religiosity and spirituality among adolescents and emerging adults
DESCRIPTION
Religiosity and Spirituality among Adolescents and Emerging Adults. Chelsea Schnabelrauch, Laura DeHaan & Julie Yonker. Adolescence. Rapid physical, cognitive & social growth second only to infancy Brain development places focus on: Sensation seeking Social networks Novelty - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Chelsea Schnabelrauch, Laura DeHaan & Julie Yonker
RELIGIOSITY AND SPIRITUALITY AMONG
ADOLESCENTS AND EMERGING ADULTS
ADOLESCENCE Rapid physical, cognitive & social
growth second only to infancy
Brain development places focus on: Sensation seeking Social networks Novelty
Other issues Identity development Adolescent egocentrism
Risk taking Preoccupation with self
EMERGING ADULTHOOD
Arnett’s view of emerging adulthood Age of identity exploration
especially in love and work. Age of instability Most self-focused age of life Age of feeling in-between adolescent & adult Age of possibilities
hopes flourish unparalleled opportunity to transform your life
CHILDREN AND CHRISTIANITY
8 – 12 year olds Church makes a positive difference 33%
Prayer makes difference 30%
Would choose popularity over a moral choice 63%
•64% of Christians come to faith as children•Strong correlation between age and depth of faith•Lots of programming for children, age-segregated
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN ADOLESCENCE
Belief in God -- about 85% Stable throughout life span
Declining importance of organized religion belief in Bible as inerrant
Girls more religious – especially in adolescence
Period of questioning stronger adult faith
CHRISTIAN SMITHSOUL SEARCHING (2005)
SOULS IN TRANSITION (2009)
Moral therapeutic deism God as cosmic therapist Little ability to express religious
content 1/3 of adolescents very active religiously
1/3 nominally active 1/3 not religious Religiosity is largely conventional
Religiosity declines in emerging adulthood Parents biggest predictor of E/A faith
STUDY OF RELIGIOSITY AND SPIRITUALITY
Religiosity and spirituality (R/S) is an understudied topic among adolescents
Less than 1% address R/S
Much bias and assumption in field Are there stages of R/S development?
Is this process the same across religion?
What is the mechanism that makes R/S protective?
STUDY 1:HOW IS R/S DEFINED?
We examined all empirical studies where R/S was examined as a variable during the years 1990 to 2010
92 studies of adolescents and emerging adults
We developed four coding categories for both how they defined and then measured R/S
CATEGORIES Church Service Attendance refers to a characterization of R/S
solely on the basis of attendance.
Religious behaviors are overt and measurable actions, but do not included service attendance. Examples include: prayer, involvement in youth group, and Bible reading.
Salience of beliefs is the degree to which one’s religious faith matters in the life of the individual. Salience of belief is covert and must be self-reported. Examples include: born again status, identity of the individual, degree of commitment, connectedness with God , and religion as a source of refuge or solace.
Religious searching refers to how much one is actively questioning the content of one’s religious faith. This is also covert and self-reported. Examples include: quest of life’s meaning, search for the sacred, and questioning final causes and ultimate end of humankind.
RESULTSCategory Definition in literature
reviewMeasurement employed
R/S not defined 16% 0
Church attendance 3% 7%
Behavioral 13% 17%
Salience 26% 29%
Quest 2% 2%
Behavior + Salience 23% 24%
Behavior + Salience + Quest
8% 3%
DISCUSSION Few studies (26%) used measures of R/S that
matched their theoretical definition
Few studies used methodology matching best developmental psychology practices
20% were longitudinal (most of these were data sets not designed to study R/S)
Most studies compared R/S to a risk behavior or protective factor, rather than examining the development of R/S itself.
STUDY 2:HOW DOES R/S EFFECT
ADOLESCENT & EMERGING ADULT OUTCOMES?
Meta-analysis = Quantitative “survey” approach in which individual study findings investigating a common problem are statistically integrated and analyzed
META-ANALYSIS
Meta-analyses permit moving away from individual studies to an aggregate that allows a bigger picture with better focus due to reduction of sampling error
STUDY 2:HOW DOES R/S EFFECT
ADOLESCENT & EMERGING ADULT OUTCOMES?
