The child's conception of prayer

Long, Diane

doi:10.1037/e535742008-006

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Furthermore, Gray (1987) found that grieving adolescents who acknowledged having religious or spiritual beliefs reported significantly less depressive symptoms than grieving adolescents who did not report having the same beliefs. We chose to examine preadolescents because previous literature suggests that the meaning of prayer changes as a child grows older, and during preadolescence (11 and 12 years old) youth begin to perceive prayer as a private dialogue with God (Bridges & Moore, 2002;Long, Elkind, & Spilka, 1967). However, even children between 7 and 11 years old have been found to experience God's presence and assistance when they were in situations warranting escaping or attempting to avoid dangerous situations, and prayer made the children feel close to God (Tamminen, 1994).…”

Section: Private Religious Practices As Moderator Of Family Conflict-symptoms Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Private Religious Practices Moderate the Relation Between Family Conflict and Preadolescents’ Depression and Anxiety Symptoms?

Davis

Epkins

2008

The Journal of Early Adolescence

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We extended past research that focused on the relation between family conflict and preadolescents’ depressive and anxiety symptoms. In a sample of 160 11- to 12-year-olds, we examined whether private religious practices moderated the relations between family conflict and preadolescents’ depressive and anxiety symptoms. Although preadolescents’ depressive and anxiety symptoms were not significantly associated with their private religious practices, preadolescents’ private religious practices moderated the relations between: (a) both mother- and preadolescent-reported family conflict and preadolescents’ anxiety symptoms; and (b) both mother- and preadolescent-reported family conflict and preadolescents’ depression symptoms. The relation between family conflict and depression and anxiety symptoms was significantly stronger for preadolescents low, versus high, in their private religious practices. Preadolescents’ sex was not differentially related to these findings. Results highlight the role that private religious practices may play in moderating the relation between family conflict and preadolescents’ internalizing symptoms. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

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Section: Private Religious Practices As Moderator Of Family Conflict-symptoms Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Private Religious Practices Moderate the Relation Between Family Conflict and Preadolescents’ Depression and Anxiety Symptoms?

Davis

Epkins

2008

The Journal of Early Adolescence

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“…Moreover, children recognize that God has an extraordinary ability to know a person's inner thoughts even in the absence of any ordinary form of communication (Bamford & Lagattuta, ; Lane, Wellman, Evans, & Dolins, ; Long, Elkind, & Spilka, ; Woolley & Phelps, ). For example, Bamford and Lagattuta () investigated the ideas of 4‐, 6‐, and 8‐year‐old children and of adults about prayer as a strategy for coping with negative emotions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children prefer to learn from mind‐readers

Kim

Harris

2014

British J of Dev Psycho

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Kim and Harris (, J. Cogn. Dev.) showed that children selectively learned from an informant who produced apparently magical outcomes as compared to another informant who produced only ordinary outcomes in the domain of everyday physics. In the present study, we tested children's ability to differentiate between and selectively learn from informants who displayed either an extraordinary or an ordinary ability in the domain of everyday psychology. Prior studies have shown that children come to appreciate what is ordinarily involved in knowing the private mental states of other people. Drawing on this research, we asked whether 3- to 4- and 5- to 6-year-old children preferentially learned from an informant who knew another person's mind via either an ordinary or an extraordinary form of communication. As compared to younger children, older children were more likely to learn from the extraordinary informant. Moreover, children's ability to differentiate between the two informants was a better predictor of their learning from the extraordinary informant than age. We discuss the findings in the light of prior work on selective learning, children's ideas about prayer and their understanding of impossibility.

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“…These findings may suggest that understanding of prayer among African American children may be unique when compared to children previously studied. For example, many studies mentioned in the review of literature found that children ages 7 to 9 frequently made requests for material possessions (Long, Elkind, & Spilka, 1967). Although the children in this study may have prayed for material things, they did not mention requests for materials when asked to describe "what people should pray for."…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Understanding of Prayer Among African American Children: Preliminary Themes

Humphrey

Hughes

Holmes

2008

Journal of Black Psychology

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Theoretical accounts of African American culture describe spirituality and religion as significant socializing agents for African American children. Empirical studies suggest that prayer is a vital aspect of religious and spiritual fulfillment for African American families. Studies have also found that religious affiliation and cultural background influence the religious development of children. However, religious practices, such as prayer among African American children, have not been studied empirically. The purpose of this study is to describe how African American children understand prayer within a cultural context. This study also explored emotions that African American children associate with prayer. A convenience sample of 36 African American children aged 8 to 13 years participated in a structured interview. Core ideas among their responses were identified with a consensual qualitative coding method. Results from the current study were used to generate hypotheses regarding understanding of prayer among African American children.

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The child's conception of prayer

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Do Private Religious Practices Moderate the Relation Between Family Conflict and Preadolescents’ Depression and Anxiety Symptoms?

Do Private Religious Practices Moderate the Relation Between Family Conflict and Preadolescents’ Depression and Anxiety Symptoms?

Children prefer to learn from mind‐readers

Understanding of Prayer Among African American Children: Preliminary Themes

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