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Religion and the Well‐Being of Adolescents
Author(s) -
Donahue Michael J.,
Benson Peter L.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1995.tb01328.x
Subject(s) - prosocial behavior , juvenile delinquency , psychology , developmental psychology , suicide prevention , monitoring the future , suicidal ideation , human factors and ergonomics , substance abuse , poison control , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , environmental health
A literature review of the relation between religiousness and adolescent well‐being is presented, along with new analyses from a large adolescent data base. It is found that the average level of religiousness of U.S. adolescents has not declined recently, although it does appear to decrease on average across the years of adolescence. African Americans are more religious than whites, and girls are more religious than boys. Religiousness is positively associated with prosocial values and behavior, and negatively related to suicide ideation and attempts, substance abuse, premature sexual involvement, and delinquency. It is unrelated to self‐esteem. These results are found to be robust after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. The article concludes with policy suggestions for integrating religion's prosocial influences into larger societal programs.