Graduate Program

Family and Consumer Studies

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

2007

Thesis Director

Kathleen O'Rourke

Thesis Committee Member

Melissa Meadows

Thesis Committee Member

James Slavik

Abstract

While religiosity's influence on family life has been widely examined in studies, little attention has been paid to religiosity's relationships to communication and conflict patterns within the family. The current study examined the relationship between parental religiosity and parent-adolescent conflict. A quantitative, bivariate exploratory survey design was utilized to examine parental religiosity's relationship with parent-adolescent conflict; 28 parents from three religious organizations participated in the study. The results indicated that there is no significant relationship between parental religiosity and quantity of topics discussed with adolescent, indicating parental religiosity does not affect the amount of communication in the parent-adolescent relationship. Parents with higher levels of religiosity experience greater conflict intensity over topics that are related to family functioning and the adolescent's role within the family unit. Significant relationships existed between parental religiosity and spousal religiosity, and parental religiosity and marital status, further identifying the relationship between religiosity and family compatibility and composition. Results strongly suggest religiosity level is independent of adolescent age, indicating that parents do not seek out religion to help cope with the new challenges of adolescence but, instead, rely on their existing religiosity to aid in parenting practices.

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