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Religion and Child Well-Being

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Book cover Handbook of Child Well-Being

Abstract

Religion is a potent cultural force. Although sacred writings provide limited guidance regarding child well-being, interpretations of those writings inform many parents and others. Psychologists have discussed the relation between religion and children’s well-being since the beginning of the discipline. Empirical studies into children and religion began in the 1950s; however the first study to explicitly examine the religion and children’s well-being was published in 1979. The evidence that has accumulated since then is remarkably consistent: Religiosity in families is positively associated with child and youth well-being. In the areas of health behaviors, mental health and internalizing problems, aggression and externalizing problems, and even cognitive development, there are numerous studies documenting the association. Although the strength of the association is not always strong, the evidence almost always reveals a positive relation between religion and well-being. There are two types of exceptions. First, there are circumstances when religious beliefs can be detrimental to youth well-being. The other exception occurs in cases where religious leaders use or religion is used as a justification to maltreat children. Consequently, a blanket assertion that religion is associated with child well-being cannot be made. In addition, there are several limitations to the current body of research. The many ways in which religion is thought to be linked to child well-being are identified, including through the child, social networks, marital relations, and parenting. Finally, directions for future research are proposed.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Duaa Bayan for her assistance on the section regarding Islam and Mark Chancey, Ph.D., for his thoughtful comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, 75275, USA

    George W. Holden Ph.D & Paul Alan Williamson

Authors
  1. George W. Holden Ph.D
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  2. Paul Alan Williamson
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Correspondence to George W. Holden Ph.D .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Asher Ben-Arieh

  2. Research Institute of Quality of Life, University of Girona, Girona, Spain

    Ferran Casas

  3. Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Ivar Frønes

  4. Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Jill E. Korbin

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Holden, G.W., Williamson, P.A. (2014). Religion and Child Well-Being. In: Ben-Arieh, A., Casas, F., Frønes, I., Korbin, J. (eds) Handbook of Child Well-Being. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8_158

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8_158

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-9062-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-90-481-9063-8

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