With respect to the

most robust finding of associations between school-related self-esteem and religiou s

involvement, Markstrom suggested that the relationship may not be causal, but rather tha t

individual differences in characteristics such as conformity and achievement motivation ma y

underlie both success in academic settings and participation in religious activities .

Wright, Frost, and Wisecarver (1993) conducted a questionnaire study investigating link s

between church attendance, meaningfulness of religion, and depressive symptoms in a sample o f

white, Hispanic, and African-American high school students . Students were asked about thei r

frequency of church attendance as well as religious salience -the meaningfulness of religiou s

beliefs for their everyday lives. Analyses were conducted separately for males and female s

because females were found to both attend church more often and to have higher depressio n

scores than males. Despite these mean level differences, results for males and females were

consistent : Adolescents who attended church more frequently, and those who viewed their
 44

religion as providing meaning to their lives, had lower depression scores than did less religiou s

adolescents .

There is little research that addresses associations between suicide and religiosity in

adolescence . In their study described earlier , Donohue and Benson (1995) reported that

associations between religiosity measures and questions pertaining to suicide attempts and

ideation ranged from - .05 to -.11 . Associations between religiousness and suicidal ideation an d

suicide attempts persisted after controlling for demographic characteristics . Although

statistically significant due to the very large sample size, however, these correlations suggest that

the positive impact of religiosity in preventing suicidal thoughts and attempts is quite modest .

Brega and Coleman (1999) investigated associations between two measures of religiosit y

and subjective stigmatization in a sample of 50 African American high school sophomores and

juniors. Subjective stigmatization involves the extent to which an individual adopts negative

stereotypes and attitudes about his or her own stigmatized group . In this case, subjective

stigmatization refers to the adolescents' acceptance of negative racial stereotypes as being true .

Subjective stigmatization has been found to be associated with low self-worth . The measures of

religiosity used in this study were somewhat different from typical measures . Church attachment

was rated on a negative-to-positive scale, based on open-ended interview responses to th e

question "What do you think about the black church?" Church attendance was coded fro m

responses to the question "Would you go to church if it were left completely up to you?" and wa s

scored on a six-point scale ranging from 1) already not attending church, to 6) already atten d

church by own choice. Thus, this measure of attendance also has a strong element of impo rtanc e

in it as well . Brega and Coleman found that their measure of church attendance was th e

strongest predictor of subjective stigmatization included within their model . Church attendees
 45

were significantly less stigmatized than were non-attendees, even when controlling for severa l

measures of racial socialization . Church attachment , in contrast , was not uniquely associated

with subjective stigmatization.

Other Aspects of Adolescent Well-Being

A few studies have examined associations between adolescent religiosity and educationa l

aspirations . Dai (1996 ) examined data from 13,530 high school seniors who participated in the

1989 Monitoring the Future survey. Using analyses of variance to compare students who self-

reported different levels of attendance at religious services (very involved, involved, rarel y

involved, or not involved), Dai found that more religiously involved students were less likely t o

aspire to vocational school attendance and more likely to aspire to attend four-year colleges and

graduate school than were less involved students . The conceptual rationale for expecting this

association was not clearly laid out in this study, but it is likely that religious involvement an d

educational aspirations may be associated because of underlying common causes, rather tha n

having a direct causal link.

Summary

The empirical literature generally supports weak to moderate positive association s

between religiosity and other elements of well-being in childhood and adolescence . Th e

evidence appears to be particularly good for links with drug use and possibly with early sexual

activity, although the evidence is better for white female adolescents than for males or fo r

females of other ethnicities . The least compelling evidence may be for associations betwee n

religiosity and self-esteem and other aspects of mental health . While positive associations tend

to be fairly weak, however, there is clearly no indication of negative effects of religiosity on any

aspect of well-being . A number of studies have suggested that effects of religiosity on well-
 46

being may be largely indirect, mediated by effects of religiosity-particularly religiou s

attendance--on social capital and social support . The extent to which effects of religiosity o n

well-being are indirect versus direct, possible age-related differences in the extent to which direc t

versus indirect effects are found, and gender and ethnic group differences are research topics tha t

should be more systematically pursued in future studies .

Review of Empirical Evidence Regarding Parental Religiosity and Well-Being i n

Childhood and Adolescenc e

There are a substantial number of studies linking parents' religiosity with parenting

behavior . Several of these studies were described earlier and were summarized in a recent report

by Mahoney and colleagues ( in press). Far fewer studies have examined linkages between

parents' religiosity and child and adolescent outcomes . In one study to do so, Strayhorn et al .

