| In the United States, it is estimated that 90% of the population reports believing in God or expressing a religious or spiritual preference or affiliation, and more individuals belong to a religious organization than any other voluntary association (Gallup, 2001; Putnam, 2000). Despite these statistics, psychological research studies considering on the effects of religious participation and coping on parents are scarce and most often unreliable due to methodological limitations. Previous researchers have reported many associations between parent's use of religious coping and religious attendance and positive parenting and children outcomes. However, most previous research relied almost solely on self-reported data and self-constructed measures. The present study's goal was to explore the relationships between parent's religious coping, parenting, and children's social competence using a multi-informant design and psychometrically sound measures to attempt to overcome previous research limitations. Participants included 50 mothers and children between the ages of 8--11. Data was also collected from a child's teacher.;The study hypothesized that mother's religious coping would be positively associated with parenting sense of competence, children's social problem solving skills, and children's social competence as rated by teachers, as well as inversely associated with parenting stress. Results indicated that mother's religious coping was significantly associated with children's academic competence in school as rated by teachers (r = .31, p < .05) and inversely associated with problem behaviors in school ( r = -.31, p < .05). No significant associations were found between mother's religious coping and parenting stress, parenting sense of competence, children's social problem solving skills, and children's social competence as rated by teachers. Multiple findings in the current study contradicted previously reported associations in the literature. Findings are discussed in the context of the extant literature. Alternative explanations, limitations, and directions for future research are also included. |
