In religious participation, young people seek a sense of belonging and positive relationships with their peers and adults in a religious community, and also a connection with God and higher powers that gives them a sense of meaning and purpose. Specific populations of young people take advantage of the specific resilience functions of religion. They analyzed the effects of parents' religious assistance and how the religious environment at home (the frequency of religious arguments between parents and children and marital conflicts over religion) influenced a nationally representative sample of third grade students. The findings were published in the report Religion and Life: Attitudes and Self-Images of American Adolescents.
Despite these unwanted negative outcomes, religion remains an important aspect of human life and, if properly implemented, religious education can positively influence adolescents' mental health. In their quest to develop their identity, they begin to search for the meaning of life and become critical of the ideologies taught in religion. The findings, published in the journal Religions, show that children raised in religious families tend to have better social and psychological skills, but may perform worse academically, compared to their non-religious peers. What is even more surprising is the dichotomous function that religion seems to play, since it imbues compassion and kindness towards all, but it also instigates religious hatred, violence and religious martyrdom, especially among radical believers.
In addition, the coexistence of diverse religions in a single community or nation is a relatively recent trend. Effects of religion and the type of religious internalization on the mental health of Iranian adolescents. However, the increase in the Catholic population has led to the teaching of religion as a subject without any intention of indoctrination. Sacrifices and wars in the name of religion are not unheard of, and some of the most important examples are The Crusades, the Sati System, Buddhist Burma, jihadists and the witch hunt, which killed thousands of lives.
However, this religious benefit is only valid for people who live in countries where religion is widespread and important. Using 1996 data from Monitoring the Future (MTF), these findings examine the correlations between four religious variables and a variety of attitudes, including self-vision, hope for the future, satisfaction with life, and the meaning of life. One of the main findings of the study is that religion can be an important influence, generally for good and sometimes for worse, as children go through the elementary school years, Bartkowski said. Smith is also quick to point out that it is difficult to determine the direction of cause and effect between religion and attitudes to life and self-images because of the cross-cutting nature of these data.
In fact, religion could be better combined with other community resources, such as academically oriented clubs and school activities, he said. According to Christian Smith, principal investigator at the NSYR, regular attendance at religious services, the great subjective importance of faith and the years spent in groups of religious youth are associated with higher self-esteem and a more positive attitude towards oneself, even when statistical procedures control the influences of numerous demographic and socioeconomic factors.
