Religious Participation Among African American Adolescents

This paper examines the sociodemographic correlates of religious participation among African American adolescents. It uses data from the National Survey of American Life Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A; aged 13–17). Twelve indicators of organizational religiosity, nonorganizational religiosity, subjective religiosity, religious coping, and an item that indicated whether parents compelled religious service attendance were examined. Our findings indicated that African American adolescents, like their adult counterparts, are highly religious and heavily rely upon religious coping in times of stress. Findings also indicate that there are significant within-group differences. Overall, our findings were consistent with research on adult populations (i.e. gender, region). Adolescent girls and residents of the South were more engaged in religious activities than boys and youth in other regions. Age differences indicated that older adolescents were less likely than younger adolescents to engage in organizational, nonorganizational, and subjective religious activities. Adolescents whose parents compelled religious service attendance reported lower levels of all forms of religious involvement. Study findings confirm the importance of examining within-group variability in order to provide a more in-depth understanding of religious participation of African American adolescents. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research on African American adolescent religious participation.