Relations between youths' conceptions of spirituality and their developmental outcomes^☆

Abstract

This study uses a positive youth development (PYD) approach to explore whether differences in youths' conceptions of spirituality were linked to patters of difference regarding 6 domains of PYD. Using data from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, findings revealed a consistent trend across 6 domains of positive development. Youth who had coherent conceptions of being spiritual generally scored highest on measures of positive development, whereas youth in the ambiguous spirituality group (i.e., less coherent) scored the lowest. However, follow-up analyses reveal that such relations did not hold over time. Implications of findings include youth development professionals aiming to nurture the spiritual growth of youth should encourage more coherent notions of spirituality among the youth they serve.

Temporal Relation Between Youths’ Perceived Spirituality and Indicators of Positive Development

“…Such a wide spectrum of conceptualizations of spirituality presents challenges in empirical research (Koenig, ; Speed, ). Across those conceptions, empirical reports have found correlations between indicators of PYD and youths’ spirituality (e.g., James & Fine, ; Warren et al., ), bolstering the claims of its significance in PYD. We utilize James and Fine's () tripartite model to conceptualize spirituality that was developed based on adolescents’ own narratives of what it means to be spiritual, a historically neglected perspective (Smith & Denton, ).…”

“…Across those conceptions, empirical reports have found correlations between indicators of PYD and youths’ spirituality (e.g., James & Fine, ; Warren et al., ), bolstering the claims of its significance in PYD. We utilize James and Fine's () tripartite model to conceptualize spirituality that was developed based on adolescents’ own narratives of what it means to be spiritual, a historically neglected perspective (Smith & Denton, ). Furthermore, RDS models of human development emphasize that the individual is an active agent in their own socialization (Overton & Molenaar, ), thus having a model that allow for youths’ own conceptualizations of spirituality align with the theoretical grounding of this study.…”

“…The growth in frameworks and language to instantiate positive development led many scholars to empirically test whether and how spirituality is linked to PYD (e.g., James & Fine, ; King, Clardy, & Ramos, ; Warren, Lerner, & Phelps, ). Although those articles confirmed a positive correlation between youths’ spirituality and PYD, examining potential temporal relations between the concepts can potentially advance knowledge on this topic.…”

Charitable Sporting Events as a Context for Building Adolescent Generosity: Examining the Role of Religiousness and Spirituality

“…However, many of these studies tend to focus more generally on connections between religiosity and generosity without testing the possible mechanisms for these effects. For instance, James and Fine found that adolescent participants coded as having a more coherent spirituality or sense of purpose (as opposed to an ambiguous spirituality) scored higher on measures of all six "Cs" of positive youth development (i.e., Competence, Confidence, Character, Connection, Caring/Compassion, and Contribution), with higher scores on the Contribution factor indicating higher levels of generosity [9]. Similarly, Spiewak and Sherrod found that generosity was correlated with religious beliefs, spiritual transcendence, and religious practices in a cross-sectional sample of adolescents and emerging adults [10], and Bussing, Kerksieck, Günther, and Baumann found that spirituality and religiousness were correlated with generative altruism in adolescents and emerging adults [11].…”

Spirituality across Disciplines: Research and Practice:

“…For instance, have open dialogue with their adolescent children about their spirituality. This can help them clarify their notions of spirituality, with research has been shown to also be linked to positive development (James and Fine 2015), specifically allowing them to clarify their notions of spirituality. Also, parents can find mentors for their teen children, but mentors that will intentionally invest in the process of helping youth clarify and internalizing spiritual values.…”