Two weeks ago, we began a series called “A New Way of Looking at the Spiritual Impact of Divorce on Children.” In that series, we started looking at a new report from Melinda Lundquist Denton of Clemson University titled, “Family Structure, Family Disruption, and Profiles of Adolescent Religiosity.” First, we talked about how divorce impacts a child’s spiritual development. Last week, we looked at a new typology for thinking about children of divorce when it comes to their faith. Today, we conclude the series by looking at the results of the study, whether divorce has a negative or positive impact and what it means for churches and children of divorce.
The Basis of the Study
This study was based on data collected as part of the National Study of Youth and Religion – a telephone survey of 3,290 teenagers which began in 2002-2003. During Wave 1 (2002-2003), 3,290 teenagers aged 13 to 17 were asked a variety of questions. Those teens were resurveyed in 2005 (Wave 2) when they were between the ages of 16 and 21 and again in 2007/2008 (Wave 3) when they were between the ages of 18 and 24. The results for kids included in all three waves (2,185) formed the basis of this analysis.
The Results