Religious affiliation, spirituality, and health among young adolescents

Purpose: Describe the relationship of religious affiliation and spiritual wellness with adolescent health. Background: Religion and spirituality have been identified as key protective assets for adolescent health, but their relative contribution to health remains unclear. Methods: Cross sectional survey of (n=713) 7th and 8th grade students in a Midwestern inner-ring suburb. Whole school computer-administered youth risk behavior survey based instrument with response rate of 90.5%. Brief Assessment of Spiritual Insight and Commitment (BASIC) is a 14-item multidimensional instrument addressing 7 domains of spiritual wellness: faith, community, control, meaning, forgiveness, peace, and love. Cronbach's alpha= .91 with all items contributing. Results: There was no significant difference in religious affiliation or spiritual wellness by gender. White race and higher SES had higher religious affiliation (p ≤ .026; p ≤ .001) and spiritual wellness (both p ≤ .001). Religious affiliation was related to spiritual wellness (p ≤ .026) but not associated with better health risk behaviors. Higher spiritual wellness was strongly associated with less substance use including tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, inhalants and prescription drugs; less violence and sexual activity; better mental health and health quality of life (all p ≤ .001). Teens with higher spiritual wellness also reported less parental permissiveness, higher parental involvement, and a positive linear relationship with other developmental assets (all p ≤ .001). Conclusion: Spiritual wellness as measured by the BASIC survey showed substantial relationships with adolescent health, while religious affiliation did not. The role of supporting spiritual wellness as a mechanism to improve teen health should be explored.