Religiosity from Age 12 to 20: Stability, Change, and Bidirectional Effects of Attendance, Prayer, and Salience

Abstract

ABSTRACT Religiosity is a protective factor for adolescents, though research has indicated religiosity declines across adolescence. However, little research has examined how various dimensions of religiosity may change across time. With yearly data from a sample of 489 participants, the current study examined rank-order and mean level changes in religiosity from early adolescence (12 years-old) into late adolescence/emerging adulthood (20 years-old). Three dimensions of religiosity were examined, public religious practices (religious service attendance), private religious practices (prayer), and religious salience. Using cross-lagged models, reciprocal relationships between these dimensions were examined. There was significant rank-order stability, though stability was highest for attendance. The mean of all three dimensions decreased over time. The decline for attendance was initially slow though the decline increased through late adolescence. Prayer declined linearly and religious salience declined rapidly during early adolescence with the decline dampening in later adolescence and late adolescence. Each dimension was reciprocally related to the other dimensions, though this relationship differed across time. For instance, in early adolescence, attendance predicted religious salience and in late adolescence, salience predicted attendance. When significant, parent income and education were negatively associated with religiosity.