Parenting practices and parental religiosity: The context of region and conservatism

Although parental religiosity generally has been associated with positive child outcomes it also has been connected to the use of corporal punishment and authoritarian parenting style. Thus, other variables must exist which influence how the interaction between religiosity and parenting practices influence child outcomes, such as regional differences (i.e., conservatism, population density, etc.). The current study expanded upon previous literature by examining maternal and paternal variables, extending the study to emerging adults, examining emerging adult gender, various religions, and different regions of the United States (i.e., Northeast, South, Midwest, West), as well as levels of conservatism and population density (i.e., urban vs rural areas). An MTURK sample asked participants to report their parents’ religiosity, parenting style, and conservatism as well as their own religiosity and region where they grew up. Structural equation modeling was used, and results indicated that parenting style moderated the relationship between parental religiosity and child outcomes and those interactions were further moderated by conservatism as well as geographic and population density regions (i.e., 3-way interaction)