Parenting Practices and Emerging Adult Religiosity: The Context of Region and Conservatism in the USA

Many studies have shown a robust connection between parent and child religiosity, but recent research has begun to examine what factors may strengthen or weaken this connection. Moreover, although parent religiosity generally has been associated with positive parenting behaviors, it also has been connected to the use of corporal punishment and authoritarian parenting style. Thus, other variables must exist that influence how parent and child religiosity interact with parenting style, such as regional differences (i.e., conservatism, population density, etc.). The current study expanded upon previous literature and frameworks by examining perceived maternal and paternal variables, extending the research to emerging adults, and examining different regions of the United States (i.e., Northeast, South, Midwest, West), as well as levels of conservatism and population An MTurk survey asked participants to report on their parents' religiosity, parenting style, and conservatism, as well as their own religiosity and the region where they grew up. Structural equation modeling indicated that perceived parenting style moderated the relation between parent and child religiosity in emerging adulthood. Those interactions were further moderated by perceived parental conservatism as well as geographic and population density regions (i.e., 3-way interaction). Thus, geographic region, population density, and conservatism are all important components to understanding how perceived parental religiosity and parenting affect child religiosity in emerging adulthood.