Dimensions of Religiosity as Mediators of the Relations Between Parenting and Adolescent Deviant Behavior

Abstract

Data from over 1,500 American adolescents-collected in two separate projects, both longitudinal-were used to examine the interrelations among three dimensions of adolescent religiosity and the degree to which those mediated the effects of parental behavior on adolescent deviant outcomes. The findings lend support to this special issue theme that various dimensions of parent/child interaction have independent effects on adolescent characteristics (religiosity and deviance). Generally, the three religiosity dimensions functioned as intervening variables between parental behaviors and deviance, with adolescents' expectations of future religious activity reducing subsequent deviance more than either public or private adolescent religiosity. The patterns of findings imply that out ofparent/child relationships and theirpublic andprivate religious activity, adolescents construct a view of what will be theirfuture patterns of religious activity. They then tend to participate or not in deviant behavior consonant with their future religious orientation.