Psychology Statistics data report project

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Church Support and Family Religious Practices as Predictors of Children’s Spirituality

Joe Student

Online and Professional Studies, California Baptist University

BEH385: Statistics and Research Methodology II

Prof. Elisabeth Knopp

April 3, 2022

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Church Support and Family Religious Practices as Predictors of Children’s Spirituality

Over half of Americans attend church or synagogue at least once a month, most

commonly for the purpose of obtaining “spiritual growth and guidance” (Gallup, 2007, 2010).

However, some prominent believers have openly questioned the necessity of church

involvement, emphasizing instead the virtue of individual spiritual pursuits (Barna, 2005). Even

less is known about the importance of church to the spiritual and moral development of children.

In a busy world filled with homework, sports, and chores, it is important to know whether a

child’s connection to the church is truly crucial to their own spirituality, especially if the child is

already receiving consistent religious support in the home. Thus, the purpose of this study is to

investigate children’s church relationships as a predictor of children’s spirituality controlling for

family religious practices.

Spirituality, defined as the dynamic, personal, and experiential relationship between God

and child (Desrosiers et al., 2010; Simpson et al., 2009) is conceptually distinct from one’s

religious identity or religious development, which are more concerned with shared specific

practices and teachings (Richert & Granqvist, 2013). Although spirituality has been studied

infrequently compared to other aspects of child development, the relative dearth of research is

not because children do not have spiritual experiences; on the contrary, spiritual experiences

appear to be common, even among young children. Furthermore, school-age children from both

religious and non-religious homes explain that God was responsible for features in the natural

world (Evans, 2001), suggesting that children’s spiritual leanings are not solely a function of

parent instruction and leaving the door open to outside influences.

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Literature Review

Family Religious Practices

Family religious practices are defined by the centrality of religion to the life, structures,

and processes of the family (Layton et al., 2011). Given the socializing role of the family, it

would not be surprising that salient religious routines in the family, such as praying at mealtimes

and before bed and parents teaching their children about God (Layton et al., 2011), should

influence children’s perception of their relationship with God. For example, research indicates

that children as young as three and four can start asking metaphysical questions (Harris, 2000).

Family conversation about spiritual matters and maternal spiritual support are strong predictors

of children’s experience of God (Desrosiers et al., 2010; King et al., 2002). Guided participation

(Rogoff, 1995) in family religious practices may not only provide a foundation for explicit

religious beliefs, but also provide opportunities for increased experiences of connection to God.

Therefore, to properly understand the role of church support in predicting children’s spirituality,

it is necessary to control for the likely influence of family religious practices.

Church Support

Church support is defined by the provision of love, empathy, caring, and trust by

coreligionists (Krause & Ellison, 2009), a sense of community, and the feeling of family when

one is around members of their church (Layton et al., 2011). Church support is theorized to

impact spiritual formation because one’s connection to God is developed and maintained through

reciprocal spiritual support within the church community, and one’s perception of God is

influenced by those relationships with others (Krause & Ellison, 2009). Prior research has found

significant correlations between adults’ spirituality and the quality of their relationships with

other people in the church (Krause & Ellison, 2009; Simpson et al., 2009; Winseman, 2005), and

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limited research with adolescents has also linked positive spiritual development to positive,

impactful relationships with a church youth pastor (Strommen & Hardel, 2000).

As existing research on the relationship between church support and spirituality has been

conducted only with adults and adolescents, the current study extends the literature by

investigating whether church support predicts children’s spirituality. The hypothesis guiding this

study is that church support will positively predict children’s spirituality, controlling for the

influence of family religious practices.