Religiosity's Associations with Adolescents' Psychological and Behavioral Wellbeing: Do They Vary By Sex and Social Capital?

Background and purpose:

Religiosity has been extensively studied in relation to the psychological and behavioral well-being of adolescents. However, findings have been inconsistent due to variations in samples, definitions of religiosity, and outcome measures. Additionally, little is known about how adolescents' sex and social capital may affect the connection between religiosity and well-being, despite their documented associations with both religiosity and adolescents' well-being. This study aims to advance understanding in this area of research by examining the moderating effects of sex and social capital on the linkage between religiosity and adolescents' well-being, utilizing a nationally representative dataset and accounting for various types of religiosity and outcome measures.

Methods:

Using data from the 2015 through 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, we defined religiosity as the perceived importance of religion in life and distinguished it from religious service attendance. Independent variables religiosity was indicated by a scale consisting of three items that asked respondents about their level of agreement regarding the importance of religion in daily life, decision-making, and befriending. Another independent variable religious service attendance indicated the frequency of adolescents attending religious services in the past 12 months, without including weddings and other special events. Moderating variable social capital was measured based on a series of questions asking with whom adolescents talked about serious problems, and the variable was dummy coded to indicate having or having no one to talk with. Dependent variables psychological and behavioral well-being included depression, substance use, and delinquency, measured using standardized instruments.

Employing a series of regression models, we first examined how religiosity and religious service attendance were related to the dependent variables. Then, we tested the moderating effect of adolescent sex and social capital on the relationship between religiosity as well as religious service attendance and each of the dependent variables.

Results:

The findings revealed that adolescent religiosity was associated with a lower likelihood of having experienced a major depressive episode (MDE) (OR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.33, 0.44), a substance use disorder (OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.55, 0.82), and delinquency (OR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.57, 0.74). However, religious service attendance did not show a significant buffering effect. Furthermore, sex had a significant moderating effect on religiosity's relationships with delinquency (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.01, 1.14) and with MDE (OR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.69, 0.97), while social capital had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between religiosity and delinquency (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.79, 0.95).

Conclusions and implications:

In conclusion, religiosity appears to have a positive effect on adolescents' psychological and behavioral well-being, but the effect may vary by their sex and social capital levels. While the findings affirm the positive association between religiosity and adolescent well-being, they shed light on the moderating effect of sex and social capital on this relationship. The findings have useful implications and suggest the need for considering more individualized program strategies when integrating religiosity as a protective factor for promoting adolescent well-being.