Unpacking the role of adolescent religious affiliation in youth outcomes.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to unpack the role of adolescent religious affiliation in positive and negative youth outcomes.

Methods: We used data from Wave 1 (2002-2003) of the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR). Participants were a nationally representative sample of 3290 adolescents from across the United States.

Declines in Religiousness Dimensions across Adolescence as Predictors of Religious Deidentification in Young Adulthood.

The present study examined whether declines in religiousness across adolescence precede religious deidentification in young adulthood. Data came from the National Study of Youth and Religion. Participants were religiously affiliated for the first three waves of the longitudinal study (N = 1144).

Daily moral identity: Linkages with integrity and compassion.

Objective: The present study investigated how much variability in moral identity scores is attributable to individual differences that are stable over time and how much variability reflects daily fluctuations.

Method: Participants (N = 138, M age = 25.11 years, SD = 10.

Introduction to Special Issue: Diverse Disciplinary Approaches to the Study of Adolescent Religious and Spiritual Development.

This editorial introduces the special issue on . First, a case is made for the importance of the special issue, focusing on the utility of diverse approaches in providing a richer understanding of the phenomena of interest. Second, a summary is given of the six target pieces in the special issue.

The values of religious nones, dones, and sacralized Americans: Links between changes in religious affiliation and Schwartz values.

Objective: Religious identification is associated with specific values, particularly conservation values that focus on social rather than personal interest. Recent research, however, suggests that the psychological repercussions of religious commitment can persist after people cease identifying as religious. We examine if this religion residue effect leads to differences in values between those who were once religious but no longer identify as religious and those who never identified as religious.

Dynamic associations between religiousness and self-regulation across adolescence into young adulthood.

Prior research has demonstrated that religiousness is associated with and potentially facilitative of self-regulation, though most of the research has been cross-sectional. The present longitudinal study examined dynamic relations between religiousness development and self-regulation formation from early adolescence into young adulthood. The sample included 500 U.

Longitudinal relations between substance use abstinence motivations and substance use behaviors in adolescence: A self-determination theory approach.

Objective: We employed self-determination theory (SDT) as a framework for examining longitudinal relations between adolescents' motivations to abstain from substances and their subsequent substance use.

Method: Participants were 475 adolescents in the United States. The data came from annual surveys following adolescents from age 16 to 19.

Processes of Religious and Spiritual Influence in Adolescence: Introduction to a Special Section.

This paper serves as the lead article introducing the special section of the Journal of Research on Adolescence focused on processes of religious and spiritual influence during adolescence. The purpose of the special section is to review prior theory and research on the processes by which religiosity and spirituality might influence youth outcomes, present original cutting-edge theory and research on processes of religious and spiritual influence, and point to the most fruitful directions and methodological approaches for future work in the area. The special section is guided by eight research questions which push researchers to go beyond mere bivariate associations between religion/spirituality and youth outcomes to unpacking the processes of influence at work.

Processes of Religious and Spiritual Influence in Adolescence: A Systematic Review of 30 Years of Research.

This is a systematic review of 30 years (1988-2017) of empirical research on processes of religious/spiritual influence in adolescence. We followed a multi-step process that resulted in 241 studies organized according to eight research questions and the corresponding methods and analyses typically used to address them. We coded these studies based on the dimensions of religiosity/spirituality and the youth outcomes involved.

Transcendent motivations and virtue development in adolescent marathon runners.

Objective: To understand how health, prosocial, and spiritual motivations correspond to changes in the virtues of self-control, patience, and interpersonal generosity among adolescents and emerging adults.

Method: Participants included adolescent and emerging adult athletes (N = 396; 12-22 years, M = 18.42, SD = 2.

Factor Structure of the Brief Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Scale in Adolescents.

Alcohol use among adolescents is a public health concern; therefore, it is important that studies that examine factors associated with adolescent drinking behaviors utilize measures that are well-validated for use with this population. The current study examined the factor structure and convergent validity of the Brief Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol scale, a measure of alcohol outcome expectancies and evaluations of expected outcomes, among adolescents ( N = 1,074; 50% girls; M = 15.96 years, SD = 1.

Bidirectional relations between different forms of prosocial behaviors and substance use among female college student athletes.

Bidirectional, longitudinal relations between alcohol and marijuana use and prosocial behaviors in women college student athletes were examined. Participants were 187 female college students (M = 19.87 years; 91% White) who completed questionnaires on their use of marijuana and alcohol, and six forms of prosocial behaviors across 6 years (2004-2010).

Identity Centrality and Psychosocial Functioning: A Person-Centered Approach.

There has been increased recognition that identity operates within several "components" and that not every component is likely to be equally central to one's sense of self. The aim of the current study was to determine the extent to which identity components (i.e.

Youth motivation as a predictor of treatment outcomes in a community mental health system.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between youth motivation and psychotherapy outcomes in routine community mental health settings.