Database searches found 320 studies on R/S
Criteria for inclusion in meta-analysis
Published between 1990 and August 2010
Empirical studies
Provide commonly used effect size statistic (r, t-values, F-values, means & SD)
Measurable outcome of R/S
75 studies used in meta-analysis
PARTICIPANT CHARACTERISTICS
Number of individual participants = 66,273 Life stage
57% of studies: adolescents 39% of studies: emerging adults 4% of studies: combined life stages
Race 32% of studies: majority white 23% of studies: majority non-white 44% of studies: did not specify race
Gender 28% of studies did not report gender 56% of reported studies: females 44% of reported studies: males
R/S MEASUREMENT IN STUDIES
attendancebehaviorsaliancesearchingmixed
ADOLESCENT & EMERGING ADULT OUTCOMES
Risk taking behavior Underage drinking, binge drinking,
marijuana use, drug use, smoking Sexual activity Deviant behavior
Well Being Depression, anxiety, self-esteem, well
being/happiness
Personality Big-5 Trait theory (Agreeableness,
Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Openness)
OVERALL META-ANALYSIS
Effect Sizes of Religiosity with Outcome Variables N ESRisk Taking 27 -0.1728**Alcohol 16 -0.1667**Deviant Behavior 10 -0.2109**Marijuana 9 -0.1173*Smoking 7 -0.1329**Personality Conscientiousness 9 0.1915**Extraversion 7 0.0873Agreeableness 6 0.1769**Neuroticism 6 -0.0228Openness 5 0.1414*Well-Being Depression 24 -0.1064**Anxiety 16 -0.0572Self-Esteem 15 0.1101**Well-Being/Happiness 8 0.1541** * p < .05 ** p < .001
MODERATORS - LIFE STAGE
Risk Ta
king
Alcohol U
se
Substa
nce Use
Depres
sion
Well Bein
g
Self-E
steem
Conscien
tiousness
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
-2.77555756156289E-16
0.0999999999999997
0.2
0.3Eff
ect S
ize
*p<.05, ** p<.001
** ** ** ** ** **** ** ** ** **
* *
p<.10 p<.05
MODERATORS - RACE
Risk Taking Alcohol Use Substance Use Depression
-0.25
-0.2
-0.15
-0.1
-0.05
0Eff
ect S
ize
** ** * **
*p<.05, ** p<.001 p<.10
MODERATORS – R/S MEASUREMENT
Risk Taking Alcohol Use Substance Use
Deviant Behavior
Depression
-0.4
-0.35
-0.3
-0.25
-0.2
-0.15
-0.1
-0.05
0
Effec
t Siz
es
** * ** **
*p<.05, ** p<.001
** *** **
p<.05
** **
DISCUSSION – OVERALL META-ANALYSIS
R/S can act as a protective factor against negative outcomes such as:
Risk taking behaviors
Depression
R/S can enhance well-being and self-esteem
R/S is associated with the personality traits of Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Openness
POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS
R/S offers the following: Rules for acceptable behavior
Community accountability/expectations
Structured time
risk taking as unacceptable behavior
participation in R/S by individuals with Conscientiousness & Agreeableness
personality traits
POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS
R/S offers the following:
Community acceptance & love of individual
Message of worth of individual to God and community
depression
self-esteem and well-being
participation in R/S by individuals with Conscientiousness, Agreeableness & Openness personality traits
DISCUSSION - LIFE STAGES
Emerging Adults
R/S matters more for decreasing risk taking behavior
R/S matters more for enhancing well-being & self-esteem
Possible explanations
Emerging adults have choice to participate (or not) in R/S activities
Emerging adults have greater cognitive capacity and self-awareness therefore R/S carries more significance and meaning
DISCUSSION - RACE Majority White
R/S more salient in beneficial impacting on risk taking behavior and depression
Possible explanations
Limitation of database white vs. non-white; therefore could be statistical artifact
Less variability in non-white R/S; therefore when whites are religious, R/S makes more impact
DISCUSSION – MEASUREMENT OF R/S
Salience
Most risk taking behaviors are strongly influenced by the degree that R/S matters to the individual
Possible explanation
Salience represents intrinsic motivation for R/S, which often result in more positive and longer duration of individual behaviors
DISCUSSION – MEASUREMENT OF R/S
Church Attendance
Deviant behavior is curtailed more by church attendance than other R/S measures
Possible explanation
Church attendance is often considered a global measure of psychosocial support systems more conducive to positive achievements
Time in church activities, therefore minimal extra time for deviant behaviors
DISCUSSION – MEASUREMENT OF R/S
Mixed Measure
Multiple measures of R/S did not provide stronger associations with outcomes than basic measures of salience or church attendance
Future Directions
Salience and church attendance are suitable measures of R/S, however, they should be analyzed independently rather than combined
CONCLUSIONS R/S is important in the lives of adolescents
and emerging adults in reducing risk taking behaviors and enhancing mood and self-worth.
Multiple definitions and measures of R/S are currently used in the literature Our results suggest coalescence around
church attendance and salience for these stages in the life span
“Evidently, then, the science and the religion are both of them genuine keys for unlocking the world’s treasure-house to him who can use either of them practically.”
William James (1902)
THANK YOU!
Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship - Grant
Carolyn Affholter – Research Assistant, Study 1
Chelsea Schnabelrauch – Research Assistant, Study 2
Blake Riek – Statistical Consultant