Influences of parents, peers, and leaders on selected adolescent attitudes toward personal Bible study
Subject
Bible study.Parent and teenager.
Spiritual formation.
Church work with youth.
Peer pressure in adolescence.
Description
This restricted item is available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary through the URI below.
Abstract
This dissertation examines the degree of relationships that exist between the influence of three key support groups (parents, peers, and adult student ministry leaders) and the Bible reading habits of older adolescents. Chapter 1 presents the context of the research problem and explains key definitions and delimitations of the study.
Chapter 2 provides a review of significant literature related to both the independent and dependent variables. This chapter provides the theological support that serves to undergird the study, as well as the theoretical support for the research. Topics include the doctrine of Scripture, the student ministry triangle, and research related to the influence of parents, peers, and significant adults on the lives of teenagers.
Chapter 3 presents the methodological design of the research. This includes a brief overview of the study's design, along with explanations of the population, sample, data collection, statistical procedures, and a critique of the methodology.
Chapter 4 presents an analysis of the data collected from the study. In general, significant relationships were found between daily Bible reading habits of older teenagers and the parent cluster and peer cluster. Weaker, insignificant relationships were identified for the student leader cluster. Each of these findings are related to the study's literature base. In the study, definite "gaps" also were identified between the stated beliefs of adolescents regarding the Bible and how their lifestyles fail to correspond to those stated beliefs.
Chapter 5 discusses the practical implications of this research and how it applies to the world of student ministry. These suggestions relate to instilling a deeper respect for the necessity of the Bible, along with some practical ways to either strengthen the influence of each constituent or to integrate the influence of the constituencies into the student ministries of local churches.
In addition, this chapter includes suggestions for future research related to this study. These suggestions include replication of the research and adding a qualitative element, as well as studying different demographics and different spiritual disciplines.