Parent Religiosity & Adolescent Behavior
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Data came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort (NLSY97), a
nationally representative sample of youth (N=8,984) born between January 1, 1980 and
December 31, 1984 (Center for Human Resource Research, 2002). The study sample (n=1,911)
included only those adolescents who had a responding parent in the household in survey year
1997, Round 1, and who reported valid values for all study variables. It differed from the Round
1 population sample on several key measures. These measures, defined below, were age, race,
presence/absence of biological mother, parenting style, and quality time. Given these differences,
results of the study were not representative of the population sample and the discussion and
conclusions of the study were made with this limitation in mind. It should be noted, however,
that no differences were found between the study and population samples on several other key
measures, also defined below: sex, poverty status, parents’ religiosity, religious affiliation,
religious agreement, taking / not taking medication for a chronic condition, and delinquency.
Measures
Religion. The Parents’ Religiosity scale was constructed from responses to six statements
describing the way some people feel about religion and religious practices. The scale had
moderate consistency/reliability (alpha = .60) and scores had a valid range from 0-6.
Appropriate items were reverse coded such that higher scores indicated greater religiosity of the
parent (Child Trends, Inc. & Center for Human Resource Research, 1999).
The measure religious affiliation was grouped into the following categories: Catholic,
Conservative Protestant (Baptist, Pentecostal, Holiness, Nondenominational Christian [Bible
Church]), Other Protestant, Other Religions, and No Religion. It was derived from a question to
parents and youth about their religious preferences. The composition of Conservative Protestant
followed Regnerus (2003a). Dummy variables were then created for each category of religious
Convention