The relationship of religious imagery and religious commitment to Roman Catholic parents' attitudes toward specific goals, topics, and methods for a junior high sexuality education program

The purpose of the researcher was to examine the relationship of religious imagery and religious commitment to Roman Catholic parents' attitudes toward specific goals, topics, and methods for a junior high sexuality education program. Instruments were designed by Andrew Greeley, National Opinion Research Center, and the researcher. Frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations were calculated for the religious and sexuality components and scales. Multiple linear regression was used to measure the magnitude of the effects of religious imagery and religious commitment on the sexuality education components.;Four hundred fifty-nine Catholic parents of a suburban parish in Texas responded to a mailed questionnaire. The majority were Caucasian and well educated. The mean age was 40.6, and the mean income was ;Although they accounted for no more than 10.7% of the variance of any sexuality component, religious imagery and religious commitment were found to be significant predictors of 36 (88%) of the dependent variables. The variable, world views, had the largest beta weights and was the most frequent predictor. Every prediction was negative indicating that the more static the parents' world views, the less approval they gave to the sexuality components. Parents who chose warm images of God and who disagreed with the Church on sexual issues tended to approve the more sensitive topics and methods. The parents who felt close to God, were faithful to prayer and Mass, and were involved in the parish tended to have divergent opinions.