Individual, Familial and Social Environment Factors Associated with Religiosity Among Urban High School Students

Background Adolescence is a time when beliefs and values are developed and when the influences of the significant others take shape in the life of the future young adult and manifest themselves in affecting the level of religiosity. Apart from other factors, the relationship between adolescents and parents is essential for understanding the development of religiosity. Although numerous studies show an association between the religiosity of parents and adolescents' beliefs and practices, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the mechanism of religious socialization within the family. Purpose This study seeks to explain how adolescents' religious beliefs and participation relates to the religiosity of significant others, relationship with their parents and other individual factors such as gender and parents' education and occupation. Methods As part of the Youth in Europe programe, a questionnaire-based study was conducted in 108 randomly selected classes from 84 high-schools in Bucharest, Romania. Data from 2604 respondents was used to identify the factors associated with religiosity at the individual, familial and social environment level of high school students. Results The main findings reveal that adolescents with better relationships with their parents are more religious in terms of religious beliefs and religious participation than those with lesser relationships. Girls show a higher level of individual religiosity than boys, but boys attend more often religious services. Furthermore, adolescents coming from families with lower socioeconomic status have higher scores on religious beliefs, but they score lower on religious participation. Conclusions and Implications Adolescents' religiosity relates to/associates with many variables, being a dynamic process. Its understanding resides in studying the complexity of relationships that shape the development of religious belief and behavior.