RELIGION AND THE WELL-BEING OF ADOLESCENTS

A literature review of the relation between religiousness and adolesce nt wellbeing is presented, along with new analyses from a large adoles cent data base. It is found that the average level of religiousness of U.S. adolescents has not declined recently, although it does appear t o decrease on average across the years of adolescence. African America ns are more religious than whites, and girls are move religious than b oys. Religiousness is positively associated with prosocial values and behavior, and negatively related to suicide ideation and attempts, sub stance abuse, premature sexual involvement, and delinquency. It is unr elated to self-esteem. These results are found to be robust after cont rolling for sociodemographic characteristics. The article concludes wi th policy suggestions for integrating religion's prosocial influences into larger societal programs.