Another form of unpacking: Understanding the role of religion in the well-being and contribution of immigrant-origin versus non-immigrant youth

Although the cutting edge of theory in developmental science is framed by developmental systems theories (see Lerner, 2006; Lerner & Overton, 2008; Overton, in press) these theoretical considerations are not adequately reflected in the research that pertains to approximately one-quarter of the U.S. population, immigrants or the children or adolescents of immigrants. To address this limitation, this dissertation used a developmental systems framework to explore whether religion plays a different role in the lives of immigrant vs. nonimmigrant youth in two distinct samples of youth, one from a general community sample and one from a religious community sample. This dissertation used cross-sectional data from the John Templeton Foundation supported study on the role of spiritual development in growth of purpose, generosity, and psychological health during the second decade of life. In particular, this dissertation explored the role of religion and immigrant status in predicting well-being and contribution, given that both are salient indicators of positive youth development and of religious development. In the general community sample, there were main effects with males, nonimmigrants, and youth with higher levels of religion predicting well-being. In predicting the contribution rates in the general community sample, there was a significant main effect for religion, and a significant interaction between religion and sex. More specifically, among those with lower religion levels, females were higher in contribution, whereas among those with higher religion levels, males were higher in contribution rates. In predicting the well-being of the religious community sample, there were no significant main effects, and there was a significant interaction between immigrant-status and sex where immigrant origin females had higher well-being than non-immigrant females and both immigrant and non-immigrant males. In predicting contribution with the religiously socialized youth, there were main effects for religion and age as well as a significant interaction between religion and age; among youth with lower levels of religion, older youth had higher levels of contribution, but among youth with higher levels of religion, older and younger youth had similar levels of contribution. The variation in the roles of sex, religion, and immigrant status in predicting well-being and contribution across the general and religious community samples suggest the need for further research to understand how religion, gender, and acculturation affect the development of diverse youth in diverse contexts.