Adolescents in foster care, parental death and religious coping

This study sought to evaluate how religious coping beliefs might influence the behavior responses of adolescents after the death of a parent or parents. A sample of 50 adolescents living in a residential treatment center, ranging in age from 12 to 17 years old, completed a scale measuring religious coping beliefs. Previously, these adolescents had completed behavioral scales measuring personal strengths and behavioral difficulties. The scales were then compared using Analysis of Differences and Correlational Analysis to determine if there were statistically significant differences in behavior among the adolescents who utilized religious coping beliefs and had experienced the death of parent(s) and those who did not have this experience. Significant differences were not found between the two groups. Nonsignificant results were considered in terms of those elements that may have affected the findings. Those elements included investigating a broader range of religious beliefs, attachment relationship with the deceased, and adolescence as a multi-stage variable