(1990) examined associations between parents' religiousness and a number of parent and child

mental health variables . The sample used in this study included 201 preschool-age childre n

participating in Head Start programs . These children were from low-income families and were

predominantly African-American . Parents (predominantly mothers) completed self-report an d

child- report measures . Teachers also rated child classroom behavior, and parent-child

interactions were videotaped and coded as an assessment of positive parenting behavior . Result s

indicated that parents ' religiousness demonstrated low but signi ficant correlations with parental

hostility and with a measure of positive parenting behavior, but was uncorrelated with a

composite measure of parent- and teacher-reported child problem behaviors or with chil d

behavior as rated from the videotaped parent-child interactions .

A few studies with older children have found associations between parents' religiosit y

and child well-being . Some of these studies have specifically hypothesized indirect effects of
 47

parents' religiosity on child well-being, through effects of religiosity on parenting . Brody and

colleagues (1996) examined direct and indirect effects of parental religiosity on child

competence in a sample of rural, two-parent African American families with children between

the ages of 9 and 12 . Child competence was assessed via measures of self-control, academic

competence, externalizing behavior problems, and internalizing behavior problems . These

researchers predicted that competence would be directly predicted by parental religiosity, and

indirectly by the effects of parents' religiosity on family cohesion and interparental conflict .

Parents' religiosity was a summary score created by multiplying a measure of frequency of

church attendance with a measure of importance of religion . Family cohesion was assessed as

levels of harmony (versus conflict) and engagement of family members during videotaped triadic

interactions . Results of analyses conducted separately for mothers and fathers indicated that

parent religiosity was positively correlated with family cohesiveness and interparental conflict,

although associations were stronger for fathers than for mothers . Cohesion and conflict were

both significantly associated with child self-control, which was in turn predictive of academic

competence and both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems . These results provided

support for the researchers' hypothesis that parental religiosity affects child outcomes indirectly,

by influencing the quality of family relationships . In addition to these indirect effects, however,

some direct associations were found as well : Parents' religiosity scores were directly and

negatively associated with child externalizing behavior problems, and fathers' religiosity was

associated with interparental conflict and with child internalizing behavior problems .

Gunnoe and colleagues (1999) similarly hypothesized that parental religiosity would

affect adolescent social responsibility both directly and indirectly, through the effect that

religiosity has on parenting . The study involved two-parent families (predominantly white) with
 48

children between 10 and 18 years of age . Parental religiosity was assessed via a short

questionnaire tapping the extent to which religion was part of and influenced family and personal

life. Authoritarian and authoritative parenting behavior was coded from videotapes of 10-minute

problem-solving sessions in which parent-adolescent pairs were asked to discuss topics that were

sources of conflict in the household . Adolescent social responsibility (i .e., honesty,

perseverance, empathy, trustworthiness, self-control, responsibility, and obedience to authorities)

was assessed via parent- and self-report measures . Mother-report was used for analyses

involving fathers' religiosity and authoritative parenting, while father-report was used for

analyses involving mothers' religiosity and authoritative parenting . Results supported

hypothesized associations between parents' religiosity, parenting, and adolescent social

responsibility . Both maternal and paternal authoritative parenting were positively predicted by

religiosity, and maternal authoritarian parenting was negatively associated with religiosity . More

religious parents had adolescents who were reported to be more socially responsible, and this

effect was partially mediated by effects of religiosity on the tendency to exhibit characteristically

authoritative parenting behaviors .

Summary. As with the literature on adolescent's own religiosity and well-being, there is

some empirical support for weak to moderate links between parents' religiosity and child well-

being . These effects are partially mediated by the influences of parents' religiosity on parenting

behavior . Again, hypotheses of negative effects of parent religiosity on child outcomes have

generally not received empirical support . There is only a rather limited body of research that

assesses both parents' religiosity and child outcomes, however, and substantially more work is

needed.
 49

Conclusions

Overall, research on the effects of religiosity on well-being in childhood and adolescence

indicates small but consistent associations between religious upbringing and positive social and

emotional functioning, although some research has suggested that findings may be stronger for

white adolescents than for African-American, Latino or Hispanic adolescents, particularly in the

area of sexual behavior . Although gender differences have frequently been found in mean levels

of religious participation and salience (with females typically being higher on both types of

measures), consistent gender differences in the effects of religiosity on well-being have not been

reported. Unfortunately, many studies (particularly those involving delinquency and risk taking

behavior) have not included both males and females in order to allow comparisons .

