IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i24p9372-d462165.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Religious Attendance in a Secular Country Protects Adolescents from Health-Risk Behavior Only in Combination with Participation in Church Activities

Author

Listed:
  • Marie Buchtova

    (Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic)

  • Klara Malinakova

    (Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic)

  • Alice Kosarkova

    (Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic)

  • Vit Husek

    (Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic)

  • Jitse P. van Dijk

    (Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic
    Department of Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
    Graduate School Kosice Institute for Society and Health, P.J. Safarik University in Kosice, 040 11 Kosice, Slovakia)

  • Peter Tavel

    (Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic)

Abstract

Religiosity and spirituality have been considered to be protective factors of adolescent health-risk behavior (HRB). The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between adolescents’ HRB and their religiosity, taking into account their parents’ faith and their own participation in church activities. A nationally representative sample ( n = 13377, 13.5 ± 1.7 years, 49.1% boys) of Czech adolescents participated in the 2018 Health Behavior in School-aged Children cross-sectional study. We measured religious attendance (RA), faith importance (FI) (both of respondents and their parents), participation in church activities and adolescent HRB (tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use and early sexual intercourse). We found that neither RA nor FI of participants or their parents had a significant effect on adolescents’ HRB. Compared to attending respondents who participate in church activities (AP), non-attending respondents who participate in church activities were more likely to report smoking and early sexual intercourse, with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 3.14 (1.54–6.39) to 3.82 (1.99–7.35). Compared to AP, non-attending respondents who did not participate in church activities were more likely to report early sexual intercourse, with OR = 1.90 (1.14–3.17). Thus, our findings show that RA does not protect adolescents from HRB; they suggest that RA protects adolescents from HRB only in combination with participation in church activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie Buchtova & Klara Malinakova & Alice Kosarkova & Vit Husek & Jitse P. van Dijk & Peter Tavel, 2020. "Religious Attendance in a Secular Country Protects Adolescents from Health-Risk Behavior Only in Combination with Participation in Church Activities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9372-:d:462165
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9372/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9372/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pekka Virtanen & Tapio Nummi & Tomi Lintonen & Hugo Westerlund & Bruno Hägglöf & Anne Hammarström, 2015. "Mental health in adolescence as determinant of alcohol consumption trajectories in the Northern Swedish Cohort," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(3), pages 335-342, March.
    2. Klara Malinakova & Jaroslava Kopcakova & Andrea Madarasova Geckova & Jitse P. Dijk & Jana Furstova & Michal Kalman & Peter Tavel & Sijmen A. Reijneveld, 2019. "“I am spiritual, but not religious”: Does one without the other protect against adolescent health-risk behaviour?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(1), pages 115-124, January.
    3. Klara Malinakova & Radek Trnka & Ludmila Bartuskova & Petr Glogar & Natalia Kascakova & Michal Kalman & Jitse P. van Dijk & Peter Tavel, 2019. "Are Adolescent Religious Attendance/Spirituality Associated with Family Characteristics?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Graham F. Moore & Rebecca Cox & Rhiannon E. Evans & Britt Hallingberg & Jemma Hawkins & Hannah J. Littlecott & Sara J. Long & Simon Murphy, 2018. "School, Peer and Family Relationships and Adolescent Substance Use, Subjective Wellbeing and Mental Health Symptoms in Wales: a Cross Sectional Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(6), pages 1951-1965, December.
    5. Petr Badura & Dagmar Sigmundova & Erik Sigmund & Andrea Madarasova Geckova & Jitse P. Dijk & Sijmen A. Reijneveld, 2017. "Participation in organized leisure-time activities and risk behaviors in Czech adolescents," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(3), pages 387-396, April.
    6. Nonnemaker, James & McNeely, Clea A & Blum, Robert Wm, 2006. "Public and private domains of religiosity and adolescent smoking transitions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 3084-3095, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marie Buchtova & Klara Malinakova & Jitse P. Dijk & Vit Husek & Peter Tavel, 2024. "Sensory processing sensitivity is associated with religiosity and spirituality," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Tavel & Bibiana Jozefiakova & Peter Telicak & Jana Furstova & Michal Puza & Natalia Kascakova, 2022. "Psychometric Analysis of the Shortened Version of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale on the Slovak Population (SWBS-Sk)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, January.
