Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T17:04:51.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Religiosity and mental health of pre-adolescents with psychiatric problems and their parents: The TRAILS study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

W. van der Jagt-Jelsma ,
M.R. de Vries-Schot ,
Rint de Jong ,
C.A. Hartman ,
F.C. Verhulst ,
H. Klip ,
P.A.M. van Deurzen  and
J.K. Buitelaar
W. van der Jagt-Jelsma*
Affiliation:
Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. E. Schattenkerkweg 1, 8025 BW, Zwolle, The Netherlands
M.R. de Vries-Schot
Affiliation:
GGz In de Bres, Drachten, The Netherlands
Rint de Jong*
Affiliation:
Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. E. Schattenkerkweg 1, 8025 BW, Zwolle, The Netherlands
C.A. Hartman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
F.C. Verhulst
Affiliation:
Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
H. Klip
Affiliation:
Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
P.A.M. van Deurzen
Affiliation:
Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
J.K. Buitelaar
Affiliation:
Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, The Netherlands Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (W. van der Jagt-Jelsma).
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (W. van der Jagt-Jelsma).
Get access

Abstract

Background:

This study investigated the association between the religiosity of parents and pre-adolescents, and pre-adolescents’ psychiatric problems.

Method:

In a clinic-referred cohort of 543 pre-adolescents at least once referred to a mental health outpatient clinic mental health problems were assessed using self-reports (Youth Self-Report; YSR), parent reports (Child Behavior Checklist; CBCL), and teacher reports (Teacher's Report Form; TRF) of child behavioral and emotional problems. Paternal, maternal, and pre-adolescent religiosity were assessed by self-report. MANCOVAs were performed for internalizing and externalizing problems as dependent variables, with maternal religiosity, paternal religiosity, pre-adolescent religiosity, parental religious harmony, and gender as independent variables, and socioeconomic status and divorce as covariates.

Results:

Internalizing problems. Pre-adolescents of actively religious mothers had more internalizing symptoms than pre-adolescents of nonreligious mothers. Harmony and gender did not significantly affect the association between maternal religiosity and internalizing problems. Externalizing problems. No associations between religiosity of pre-adolescents, religiosity of mothers, religiosity of fathers and/or harmony of parents and externalizing problem behavior have been found.

Discussion and conclusions:

Overall, associations between mental health and religiosity were modest to absent. Results are discussed in the context of a clinic-referred cohort, the quest phase of internalizing religious beliefs and role modeling of parents.

Keywords

Mental healthPre-adolescentsReligionReligiosityParentsClinic-referred cohort
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 30 , Issue 7 , October 2015 , pp. 845 - 851
Copyright
European Psychiatric Association 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Abbreviations: GLM, Generalized Linear Model; TRAILS, TRAcking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey; CBCL, Child Behavior Checklist; YSR, Youth Self-Report; TRF, Teacher’s Report Form.

