Mother-Child Religious Affiliation Discordance and Mother's Psychosocial Wellbeing in a Rural Sub-Saharan Setting

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Psychology
• Religious Studies

Background:

• Existing research on religion and family ties primarily focuses on high-income countries.
• Intergenerational religious affiliation discordance is understudied in low-income contexts.
• Patriarchal norms and gender roles may influence religious belonging and family dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine religious affiliation discordance between mothers and their adolescent/young adult children in rural Mozambique.
• To analyze the relationship between religious discordance and mothers' psychosocial outcomes (emotional connectedness, life satisfaction, quality of life).
• To investigate gender-specific differences in the impact of religious discordance.

Main Methods:

• Survey data from middle-aged women in a predominantly Christian rural setting in Mozambique.
• Analysis of dyadic (mother-child) and aggregate (mother-children) religious affiliation patterns.
• Statistical analysis of the association between religious discordance and psychosocial outcomes, with gender-specific considerations.

Main Results:

• Children's complete exit from organized religion, not merely switching denominations, negatively correlates with mothers' psychosocial outcomes.
• These negative associations are statistically significant for sons but not for daughters.
• Findings suggest gendered social meanings of religious belonging within patriarchal family norms.

Conclusions:

• Religious affiliation discordance, particularly children leaving organized religion, affects maternal psychosocial well-being in this low-income context.
• Gender plays a crucial role, with sons' religious disaffiliation having a more pronounced impact on mothers.
• The study highlights the intersection of religion, gender, and family dynamics in shaping individual and familial well-being in rural Africa.