Spiritual Development During Childhood and Adolescence

Abstract

Abstract This chapter reviews psychological research on spiritual and religious development, with an emphasis on work published since the first edition of this handbook. This research area continues to blossom, with recent refinements in definitions and increased attention to sociocultural factors. A social–ecology model of spiritual development is emphasized here, with a focus on the family and parent–child communication. The contexts of culture and nature are highlighted as potent influences on spiritual development, though the latter has been largely neglected. There is value in studying the interaction of multiple dimensions of religiosity and spirituality on children’s outcomes. The role of religion on adolescent well-being has received extensive attention, with recent surge in interest about spiritual exemplars, adolescents who are viewed by people who know them as extraordinarily spiritual. The conclusion offers a critique of our field’s current paradigm, with calls for more research featuring culturally diverse (rather than largely U.S.) samples, qualitative (rather than quantitative) methods, and longitudinal (rather than correlational) design. The conclusion also calls for a person-centered, intersectional approach that respects the children and youth who are developing as spiritual and religious beings (rather than a variable-centered approach that prioritizes statistical and conceptual relations between variables and often treats participants’ demographic factors as “noise” to be controlled for in analyses). Additionally, our field should recognize other disciplines (namely, cultural anthropology and child theology/religious education) as having value for psychological understanding of religious and spiritual development.