AUSTIN, Texas, July 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New research released Tuesday by the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society highlights a number of studies that show an inverse correlation between levels of religious commitment in teens and rates of juvenile delinquency, premarital sex, and substance abuse. The research also found that in teens involved in more devout forms of religious life, especially conservative Catholic or conservative Protestant, there was an even greater restraint on such adolescent behavior.
University of Texas at Austin professor Mark D. Regnerus found that religious devotion, as measured by church attendance and church membership, did not affect teens solely, but levels of delinquency and theft were also lowered in surrounding communities where large demographics of conservative Protestants were found. Regnerus concluded that conservative Protestant communities “appeared to constitute an effective and robust social control against delinquency” in comparison to mainline Protestant and Catholic communities. tv