According to a study on religion and child development, children were less likely to have internalizing behavior problems (in terms of anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, and sadness) if either of their parents attended church services and/or if both parents attended with the same frequency (i.e. either sporadically or frequently.)
Source: "Religion and Child Development: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study", Bartkowski, John P., Xu, Xiaohe and Levin, Martin L.
Social Science Research Vol. NA, Number . , 2007. Page(s) NA.
(HT: FamilyFacts.org)
i'd have to respectfully disagree. i have a beautiful life which includes wonderful friends, family and a healthy self esteem and i was not raised in a church.
Rick, it said that children were LESS LIKELY to have behavior problems if the parents attended church. That's not the same thing as GUARANTEEING that behavior problems will happen if the parent's don't attend.
Apparently the key is that both parents attend at the same frequency since children of sporadic attenders do as well as children of frequent attenders.
Frankly, I don't know what the point of this whole "Family Facts" series is. Are we atheists supposed to be motivated to go to church? If a study found that families where the dad attends mosque every week are less likely to experience divorce, would all you Christians become Muslims? Hey Joe, did you know that Mormons have happy families and few of them die from lung cancer? Let's all become Mormons!
Family Facts #22: Teens raised in conservative protestant households are more likely to get pregnant than any other group, including those raised in Catholic, liberal protestant, or nonreligious households.