Sociological Analysis Advance Access published online on March 27, 2009
Sociological Analysis, doi:10.1093/socrel/srp011
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Religious Involvement and Transitions into Adolescent Sexual Activities*
Mississippi State University
University of Miami
E-mail: amb670{at}msstate.edu
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Abstract |
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Using two waves of data from the National Survey of Youth and Religion (2002, 2005), a national probability sample of 3,290 adolescents ages 13 to 17, we test whether religious involvement (church attendance, religious salience, private religiosity, and family religiosity) is associated with delayed transitions into sexual activities (sexual touching, oral sex, and sexual intercourse). We also consider whether the rate of these transitions varies according to important social characteristics (age, gender, and race/ethnicity). Our results suggest that multiple indicators of religious involvement (especially religious salience) are associated with delayed transitions into selected sexual activities. We also find that the rate of transition into sexual activities associated with private and family religiosity varies according to key social characteristics.
* Direct correspondence to Amy M. Burdette, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Mississippi State University, P.O. Box C, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA. The National Study of Youth and Religion (www.youthandreligion.org), whose data are used by permission here, was generously funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., under the direction of Christian Smith of the University of Notre Dame and Lisa Pearce of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The authors thank Chris Ellison for helpful suggestions. However, we are solely responsible for errors of fact or interpretation that remain.