Browsing by Author "Hull, James W., Jr."
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Item How fathers influence their adolescents’ self-esteem: A longitudinal assessment(University of Delaware, 2012) Hull, James W., Jr.This study used data from the first two collection intervals of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to investigate whether various dimensions of fathering were able to predict adolescent self-esteem a year later. Fathering was separated into five distinct dimensions or categories: availability, engagement, verbal involvement, school involvement, and relationship quality. This study also looked at whether baseline levels of the five fathering variables could predict their corresponding levels a year later. Finally, this study examined whether an adolescent’s self-esteem level at baseline is able to predict self-esteem level a year later. The results demonstrated that baseline levels of all five fathering variables and adolescent baseline self-esteem level predicts self-esteem level a year later. Furthermore, four of the five fathering variables (all but verbal involvement) provided a statistically significant prediction of adolescent self-esteem a year later. Of the four statistically-significant fathering variables, relationship quality provided the strongest relationship. This finding suggests that while behavioral measures of involvement such as engagement and availability do provide significant, albeit small contributions to adolescent self-esteem, an adolescent’s unique perception of their fathers’ involvement (relationship quality) may be a stronger predictor of their self-esteem.Item Religious development from adolescence to early adulthood: the effects of parental religiousness and relationship quality(University of Delaware, 2015) Hull, James W., Jr.This study used data from Waves I, III, and IV of the National Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to test whether parental religiousness and parental relationship quality (RQ) could predict the religiousness of their child during adolescence, emerging adulthood, and early adulthood. Parental data were obtained from either the participant's mother or father during Wave I only. Wave I adolescent participants were subsequently re-interviewed six years later (Wave III) and thirteen years later (Wave IV). This study also tested whether having a religious or spiritual experience that was life changing could predict religiousness in emerging adulthood and early adulthood. Finally, this study also tested whether previous levels of religiousness were predictive of religiousness in the future. The results demonstrate that parental religiousness and RQ have both a concurrent and longitudinal effect on children's religiousness. Mother's and father's religiousness significantly predicted their child's religiousness in adolescence and early adulthood. Neither parent's religiousness predicted their child's religiousness in emerging adulthood. Additionally, father RQ predicted their child's religiousness in adolescence and early adulthood but not in emerging adulthood. Mother RQ predicted their child's religiousness in adolescence only. Having a life changing religious or spiritual experience predicted religiousness in emerging adulthood but not in early adulthood. Religiousness in adolescence predicted religiousness in early adulthood but not in emerging adulthood. Religiousness in emerging adulthood predicted religiousness in early adulthood, but not consistently. These findings suggest that parents strongly influence their child's religious trajectories from adolescence into early adulthood. Although results here demonstrate a loss in the parental effect on religiousness in emerging adulthood, religiousness in early adulthood is once again predicted by and correlated with religiousness in adolescence and parental religiousness. The developmental patterns of religiousness from adolescence to early adulthood seen here are discussed in light of normative identity explorations as well as from Fowler's (1981) Faith Development Theory framework. Finally, the case for religious institutions serving as potential outlets to promote positive youth development (PYD) is presented.