The relationship between religiosity and adjustment among African‐American, female, urban adolescents

Abstract

African‐American female adolescents living in urban environments are at risk for adverse adjustment outcomes, and thus it is imperative to identify protective factors. Religion has been found to be a significant protective resource against many types of maladaptive adjustment outcomes among adolescent samples. The present study accomplishes the following: (1) Provides a description of religiosity in a sample of African‐American female teens; (2) examines religion as a resource for these adolescents by focusing on the association between religiosity and sexual activity, self‐esteem, and general psychological functioning. Four‐hundred ninety‐two African‐American females, ages 12–19, completed measures on religiosity, sexual activity, self‐esteem, and psychological functioning. Most of the adolescents identified as Christian, reported a belief in God, and attended religious services. Greater overall religiosity was associated with greater self‐esteem and better psychological functioning. Adolescents at different levels of self‐religiosity, as well as family religiosity, evidenced significantly different self‐esteem but not psychological distress or sexual activity. Adolescents with varying levels of church attendance demonstrated differences on all three outcomes. By identifying the ways in which religion may exert a positive impact on African‐American female teens, mental health professionals can design interventions that have the potential to help improve the quality of life for these adolescents.

Thriving Among African‐American Adolescents: Religiosity, Religious Support, and Communalism

“…While religious support did not mediate the relation between religiosity and thriving, the pathways contributed to the model fit, suggesting connections between these factors. The significant link between religious support and thriving adds to our understanding of the positive impact of African-American adolescent church involvement (Ball et al, 2003;Kerestes et al, 2004;Mattis & Jagers, 2001).…”

“…Black people, including adolescents, tend to be particularly religious (Ball, Armistead & Austin, 2003;Rew & Wong, 2006). Engagement in religion helps AfricanAmerican youth to endorse prosocial values (Mattis & Jagers, 2001), and youth who report higher religious salience are more likely to report civic engagement and participation in extracurricular activities (Kerestes, Youniss & Metz, 2004).…”

“…Engagement in religion helps AfricanAmerican youth to endorse prosocial values (Mattis & Jagers, 2001), and youth who report higher religious salience are more likely to report civic engagement and participation in extracurricular activities (Kerestes, Youniss & Metz, 2004). Higher levels of religiosity are also associated with better psychological functioning among AfricanAmerican female adolescents (Ball et al, 2003). In this study, we focused on Christianity as the specific type of religiosity, based on our interests and relationships with Christian, Protestant churches; however, African-American youth may be involved in a variety of different religions.…”

The Relationship Between Spiritual Intelligence and Psychological Well-Being in Women with Breast Cancer

“…The validity of the scale was confirmed with Cronbach's alpha of 0.85 (19). Total and subscales reliability were reported based on Cronbach's alpha as coefficients of 0.95, 0.87, 0.89, and 0.94, respectively (20).…”

“…The reliability of the test was determined by its correlation with Bradburn's emotional balance scale, Neugarten life satisfaction, and Rosenberg self-esteem; the correlation results of Reef test with any of the above measures were acceptable (20). The data were analyzed using statistical software SPSS version 22.…”