Parental styles and religious values among teenagers : a 3-year prospective analysis

The authors examined the effect of Grade 7 parental styles on Grade 10 religious values. The authors surveyed 784 participants (382 boys, 394 girls; 8 unreported) in Grade 7. The mean age of the group at Time 1 was 12.3 years (SD = 0.5 years). Time 2 occurred 3 years later when students were in Grade 10 (372 boys, 375 girls). In addition to assessing parental styles at Time 1, we also controlled for a number of Time 1 variables thought to possibly influence Time 2 religious values, namely, self-esteem, trait hope, and students' levels of conscientiousness. Time 1 measures (except self-esteem) were signiï¬cantly correlated with Time 2 religious values, but only parental authoritativeness and hope signiï¬cantly predicted religious values. The authors discuss these results with reference to the nature of parental styles and hope and their impact on religious values.