Exploring Religious Experiences Among American Muslim Youth: Preliminary Findings from a Community-Based Ecological Systems Approach

Background & Purpose

Among key predictors of mental health for minority youth, are religious affiliation & identity. The US Muslim population is increasing but social work research has not kept pace with phenomena such as the racialization of Islam or challenges American Muslim Youth (AMY) face due to their intersectional identities. Despite evidence that religious struggles place AMY at risk for poor adjustment outcomes, little research has examined their religious experiences. This presentation is based on a study exploring this research question: What are the religious trends among AMY, and which associated factors, including individual, family, peer, community, & societal variables, impact these trends?

Methods

AMY are underrepresented in studies due a lack of familiarity with being subjects of research, due to concerns about whether their responses are confidential, & whether research findings cast their community in a negative light. Using a community-based, ecological systems approach, & a cross-sectional study design, the authors explored religious trends among 900 AMY from diverse backgrounds. We used snowball & convenience sampling & endorsements of the study from key informants & indigenous leaders to alleviate any concerns among the youth & their parents about the research. Participants completed an online survey eliciting demographic information & self-reports about their experiences with individual & collective domains. Findings reported in this presentation highlight mostly descriptive statistics & bivariate correlations. As data collection continues, we intend to run regressions & employ structural equation modeling to further explore & refine our theoretical models.

Results

The authors encountered two online recruitment challenges, namely automated respondents or bots, & a peak in online traffic due to sharing news & updates regarding the ongoing war between Israel-Palestine. Embedding captcha for bot mitigation & pivoting to word of mouth & community announcements to direct people’s attention to the study, helped. To date, 200 AMY consented & completed the online instrument. Running pairwise bivariate correlations between individual & collective factors & religious experiences of AMY, these findings emerged: a) traits like patience (r = -.13*) & a strong Muslim identity (r = -.37***) were negatively correlated with religious struggles and doubts; b) positive God-focused coping was negatively correlated with religious struggles (r = -.13*) & religious doubt (r = -.30***), youth engaging in more positive God-focused coping experienced less religious struggles & doubt & c) two types of negative experiences that correlated with religious struggles & doubt emerged: 1) more interpersonal struggles with other Muslims was correlated with higher religious struggles (r = .45***) & doubt (r = .30***) & 2) questioning ultimate meaning of religion & religious values/beliefs was correlated with higher religious struggles (r = .38***) & doubt (r = .36***).

Conclusions & Implications

This study explored religious trends among AMY, underscoring the importance of various factors in understanding their religious trajectories. Findings suggest the importance of assessing religious experiences of AMY, particularly in ensuring AMY can access God-focused coping strategies. The presentation will share implications for social work educators, researchers, practitioners & policymakers serving & interacting with AMY.