Multidimensional Profiles of Religiosity Among Adolescents: Associations With Sexual Behaviors and Romantic Relationships

Religiosity is associated with sexual behavior in adolescence; however, religiosity is a multidimensional construct, and it is not clear how different patterns of religiosity may differentially predict sexual behaviors and romantic relationships. We apply latent class analysis to nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; N = 10,149) to examine (1) what religiosity profiles exist among adolescents and (2) how they predict sexual behavior and romantic relationship status in adolescence and young adulthood. Religiosity in multiple domains was associated with lesser odds of sexual behavior compared to profiles marked by only affiliation, private, or public religiosity. Findings suggest that examining multiple facets of religiosity together is important for understanding how religiosity is associated with sexual behavior.