Religiosity and Spirituality among Adolescents and Emerging Adults

1. Religiosity and Spirituality among Adolescents and Emerging Adults Chelsea Schnabelrauch, Laura DeHaan & Julie Yonker

2. 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

3. 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

4. Children and Christianity • 64% of Christians come to faith as children • Strong correlation between age and depth of faith • Lots of programming for children, age-segregated • 8 – 12 year olds • Church makes a positive difference 33% • Prayer makes difference 30% • Would choose popularity over a moral choice 63%

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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?

8. 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

9. Categories • Church Service Attendance refers to a characterization of R/S solely on the basis of attendance. • Religious behaviorsare overt and measurable actions, but do not included service attendance. Examples include: prayer, involvement in youth group, and Bible reading. • Salience of beliefsis 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 searchingrefers 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.

10. Results

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. R/S Measurement in Studies

17. 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)

18. Overall Meta-analysis

19. Moderators - Life stage ** ** ** ** ** ** * * ** ** ** ** ** *p<.05, ** p<.001 p<.10 p<.05

20. Moderators - Race ** * ** *p<.05, ** p<.001 p<.10

21. Moderators – R/S measurement ** * ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** *p<.05, ** p<.001 p<.05

22. 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

23. 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

24. Possible Explanations • R/S offers the following: • Community acceptance & love of individual • Message of worthof individual to God and community • depression • self-esteem and well-being • participation in R/S by individuals with Conscientiousness, Agreeableness & Openness personality traits

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. “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)

32. Thank you! • Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship - Grant • Carolyn Affholter – Research Assistant, Study 1 • Chelsea Schnabelrauch – Research Assistant, Study 2 • Blake Riek – Statistical Consultant