2-196 - "Power, Love, and a Sound Mind?": Religion and Mental Health for Diverse Youth

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Substantial research has demonstrated significant links between religion and mental health (Ellison et al., 2017; King et al., 2011; Koenig, 2012; Levin & Chatters, 1998). However, not as much scholarship has explored specific contributions of religion to diverse youth and family mental health in domestic and international populations. Service attendance tends to be the most used construct for assessing religiosity (Rossi & Scappini, 2014). Contributions of other religion-related factors (e.g., religious coping, religious affiliation, and private religiosity) are understudied in diverse youth samples. A strong need exists for evidence-based theoretical frameworks to reflect the mechanisms through which religion influences trajectories for youth and their families.

This symposium brings together four research teams, representing seven institutions (two international) whose work highlights aspects of religiosity as significant factors for mental health. The first team explored effects of private religiosity on psychosocial well-being across ethnic groups for Black youth. The second team found that African American adolescents who reported peer victimization displayed more religious coping and goal directedness and tended to exhibit fewer negative effects. The third study found that religious unaffiliation, and negative religious factors increased risk for sexual minority youth’s suicidality. The last project examined the impact of religiosity on Filipino parents’ mental health, which may influence parent-child relationships and offspring outcomes.

Examining the impact of religion on diverse youth and family mental health extends what is empirically known and elucidates shared characteristics across samples and contexts. Implications for theoretical and applied understanding of youth development across contexts will be discussed.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chair

• Meredith O. Hope, University of Michigan School of Public Health

Individual Presentations

• Keeping the Faith: Protective Factor Contributions to African American Adolescents’ Spirituality After Victimization - Presenting Author: Wendy Kliewer, Virginia Commonwealth University; Non-Presenting Author: Joana Salifu Yendork, University of Ghana; Non-Presenting Author: Anna W Wright, Virginia Commonwealth University; Non-Presenting Author: David W Sosnowski, Virginia Commonwealth University; Non-Presenting Author: Melissa Washington-Nortey, Virginia Commonwealth University; Non-Presenting Author: Kristina McGuire, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Private Religiosity and Psychosocial Wellbeing Among African American and Caribbean Black Youth - Presenting Author: Theda Rose, University of Maryland School of Social Work; Non-Presenting Author: Meredith O. Hope, University of Michigan School of Public Health; Non-Presenting Author: Dawn Thurman, Morgan State University; Non-Presenting Author: Mian Hossain, Morgan State University

• Religion, Sexual Orientation, and Adolescent Suicide - Presenting Author: Sam Hardy, Brigham Young University; Non-Presenting Author: Michael A Goodman, Brigham Young University; Non-Presenting Author: Justin Dyer, Brigham Young University; Non-Presenting Author: Mark D. Ogeltree, Brigham Young University

• Religiosity/Spirituality Among Filipino Parents: Relations to Psychological Well-Being and Parenting of Adolescents - Presenting Author: Rosanne M Jocson, Department of Psychology, Ateneo de Manila University