Although very little research has been conducted with young children, there is som e

indication that religiosity effects may be stronger for preadolescents and adolescents than for

younger children . This would not be surprising, given the probability that self-reports of

religiosity are likely to be less meaningful for children than for older individuals . Religious

beliefs and understandings change dramatically across childhood and adolescence, only

beginning to resemble those of adults in the preadolescent and early adolescent periods (e .g.

Elkind, 1970; Fowler, 1991 ; Oser, 1991) . Further, church attendance is not necessarily a

voluntary activity for children and thus self-reports of religious attendance may not have the

same depth of meaning for children as for adults .

Finally, most of the research on religion and well-being in childhood and adolescence

suggests that effects are partially mediated by effects of religiosity on characteristics of the

interpersonal environment-including effects on family interaction patterns, parenting

 50

characteristics, and the social support that is provided to children and adolescents by peers and

adults who are part of their religious communities .

There are number of serious limitations to this research that need to be addressed in

future work . In addition to concerns regarding the diversity of measures used across studies and

the limitations of single-item measures to tap complex constructs such as religiosity, there are

deeper issues as well . Research on non-Christian minority religions in the United States is

almost entirely absent, as is cross-cultural research including non-Western religions (Mahoney,

et al ., in press) . Part of the reason for this is the small numbers of adherents to these religions in

the United States, relative to the Christian majority . Another reason is that most measures of

religious salience have been specifically designed to examine religiosity among Christians, and

questions do not apply to non-Christian spiritual beliefs .

Another somewhat related concern is the lack of research on spirituality, apart from

religion. The studies cited in this report tap individuals' participation in religious organizations

and activities, and the personal importance individuals place on religion . Because of the ways in

which religiosity is assessed, few if any sltudies have the ability to distinguish between

adolescents for whom spiritual matters are unimportant and those who may have strong spiritual

beliefs but do not adhere to any particular religion . Thus we know little about the effects of

differences in the processes of religious and spiritual thought, apart from snapshots of religious

activity and beliefs . Further, the lack of longitudinal studies makes it impossible to track th e

development of religiosity and spirituality across childhood and adolescence or the predictors

and antecedents of changes in religiosity and spirituality across development . In order to gain a

better grasp of the value of religiosity and spirituality for positive well-being, it will be necessary

to conduct longitudinal studies that are also more inclusive with respect to ethnicity and religion .
 51

Implications

There are a number of implications of this literature for prevention and intervention

efforts aimed at improving outcomes for children and adolescents . The consistent finding of a

restraining influence of religion on drug and alcohol abuse, in conjunction with the fact that a

large majority of adolescents report some level of ongoing involvement with a religious

institution (Lindberg, Boggess, & Williams, 2000), supports the view that religious communities

have an important contribution to make in drug and alcohol abuse prevention efforts, as well as

in treatment of drug and alcohol dependency (see McBride et al ., 1996) . However, it should

also be noted that findings indicating that religiosity effects are mediated by characteristics of the

social environment indicate that religion is one path to well-being and is not necessarily the only

one (King & Furrow, 2001) .

The work of Garbarino (e .g ., Garbarino & Bedard, 1996) seems a particularly appropriat e

way to conclude this report, in wake of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 . Garbarino has

focused much of his work on children experiencing both acute and chronic trauma, such as war .

Consistent with Fowler's (1991) work on the innate human need for faith, and Oser's (1991)

work on the development of religious judgements that allow individuals to reconcile religious

faith with seemingly contradictory realities, Garbarino emphasizes the necessity for attending to

the spiritual needs of children who have experienced traumatic events . As stated by Garbarino &

Bedard,

What does a spiritual analysis imply for intervention? It implies that we embrace
psychological, even physiological modalities in understanding trauma (and in
intervening on behalf of the traumatized individuals and groups), but only as part
of a larger strategy for healing the wounds of trauma .. . But a perspective which is
sensitive to the spiritual essence of children and youth tells us to be prepared to go
further, to recognize the need to deal with the metaphysical wounds that arise
from the overwhelming cognitions, to deal practically with the eclipse of God (or
Buddha, or Allah, or Jehovah) itself. To do this we must embrace the spiritual
 52

dimensions of traumatized persons and groups and incorporate them into

interventions with children and youth . . . (p. 174) .
 53

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