    2. Klara Malinakova & Jaroslava Kopcakova & Andrea Madarasova Geckova & Jitse P. Dijk & Jana Furstova & Michal Kalman & Peter Tavel & Sijmen A. Reijneveld, 2019. "“I am spiritual, but not religious”: Does one without the other protect against adolescent health-risk behaviour?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(1), pages 115-124, January.
    3. Frank Gillum & Thomas O. Obisesan & Nicole C. Jarrett, 2009. "Smokeless Tobacco Use and Religiousness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-7, January.
    4. David S. Evans & Anne O’Farrell & Aishling Sheridan & Paul Kavanagh, 2023. "Social Connectedness and Smoking among Adolescents in Ireland: An Analysis of the Health Behaviour in Schoolchildren Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(9), pages 1-11, April.
    5. Nadia Nandlall & Lisa D. Hawke & Em Hayes & Karleigh Darnay & Mardi Daley & Jacqueline Relihan & Joanna Henderson, 2022. "Learning Through a Pandemic: Youth Experiences With Remote Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, September.
    6. George Danut Mocanu & Gabriel Murariu & Dan Munteanu, 2021. "The Influence of Socio-Demographic Factors on the Forms of Leisure for the Students at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-24, November.
    7. Petr Badura & Andrea Madarasova Geckova & Dagmar Sigmundova & Erik Sigmund & Jitse P. Dijk & Sijmen A. Reijneveld, 2018. "Can organized leisure-time activities buffer the negative outcomes of unstructured activities for adolescents’ health?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(6), pages 743-751, July.
    8. Néboa Zozaya & Laura Vallejo, 2020. "The Effect of the Economic Crisis on Adolescents’ Perceived Health and Risk Behaviors: A Multilevel Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-14, January.
    9. Dario Lipari & Bianca Maria Bocci & Cesare Rivieri & Elena Frongillo & Antonella Miserendino & Andrea Pammolli & Claudia Maria Trombetta & Ilaria Manini & Rita Simi & Giacomo Lazzeri, 2023. "Trend of Correlations between Psychological Symptoms and Socioeconomic Inequalities among Italian Adolescents: Cross-Sectional Study from 2006 to 2018 in Tuscany Region," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(15), pages 1-11, July.
    10. Jacqueline Lettau, 2021. "The Impact of Children’s Academic Competencies and School Grades on their Life Satisfaction: What Really Matters?," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(6), pages 2171-2195, December.
    11. Samuel Stroope & Scott Draper & Andrew Whitehead, 2013. "Images of a Loving God and Sense of Meaning in Life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 25-44, March.
    12. Marcin Gierczyk & Edyta Charzyńska & Dagmara Dobosz & Hewilia Hetmańczyk & Ewa Jarosz, 2022. "Subjective Well-Being of Primary and Secondary School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Latent Profile Analysis," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(6), pages 2115-2140, December.
    13. Ward, Paul Russell & Muller, Robert & Tsourtos, George & Hersh, Deborah & Lawn, Sharon & Winefield, Anthony H. & Coveney, John, 2011. "Additive and subtractive resilience strategies as enablers of biographical reinvention: A qualitative study of ex-smokers and never-smokers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(7), pages 1140-1148, April.
    14. Sari Castrén & Terhi Mustonen & Krista Hylkilä & Niko Männikkö & Maria Kääriäinen & Kirsimarja Raitasalo, 2022. "Risk Factors for Excessive Social Media Use Differ from Those of Gambling and Gaming in Finnish Youth," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-12, February.
    15. Rosario Padial-Ruz & José Antonio Pérez-Turpin & Mar Cepero-González & Félix Zurita-Ortega, 2019. "Effects of Physical Self-Concept, Emotional Isolation, and Family Functioning on Attitudes towards Physical Education in Adolescents: Structural Equation Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-16, December.
    16. Alberto Borraccino & Giacomo Lazzeri & Omar Kakaa & Petr Bad’ura & Daniele Bottigliengo & Paola Dalmasso & Patrizia Lemma, 2020. "The Contribution of Organised Leisure-Time Activities in Shaping Positive Community Health Practices among 13- and 15-Year-Old Adolescents: Results from the Health Behaviours in School-Aged Children S," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-12, September.
    17. Michela Bersia & Paola Berchialla & Lorena Charrier & Patrizia Lemma & Alberto Borraccino & Paola Nardone & Daniela Pierannunzio & Silvia Ciardullo & Rosanna Irene Comoretto & Paola Dalmasso, 2022. "Mental Well-Being: 2010–2018 Trends among Italian Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-19, January.
    18. Wang, Zhiyou & Chen, Ji-Kang, 2023. "Child maltreatment, social relationships and psychological distress: A multiple mediational analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    19. Flavia Izzo & Roberto Baiocco & Jessica Pistella, 2022. "Children’s and Adolescents’ Happiness and Family Functioning: A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-28, December.
    20. Zhang, Anao & Liu, Chun & Bornheimer, Lindsay A. & Solomon, Phyllis & Wang, Kaipeng & Morrow, So'Phelia, 2019. "The indirect effect of bullying on adolescent self-rated health through mental health: A gender specific pattern," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 1-1.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9372-:d:462165. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.