Method: One hundred fifty youth, ages 12-17, from three community mental health clinics completed the Youth Outcome Questionnaire and Treatment Support Measure at frequent intervals over the course of treatment.

Results: Increases in motivation followed a curvilinear trajectory.

Religiousness and Levels of Hazardous Alcohol Use: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Prior person-centered research has consistently identified a subgroup of highly religious participants that uses significantly less alcohol when compared to the other subgroups. The construct of religious motivation is absent from existing examinations of the nuanced combinations of religiousness dimensions within persons, and alcohol expectancy valuations have yet to be included as outcome variables. Variable-centered approaches have found religious motivation and alcohol expectancy valuations to play a protective role against individuals' hazardous alcohol use.

Identity in young adulthood: Links with mental health and risky behavior.

The present study was conducted to contribute to our understanding of young adult identity development by deriving latent profiles from intrapersonal and interpersonal indices of identity synthesis and confusion. A sample of 9737 college-attending young adults completed measures of identity, mental health, and health risk behaviors. Four latent profiles emerged: Synthesized (high synthesis, low confusion), Diffused (moderate synthesis, high confusion), Elevated (high synthesis and confusion), and Moderate (moderate synthesis and confusion).

Moral Identity and Adolescent Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviors: Interactions with Moral Disengagement and Self-regulation.

Moral identity has been positively linked to prosocial behaviors and negatively linked to antisocial behaviors; but, the processes by which it is linked to such outcomes are unclear. The purpose of the present study was to examine moral identity not only as a predictor, but also as a moderator of relationships between other predictors (moral disengagement and self-regulation) and youth outcomes (prosocial and antisocial behaviors). The sample consisted of 384 adolescents (42 % female), ages 15-18 recruited from across the US using an online survey panel.

Adolescent Motivations to Engage in Pro-Social Behaviors and Abstain From Health-Risk Behaviors: A Self-Determination Theory Approach.

The present study used self-determination theory to examine adolescents' motivations to engage in charitable donating and community volunteering and to abstain from sexual intercourse and marijuana use. The sample consisted of 419 late adolescents recruited from across the country through an online survey panel. Participants completed online measures of motivations to engage in donating and volunteering, motivations to abstain from sex and marijuana, and single-item indexes of the four behaviors.

Good Choices, Poor Choices: Relationship Between the Quality of Identity Commitments and Psychosocial Functioning.

Research indicates making identity commitments on the part of emerging adults is associated with a wide range of psychosocial benefits. Data from a large research collaborative were used to evaluate hypotheses drawn from eudaimonic identity theory that the benefits of commitment are attributable to the quality of the commitments held. Findings from a study with 9,650 students attending 30 colleges and universities replicated previous research indicating the benefits of identity commitments with respect to subjective well-being, psychological well-being, self-esteem, an internal locus of control; and reduced likelihood of symptoms of general anxiety, social anxiety, and depression.

Moral identity as moral ideal self: links to adolescent outcomes.

The purposes of this study were to conceptualize moral identity as moral ideal self, to develop a measure of this construct, to test for age and gender differences, to examine links between moral ideal self and adolescent outcomes, and to assess purpose and social responsibility as mediators of the relations between moral ideal self and outcomes. Data came from a local school sample (Data Set 1: N = 510 adolescents; 10-18 years of age) and a national online sample (Data Set 2: N = 383 adolescents; 15-18 years of age) of adolescents and their parents. All outcome measures were parent-report (Data Set 1: altruism, moral personality, aggression, and cheating; Data Set 2: environmentalism, school engagement, internalizing, and externalizing), whereas other variables were adolescent-report.

Religiousness and hazardous alcohol use: a conditional indirect effects model.

The current study examined a conditional indirect effects model of the association between religiousness and adolescents' hazardous alcohol use. In doing so, we responded to the need to include both mediators and moderators, and the need for theoretically informed models when examining religiousness and adolescents' alcohol use. The sample consisted of 383 adolescents, aged 15-18, who completed an online questionnaire.

Adolescent-parent attachment as a mediator of relations between parenting and adolescent social behavior and wellbeing in China.

The purpose of this study was to examine links between parenting dimensions (authoritative parenting, psychological control, and parental authority) and adolescent wellbeing (self-esteem, autonomy, and peer attachments) as mediated by parent-teen attachment, among Chinese families. The sample included 298 Chinese adolescents, ages 15-18 years (M(age) = 16.36, SD = .

Meaning in Life in Emerging Adulthood: A Person-Oriented Approach.

The present study investigated naturally occurring profiles based on two dimensions of meaning in life: Presence of Meaning and Search for Meaning. Cluster analysis was used to examine meaning-in-life profiles, and subsequent analyses identified different patterns in psychosocial functioning for each profile. A sample of 8,492 American emerging adults (72.