References

Abbotts, JE, Williams, RGa, Sweeting, HN, West, PB. Is going to church good or bad for you? Denomination, attendance and mental health of children in West Scotland. Soc Sci Med 2004;58:645–656.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Achenbach, TMManual for the Child Behavior Checklist/4-18 and 1991 profile Burlington, VT: University of Vermont; 1991.Google Scholar
Achenbach, TMManual for the Youth Self-Report and 1991 profile Burlington, VT: University of Vermont; 1991.Google Scholar
Achenbach, TMManual for the Teachers Report Form and 1991 profile Burlington, VT: University of Vermont; 1991.Google Scholar
Azagba, S, Asbridge, M, Langille, DB. Is religiosity positively associated with school connectedness: evidence from high school students in Atlantic Canada?. J Prim Prev 2014;35:417–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Batson, CD, Ventis, WLThe religious experience: a social–psychological perspective New York: Oxford University Press; 1982.Google Scholar
Bonelli, RM, Koenig, HG. Mental disorders, religion and spirituality 1990–2010: a systematic evidence-based review. J Relig Health 2013;52(2):657–673.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braam, AW, Schaap-Jonker, H, van der Horst, MH, Steunenberg, B, Beekman, AT, van Tilburg, W, et al.Twelve-year history of late-life depression and subsequent feelings to God. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2014;22November (11):1272–1281.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brody, GH, Stoneman, Z, Flor, D. Parental religiosity, family processes, and youth competence in rural, two-parent African American families. Dev Psychol 1996;32:696–706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cotton, S, McGrady, ME, Rosenthal, SL. Measurement of religiosity/spirituality in adolescent health outcomes research: trends and recommendations. J Relig Health 2010;49:414–444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cotton, S, Zebracki, K, Rosenthal, SL, Tsevat, J, Drotar, D. Religion/spirituality and adolescent health outcomes: a review. J Adolesc Health 2006;38(4):472–480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dew, RE, Daniel, SS, Armstrong, TD, Goldston, DB, Triplett, MF, Koenig, HG. Religion/spirituality and adolescent psychiatric symptoms: a review. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2008;39(4):381–398.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dew, RE, Daniel, SS, Goldston, DB, Koenig, HG. Religion, spirituality, and depression in adolescent psychiatric outpatients. J Nerv Ment Dis 2008;196:247–251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dezutter, J, Soenens, B, Hutsebaut, D. Religiosity and mental health: a further exploration of the relative importance of religious behaviors versus religious attitudes. Personal Individ Differ 2006;40:807–818.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
George, LK, Ellison, CG, Larson, DB. Explaining the relationships between religious involvement and health. Psychol Inq 2002;13(3):190–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hackney, CH, Sanders, GS. Religiosity and mental health: a meta-analysis of recent studies. J Sci Study Relig 2003;42(1):43–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartman, CA, Hermanns, VW, de Jong, PJ, Ormel, J. Self- or parent report of (co-occurring) internalizing and externalizing problems, and basal or reactivity measures of HPA-axis functioning: a systematic evaluation of the internalizing-hyperresponsivity versus externalizing-hyporesponsivity HPA-axis hypothesis. Biol Psychol 2013;94(1):175–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harakeh, Z, de Looze, ME, Schrijvers, CT, van Dorsselaer, SA, Vollebergh, WA. Individual and environmental predictors of health risk behaviours among Dutch adolescents: the HBSC study. Public Health 2012;126(July (7)):566–573.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huisman, M, Oldehinkel, AJ, de Winter, A, Minderaa, RB, de Bildt, A, Huizink, AC, et al.Cohort profile: the Dutch ‘Tracking Adolescents’ Individual lives ‘Survey’; TRAILS. Int J Epidemiol 2008;1–9.Google ScholarPubMed
Josephson, AM, Dell, ML. Religion and spirituality in child and adolescent psychiatry: a new frontier. Child Adolesc Psychiat Clin N Am 2004;13(1):1–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khamis, V. Bullying among school-age children in the greater Beirutarea: risk and protective factors. Child Abuse Neglect 2014;39:137–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kieren, DK, Munro, B. Following the leaders: parents’ influence on adolescent religious activity. J Sci Study Relig 1987;26(2):249–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koenig, HG, McCullough, M, Larson, DBHandbook of religion and health: a century of research reviewed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koenig, HG, King, D, Carson, VBHandbook of religion and health, 2nd ed., New York: Oxford University Press; 2012.Google Scholar
Kojetin, BA, McIntosh, DN, Bridges, RA, Spilka, BQuest: constructive search of religious conflict?. J Sci Study Relig 1987;26:111–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, DB, Pattison, EM, Blazer, DG, Omran, AR, Kaplan, BHSystematic analysis of research on religious variables in four major psychiatric journals 1978–1982. Am J Psychiatry 1986;143(3):329–334.Google ScholarPubMed
Moreira-Almeida, A, Lotufo Neto, F, Koenig, HGReligiousness and mental health: a review. Rev Bras Psiquiatr 2006;28(3):242–250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Myers, SMAn interactive model of religiosity inheritance: the importance of family context. Am Sociol Rev 1996;61(5):858–866.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, LD, Haynie, DLIntergenerational religious dynamics and adolescent delinquency. Soc Forces 2004;82(4):1553–1572.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, MJ, Little, TD, Perez, JEReligiousness and depressive symptoms among adolescents. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 2003;32(2):267–276.Google ScholarPubMed
Pieper, JZT, Vries-Schot, MRde, Uden, MHF vanReligious and receptive coping. Importance for the well-being of Christian outpatients and parishioners. Arch Psychol Religion 2012;34:173–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Power, L, McKinney, CEmerging adult perceptions of parental religiosity and parenting practices: relationships with emerging adult religiosity and psychological adjustment. Psychol Relig Spiritual 2013;5(2):99–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Regnerus, MDLinked lives faith, and behavior: intergenerational religious influence on adolescent delinquency. J Sci Study Relig 2003;42(4):189–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rew, L, Wong, YJA systematic review of associations among religiosity/spirituality and adolescent health attitudes and behaviors. J Adolesc Health 2006;38:433–442.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rew, L, Wong, YJ, Sternglanz, RWThe relationship between prayer, health behaviors, and protective resources in school-age children. Issues Compr Pediatr Nurs 2004;27:245–255.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, TB, McCullough, ME, Poll, JReligiousness and depression: evidence for a main effect and the moderating influence of stressful life events. Psychol Bull 2003;129(4):614–636.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strayhorn, JM, Weidman, CS, Larson, DA measure of religiousness, and its relation to parent and child mental health variables. J Community Psychol 1990;18(1):34–43.3.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Jagt, W, de Vries-Schot, M, de Jong, R, Verhulst, FC, Ormel, J, Veenstra, R, et al.The relationship between parental religiosity and mental health of pre-adolescents in a community sample. The TRAILS study. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2011;20(5):253–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Varon, SR, Riley, AWRelationship between maternal church attendance and adolescent mental health and social functioning. Psychiatr Serv 1999;50(6):799–805.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vries-Schot, MRde, Pieper, JZT, Uden, MHFvanMature Religiosity Scale. Validity of a new questionnaire. Eur J Ment Health 2012;7:57–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, YJ, Rew, L, Slaikeu, KDA systematic review of recent research on adolescent religiosity/spirituality and mental health. Issues Ment Health Nurs 2006;27:161–183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.