Posted: 11/07/03
Religious involvement helps parents of teens
By Mark Wingfield
Managing Editor
Teenagers who live in families that are religiously involved report stronger relationships between their parents than other teens, according to a new study.
The research, funded by the Lilly Endowment, was conducted by Christian Smith and Phillip Kim of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
It examined data reported by early adolescents, ages 12 to 14, who evaluated the relationship between their parents on 12 variables. On all 12 points, teens who live in families that are religiously involved reported better relations between their parents.
Only 11 percent of the youth in the representative national sample live in families classified as heavily involved in religion. Families received that designation if they participated in some form of religious expression, such as attending church, praying or reading Scriptures together, at least five days a week.
The reported quality of relationships between parents fell off some for youth in families that are somewhat religiously involved. Any religious involvement, even one day a week, showed better relationships between parents on average than in families with no religious involvement.
Worship attendance alone does not produce the same effect on families as deeper religious involvement, the researchers noted.
Daily prayer shows a positive correlation to better relationships between parents, however. “The 52 percent of youth with a parent who prays more than once a day are often more likely than youth whose parents pray daily or less to report better relationships between their mothers and fathers,” the study summary said.
Teens in religiously involved families reported better relations between their parents in that each parent encourages the other, expresses love to each other and compromises with each other. Parents in religiously involved homes are less likely to blame each other, insult each other or scream at each other.
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