Religiosity of young adults: does childhood maltreatment make a difference?

Integrating Theology and Social Science to Uncover How Childhood Experiences Contribute to Christian Commitment in Young Adulthood

“…Social science declares that faith commitment is often connected to a "life crisis" or an experience (Westerhoff, 2000, p. 89). Findings from empirical studies reveal a connection between a traumatic childhood experience and faith commitment (Bierman, 2005;Sansone, Kelley & Forbis, 2013;Dyslin & Thomsen, 2011;Schafer, 2014). Another interesting finding was the experience of a family divorce, separation of parents, or intermarriage of parents, as these childhood experiences can deter faith development of children (DeRoos, Iedema, & Miedema, 2004;Sasson, Aronson, Chertok, Kadushin, & Saxe, 2017;Denton, 2012;Petts, 2015).…”

“…After considering the areas of congruence, complement, and conflict between the variables, there are still at least three questions for further study. Empirical research presents the benefits of pain or difficulty for the eventual acceptance of faith (Bierman, 2005;Dyslin & Thomsen, 2011;Sansone, Kelly & Forbis, 2013;Schafer, 2014). However, there seems to be little social science research in the area of childhood difficulty and its impact on adult core beliefs.…”